ã€ŠTimeless Prominenceã€‹


 Ch1: A tested young man

    A mature-looking boy on the cusp of adulthood tossed and turned in bed, until he was finally woken up by the hand of an older man.

    ¡°Rein. Wake up. The Everlasting Pavilion will be arriving soon.¡±

    Rein kicked away his blankets and his gaze found a tub of water and a towel ready for his use. His whole body was pouring sweat and he needed to get prepared for this day.

    Rein was considered mature for his age, primarily since he was taller, slightly bulkier and had a deeper voice when compared to the other boys of the same age in town. His black eyes were bright and sharp, his black hair was sleek and naturally swept to the left side of his portrait.

    ¡°Same old nightmare?¡± The middle-aged man queried.

    Rein nodded to affirm his father¡¯s question, which only caused the middle-aged man to sigh.

    ¡°Perhaps my words are repetitive but, you need to let go of that period of time when we were exiled. We¡¯re doing quite well for ourselves these days after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand, father. It¡¯s just¡­ I can¡¯t control my nightmares. Plus, we were unfairly and unjustly exiled. Even as a five year old back then, I knew so.¡± Rein proceeded to rinse the towel in the tub of water and began wiping his body down. He didn¡¯t necessarily know the exact details of what had happened back then. But he believed in his younger self¡¯s deep impression.

    The middle-aged man looked into Rein¡¯s eyes, trying to discern his thoughts. However, he found himself no longer able to see through his son; at the very least, not in the same manner as when his son was still a child.

    ¡°Children are pure-- you were pure. We adults are bound by these rules, made to maintain a constant structure that our ancestors believed necessary for our¡­ family¡¯s blossoming.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Rein finished cleansing his body, and then dressed himself in a neat, richly colored red and yellow tunic, a staple of any merchant groups in the nation. Merchant families more often than not wore vibrant colors. The most popular colors were yellow and red. The more extravagant groups would replace the yellow with gold, and even more outlandish merchant organizations would further embellish their outfits with various patterns.

    The two walked out of Rein¡¯s quarters into a wondrous courtyard. The sun illuminated Rein¡¯s father-- he looked to be a man in his forties, with a well-kempt face framed by short and sleek black hair that his son had clearly inherited. He walked through the garden courtyard with his back straight as an arrow, and Rein followed him towards a central building.

    ¡°Mother has already begun welcoming the Everlasting Pavilion¡¯s representative within. They arrived much earlier than expected.¡± He then bent down and whispered in Rein¡¯s ears, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    His father entered the central building and Rein was left to his own devices. He could only turn his gaze upon the other person left outside the central building-- An incredibly pretty woman that arrived here as part of Everlasting Pavilion¡¯s group. Perhaps a more naive man would have rejoiced at this situation-- but not Rein.

    He could only hide his heart as he had long been taught, obscure his wariness, and grudgingly offer a hand to lead the beauty around the small mansion and engage in expected conversation while appreciating the man-made garden that occupied the central courtyard.

    As he led the beauty and paced down the wooden walkway under an open overhanging roof, he only felt increasingly frustrated due to the actions of the woman.

    This young woman was showing incredible amounts of skin in a revealing outfit-- a flimsy red diamond-shaped material that only covered her bountiful breasts, and panties, expertly crafted with intricate flowery and phoenix patterns. She repeatedly attempted to press her body into his arm, as well as speaking in a soft voice. In order to even engage with the woman, he had to lean closer to her pressing body to even hear her words!

    This was the precise reason for Rein¡¯s disinterest-- it was quite clearly a form of a honeypot scheme, a rather common method that some merchants used to get an advantage in a deal. Rein had long been taught, and made to observe such situations, not to mention, tested by his willful mother.

    Naturally, Rein only learned such knowledge after his father had managed to build something of his own post-exile-- they were now a small merchant family business.

    This woman was clearly something to soften him up. In turn, he himself might then give way in some future negotiations

    Although Rein knew this and he was frustrated with the situation, he is a man. Thus, every once in a while, he would fail to control his eyes and rake the woman¡¯s body with a gaze, examining every finger of her creamy and smooth skin. On the whole, he managed to more often than not, focus his observations on the greenery and small pond located in the courtyard garden.

    The young woman eventually got impatient and glided in front of Rein before turning around to look at the mature boy who could, frankly, pass for a young man. She then blinked her eyes flirtatiously.

    ¡°Sir Hehr,¡± she whispered softly. ¡°Should we take this elsewhere? Clearly, you appreciate the view.¡±

    Rein sure did appreciate the view, but he certainly was not about to lose his own judgment. He even suspected that perhaps, this young woman wasn¡¯t part of Everlasting Pavilion and was just another silly test sprung on him by none other than his own mother.

    His mother had often hired young beauties to seduce Rein starting a few years ago. Training, she told him.

    Rein politely looked into the woman¡¯s eyes, before placing his hands together and bowing his head.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Miss, you are no doubt a beauty. However, you came here as an escort with Sir Caere, a representative of the largest and most famous merchant alliance Everlasting Pavilion. Let us patiently and orderly wait for the business negotiations to finish.¡±

    The skimpily dressed young woman glared at Rein. She clearly felt somewhat embarrassed to be rebuffed by a boy that was on the cusp of adulthood, regardless of how mature this boy may be in appearance. At the same time, she remained quiet. It would not do well for her if she was seen behaving in an embarrassing manner towards Rein.

    Truth be told, she was not your typical merchant escort. Sir Caere took great care of her for the past few years, and she had been one of Sir Caere¡¯s most useful negotiating strategies.

    More often than not, Sir Caere would request her to play the role of a flirtatious escort to create better business deals. Softening up the young future leaders of merchant families was a method to improve long term business arrangements. She was paid well for doing this task among many, and her family was well treated for it.

    However, she seemed to have met a block of wood today in this Sir Hehr. This would not necessarily mean she would fall out of favor with Sir Caere. Sir Caere understood that there were those that would not fall for this trick.

    As for why the young woman did not play an active role in the currently ongoing negotiations, that was simple. Sir Caere was currently in the room next door negotiating with Rein¡¯s parents. Having a skimpily dressed young woman flirt with a man in front of his wife would cause an absolute disaster in the negotiations.

    Soon enough, the door opened and out walked a middle aged man with gray tousled hair and a goatee. This was none other than Sirr Caere. He looked at the young woman and quickly realized that the strategy to use younger Sir Hehr to tilt the scales would be ineffective.

    Sir Caere turned back and looked at the couple that had politely shown him out the door.

    ¡°Sir and Missus Hehr, are the two of you certain that you do not wish to join and become a subsidiary of our Everlasting Pavilion? You are one of the rare merchant companies in this Golden Desert Town that has successfully formed proper ties to the desert tribes farther up north. That is why we offered you such a good deal.¡±

    The current true Sir Hehr, the fifteen year old boy¡¯s father replied,¡°We are happy to conduct business dealings regarding the valuable minerals through our ties with the desert tribes. We also thoroughly understand the benefits that becoming part of your esteemed Everlasting Pavilion would bring.¡±

    At this point, Sir Hehr looked at this wife for confirmation and his wife nodded for him to continue.

    ¡°Unfortunately, both me and my wife do not desire to become a subsidiary of your esteemed merchant alliance, and the reason in truth is a simple personal matter. Being part of a large merchant alliance may very well bring us more glory, but it will also bring us more bureaucratic troubles. Our merchant company operates solely in Golden Desert Town, on the edge of the Minhr Nation, far removed from the center of civilization. We would not be able to function well in such a condition.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I came here on orders from the higher ups, so I¡¯ll bring back word to my superiors.¡±

    Sir Caere no longer wasted words. It was quite clear to him, with the additional time spent in the negotiations behind previously closed doors, that the task given to him by his superiors would not be completed.

    He politely bowed, and with the young woman in tow, left the Hehr Mansion.

    ¡°Rein, how was that young lady?¡±

    Rein found himself feeling annoyed again upon the questioning from his mother.

    ¡°Mother, ever since I started maturing a few years ago, you¡¯ve been getting all these flirtatious women to play jokes on me¡­ isn¡¯t this another one of them?¡± Rein knew it wasn¡¯t-- after all, the beauty left with Sir Caere. Still, his mother had tested him one too many times for him to not occasionally vent his annoyance when given the opportunity. Rein¡¯s words only made his mother chuckle though.

    Rein¡¯s mother was an attractive mature woman who had a graceful air to her. Her round face, porcelain skin, red lips, and large eyes had supposedly attracted no small amount of suitors back when she was younger, so Rein was told by their housekeeper, who had accompanied them in their exile.

    ¡°My dear son, that young woman was definitely trying to soften you up for Sir Caere, and it was not a joke played by me. However, I am definitely happy I got other young women to test your resolve starting a few years back¡­ otherwise, who knows how you would behave once you take over the family business in the future!¡±

    At this point, Rein¡¯s mother wrapped her arms around Sir Hehr¡¯s neck and pushed her ample chest into her husband, making Rein feel rather embarrassed and awkward inside. He did manage to maintain a calm expression on his face though, trained as he was in the art of merchant negotiations.

    Plus, he had long interacted with the merchant class of the Minhr Nation.

    Many merchants were incredibly public with their displays of affection, including often perverted actions that both those merchants and their accompanying escorts would partake in. Rein only felt somewhat embarrassed because it was his own parents demonstrating such behavior in front of him.

    He would have no reaction otherwise. Rein had long developed a level of desensitization towards many of these lower level perverted acts-- at least that¡¯s what Rein would refer to these actions as in his mind.

    Although Rein felt somewhat annoyed by these repetitive tests, he could only begrudgingly acknowledge that his mother had taught him something valuable. After all, history told many tales of idiotic rulers falling for honeypot schemes.

    His mother¡¯s voice drew his attention again. ¡°Did you know, my dear Rein, how I met your father?¡±

    At this stage, Rein could only groan. He knew his mother was about to repeat something he had heard her say many times before.

    ¡°I was once a daughter of a small merchant family, and I decided to flirt with your father to get a bit of an advantage in negotiations¡­ and your father was an absolute easy target. I had your dear father in the palm of my hand from the very start. I had stolen your father¡¯s heart, but luckily, he had the charm to make me fall in love with him, and eventually we got married and...¡± His mother frowned at this point but quickly smiled again. ¡°Well, and here we are, all the better for it!¡±

    His father, who was on the side, looked rather embarrassed, and could only smile sheepishly at Rein.

    After hearing this again, Rein could only inwardly groan. In fact, he had long considered speaking an alternative truth to his repetitive mother. That actually, she was the one who fell into his father¡¯s charm trap! She did marry him! However, Rein held his tongue-- after all, his parents were a loving couple and how things went down back in the past was just a matter of perspective.

    His father now had his mother lovingly in his arms.

    ¡°My son, the negotiations went longer than I expected. So instead, we will discuss business negotiations in the afternoon instead of the originally planned late morning¡±

    ¡°Yes, husband, that¡¯s perfect.¡±

    After hearing the conversation between his parents, Rein instinctively knew what his parents were going to do with the rest of the morning. He maintained a calm expression and quickly left the front of the main building of the quadrangled mansion, arriving at a wooden bridge that spanned a small pond in the center of the courtyard.

 Ch2: Golden Desert Town

    This quadrangled mansion that Rein lived in was a common type of mansion that any family that has managed to build a minor fortune would choose to reside in. It consisted of a main courtyard at the center surrounded by a main building, two side buildings and a main gateway. The main building included Rein¡¯s parents quarters and also operated as the center for their business negotiations. Rein himself lived in one of the side buildings. All these structures had overhanging tiled roofs with ornate ridges.

    Around this center square existed other rectangle shaped zones, where utility buildings such as kitchen, servants quarters, storage and more were located.

    Rein had investigated much on this type of residence due to his own curiosity. There were a wide range of theories. Supposedly, the combination of rectangular and square layout with specific measurements and ratios was some sort of beautiful mathematical beauty. Another theory suggested that it was designed with defense in mind-- the multiple right angled corners allowed defenders to hide surprised enemies. Another suggested it was nothing but ancient superstition.

    Regardless of which may be true, the Hehr Mansion¡¯s size and decor partially signified the family¡¯s status as a small but successful merchant family.

    Perhaps, such a mansion in the nation¡¯s capital would be extravagant. However, the Golden Desert town was on the edge of the Minhr Nation, so while this type of housing and its size may be considered mid-tier in the capital, in this town, it would be more accurate to consider it as below average with regards to established merchant companies.

    Land as well as construction costs were significantly lower in Golden Desert Town than the capital of the country.

    Although the Hehr Mansion was on the smaller scale in terms of quadrangled mansions, the center courtyard was large enough for a small pond to exist, which was spanned by a beautiful crimson colored arched wooden bridge.

    A school of multicolored carp could be seen swimming in the pond, underneath the surface ripples caused by a slight breeze. At the end of the red arch was a small island, with a large willow hanging over the pond and a small gazebo rising up into the sky.

    This pond was clearly man-made, as it was lined with large light-gray stones. A stone statue of a frog crouched on the edge of the pond, spewing water from its mouth to maintain the water levels of the pond. Without these elements, it would be difficult to see that the pond was man-made, for it was shaped in such a natural way that on first sight, the pond and its decor looked one with nature.

    Looking at all of this, one might think that culturally, there was a strong emphasis on being one with nature. Rein knew that this couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. The education his parents had put him through taught him that this was much more about demonstrating the domination of humans over nature.

    The more wealthy one was in the Minhr Nation, the more effort one placed on constructing a garden indistinguishable from nature. A person who could build such a garden and fully integrate their abode within it could then be considered a God ruling over nature.

    Rein leisurely walked over the crimson bridge and approached the gazebo on the center island, which was also painted crimson as well. Various depictions of sea beasts such as serpents, monster squids and more crawled up the pillars supporting the gray tiled pointed roof of the gazebo.

    A female servant sat within the gazebo with a boy that looked to be around eight years old. This younger boy appeared somewhat similar to Rein.

    ¡°Jein! Your older brother has finished attending to his responsibilities; he¡¯s here now!¡±

    Jein, originally tracking the school of colorful carp in the pond, looked up to see his older brother Rein approaching across the crimson arched bridge. He could not help but yell in happiness.

    The two brothers used to spend all their time playing together in the past. However, for the past few years, this had grown incredibly rare because Rein had started increasingly playing a role in his parent¡¯s merchant company. Along with it came many lessons from different experts so Rein could learn how to appraise goods as a merchant.

    Jein had long started feeling somewhat lonely, and had even wanted to participate in the Hehr merchant company. However, he was just too young.

    Jein performed a running leap into Rein¡¯s arms, and Rein could not help but laugh in happiness as well. In recent times, he had increasingly appreciated being able to spend some time with his younger brother.

    ¡°Take me out, big bro! It¡¯s boring! The servant said I cannot go out unless I had guards, and the guards say that they¡¯ve been ordered to not escort me!¡±

    Rein pitied his younger brother a bit, but not more. There had been cases of the town being attacked by bandits in the past-- some kind of hit-and-run raid for goods, so it was understandable that his parents did not want his younger brother to go out on a whim.

    ¡°Alright, Jein, I¡¯ll take you out, it will only be for the late morning though!¡± Rein did not forgot that he had agreed to meet his father later.

    Rein¡¯s reply made Jein cheer and throw up his short arms into the air, as well as jumping up and down on the spot in joy.

    ¡°Have a rest and get the two guards Wein and Sheir to meet us at the front of the Hehr Mansion.¡±

    Rein nodded to the young female servant to dismiss her, before walking over to the front doors of the Hehr Mansion with Jein.

    In a few minutes, two muscular men appeared. Both of them wore tough leather armor and were equipped with a large chopper hanging on the side of their hips.

    The muscular man that had a stubble on his chin looked at Rein. He was an average heighted grown man and to his surprise, the fifteen year old Rein was already as tall as him.

    ¡°Young sir. I¡¯ve only been away from the main household for a year and a half escorting the Hehr merchant company goods across the Minhr Nation, and yet upon my return you¡¯ve already grown a whole head height!¡±

    The other guard looked much older, having a few signs of white silvery hair. He had a scar across his eyelids-- clearly someone had tried to take his eye in a fight before. This guard did not seem surprised and only looked at the stubble-chinned guard oddly.

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Wein, what¡¯s so surprising? These younglings always grow quickly! One moment they¡¯re a baby, and in a blink of an eye they¡¯re married!¡±

    The guard surnamed Sheir more likely than not has had children that had grown up, left home and gotten married.

    Rein had noticed the two guards calling each other by their family name. This was of no surprise. It was custom in the country to use the family name in professional settings as a sign of respect.

    Rein suddenly realized that he had yet to learn of Uncle Wein and Shier¡¯s given names, and began considering that perhaps, he should attempt to spy on them during their off-duty moments to find out. Or simply question his father.

    Rein did not want to ask for their given names in the current situation. That would be an insult to the two guards. Doing so would be the equivalent of mocking the two guard¡¯s on-duty competence.

    At this point, the two guards quickly clasped their hands together and bowed toward Rein respectfully.

    Rein felt these two guards that had helped raise him were being overly polite. He even saw these two as his uncles due to them having taught him with their hearts whenever they were on break in the Golden Desert Town.

    ¡°Please, Uncle Wein and Shier, the two of you have taught a bit of combat arts to both me and my brother over the years. Today, we only wish to leave the Hehr Mansion for a bit and require a bit of security.¡±

    ¡°Where to, young sir?¡± Guard Wein immediately replied.

    Rein looked at Jein, and the eight year old boy immediately yelled out his answer.

    ¡°Blacksmith Tiehr!¡±

    Both Guard Wein and Shier looked at each other in relief. Staying within the town was relatively safe. Both of them had been somewhat worried that the Jein would have wanted to exit the town to play, something that the boys of all towns in the world seem to be tempted to do so at one point or another.

    After all, while they had been out and about escorting merchant goods, they knew from the talk among the servants that Jein had grown especially mischievous as of late, especially when Rein started increasingly assisting his parents in business. What provided relief to the both of them was that Blacksmith Tiehr more or less worked under the Hehr merchant company, so he was situated close by.

    It was much easier for the two guards to maintain security within town, and in close proximity to the Hehr Mansion and merchant group.

    Guard Wein laughed uproariously in relief.

    ¡°Let us go! The two of us will keep you safe, Second Young Master Hehr!¡± he stated.

    With that, the group of four left the central garden and leisurely walked towards the exit of the Hehr Mansion, a gateway with a gray tiled overhanging roof that had a main door, inner hallway and two side doors.

    As the group meandered down the cobbled stone street, Rein looked at the clear blue skies up above, which had nary a cloud in sight. The sun was bright and warm. He could hear Jein constantly yammering about combat arts to the two guards. Rein could not help but feel that if the world existed forever in this moment, he would be quite content.

    Unfortunately, this clear blue sky was rather uncommon in the Golden Desert Town. More often than not, there would be mild sandstorms that block out the sun. Even if there weren¡¯t any storms, the sky would still be covered by a slight dusty film.

    Two streets down, the group of four arrived at Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge. There were quite a few young boys here that kept staring at the numerous shiny weapons and armors displayed on hooks and stands in the shopfront. This included a variety of polearms, swords, choppers, shields and even some less common items such as chains.

    There was a rather long line of customers that two shopkeepers were attending to. It was clear as day that the Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s crafts were quite popular, especially because the customers in line appeared rather patient even though they had to wait. This was a rather common sight at the store.

    Part of Rein¡¯s training the past few years had been with Blacksmith Tiehr, but despite his multiple attempts, Rein completely failed to get Blacksmith Tiehr or his parents to leak out any information regarding the man¡¯s origin.

    Upon seeing the group of four, one of the shopkeepers immediately recognised Rein and Jein, quickly pointing toward the back of the shop where the forge was.

    At first, some customers appeared disgruntled by the favoritism shown to the group of four, but they quickly dispelled their ill will upon seeing the four walk towards the back of the shop instead of taking up the shopkeeper¡¯s valuable time. The four obviously had some connections to Blacksmith Tiehr, and at the very least should not impact their queue time. It was not as if Blacksmith Tiehr was freshly baking weapons and armor for the customers.

    As Rein got closer to the back of the shop, he started hearing the sound of hammer and anvil. Upon walking through the backdoor into the backroom, he saw Blacksmith Tiehr, a large sweaty muscular man with arms thick beyond belief, smashing a piece of metal on an anvil with a huge hammer.

    Clang! Clang! Clang!

    Each strike would unleash a thundering echo through the forge. The forge was radiating heat that warmed the soul-- perhaps a bit too much, and the source of the heat was the hearth, in which white glowing coal could be seen.

    ¡°Uncle Tiehr, what are you making today?¡±

    Jein had always loved looking at Blacksmith Tiehr craft weapons. Well, all the young boys skulking around in the shopfront would too, if they had the chance. They clearly could not afford these weapons, yet would still skulk around the shop and stare at the weapons-on-display when they were allowed to. There was the occasional young girl seen appreciating some of these weapons as well, but that was comparatively more rare.

    ¡°Young sir. I am currently making the so-called ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. This is the epitome of blacksmithing and something that your parent¡¯s company has a stake in!¡±

    Rein could actually tell this right away with a single glance. This was because part of his education over the past few years had been to understand the weapons commonly referred to as ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯, and Blacksmith Tiehr had taught him to appraise these kinds of weapons, as well as understand the crafting process.

    Rein could not help but lament internally that Blacksmith Tiehr even demanded that he attempt to complete part of the crafting process. Blacksmith Tiehr believed that that understanding was best gained through action.

    That was one of the toughest sessions Rein had experienced in his life, having to hammer metal into shape, not to mention, attempting to carve elementary aurae inscriptions onto the metal surface to strengthen and boost the strength of the weapon. In the end, it was a barely usable lump of metal...

    Although the weapon refinement ended up being an abject failure, this may very well be why Rein appeared slightly bulkier compared to his compatriots of the same age. After that first session, Rein¡¯s body adapted to the demands and he had only gotten stronger in the subsequent sessions with Blacksmith Tiehr.

    His younger brother did not have Rein¡¯s knowledge, thus he was comparatively more excited and keen about the new subject on the ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯.

    Jein loved coming here not only because of the weapons on display, but also the stories Blacksmith Tiehr told. It was rumored across town that Blacksmith Tiehr had experience in the advancer world. Blacksmith Tiehr never confirmed nor denied these rumors, but when pestered by children, he would undoubtedly tell mysterious tales that more or less confirmed the rumors. It would seem like he had a soft spot for children.

    ¡°The Spear of Heaven?¡±

    Jein curiously looked at the clump of glowing red metal that Blacksmith Tiehr had been hammering away at with his bright and curious eyes, knowing that he was about to get another legendary tale.

    Blacksmith Tiehr placed his craft onto the side. It seemed he was in no hurry with the craft and had completed a part of the crafting process and was happy to rest for now. He wiped his soot-covered square face with a wet cloth before taking a seat on a stool, facing the group of four. He looked warmingly at Jein, before slightly adjusting his already deep voice to further create a sense of mysteriousness.

    ¡°Yes indeed, the legendary Spear of Heaven!¡±

 Ch3: Spear of Heaven

    ¡°Long, long ago, the aurae of the stars gave birth to numerous beings in the world. Humans were one of these beings. Humans were the weakest at birth, yet had the most potential, so it was told. Soon enough, humans found methods to develop that potential. Those who could tap into the potential started having longer lives, fantastical powers that included flying through the skies and splitting mountains into rivers with a wave of the hand!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr paused before lowering the volume of his voice, as well as transitioning to a sorrowful tone.

    ¡°Cultivating their potential, some of these humans became gods. They were forever flying through the stars, having long forgotten the earth below them. Their battles would destroy the mortals on earth, yet the pain of mortals was disregarded. After all, mortals were mortals, and gods were gods¡­¡±

    Once again, Blacksmith Tiehr ceased his words for a while, this time even longer than his previous pause. However, no one complained and patiently waited for him to continue. Blacksmith Tiehr now transitioned to a grand tone.

    ¡°Eventually, a hero made the very first Spear of Heaven. Was he a god? Not initially! Even when he was a mortal, he had already become a master of the craft. Even before his ascension, he comprehended the intricacies of godly powers! With the help of many mortals, he created a technique called inscription, intricately crafting aurae systems onto a short spear, thus giving the spear the strength to pierce the heavens! During a conflict between two gods that ravaged the mortal town below, the hero lifted the very first spear of heaven and threw it with venom at these two stars high in the sky!¡±

    ¡°The two gods at first regarded the spear as nothing but the bite of an ant, and in their arrogance, one of the immortals even allowed the Spear of Heaven to strike his body.¡±

    ¡°But this spear was no normal spear. It was a ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯, its form strengthened beyond mortal limits by meticulous inscriptions carved across its body. And thus, the immortal discovered that the bite of an ant was actually the jaws of a tiger, and the immortal fell back to earth with broken wings, forever pinned onto the ground through his chest by the Spear of Heaven!¡±

    Jein stared at Blacksmith Tiehr with wide eyes, holding onto every word, wondering if there was a continuation of the tale. After all, what happened to this so-called ¡®hero¡¯ of this tale? However, Blacksmith Tiehr tightly closed his lips. Clearly, the tale had ended.

    Rein has heard this tale before. Blacksmith Tiehr had always been skillful in drawing interest in these tales from children.

    As for himself, the important information was that the ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ weapon type can be sold to those interested in killing advancers of a higher stage than themselves. He himself may be a mortal, but transporting and selling these weapons to advancers who had only begun their journey was very profitable. This was why he had been sent to acquire knowledge on these weapons under Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s guidance.

    He had once wanted to become an advancer, but he had been deemed talentless. Children in every mortal town were tested by ten years of age.

    All of a sudden, a clapping noise could be heard at the doorway to the forge. It came from a scholarly looking young man with dark bushy eyebrows, who was dressed somewhat funny. He appeared to be wearing a traditional blue tunic that looked slightly similar in design to Rein¡¯s, but there were a few details that made one instantly notice it wasn¡¯t quite the same. It could be described as overly simple and fashionably archaic. Perhaps the scholarly young man came to the town from a foreign area.

    ¡°Blacksmith Tiehr, I, too, have heard of this tale, but a few minor details in your tale appear to be different. Granted, I have traveled across the realms, and no common tale is always strictly the same. Still, tell me, for I am curious--what did you, yourself, conclude from this tale?¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr looked at this scholarly young man with a furrowed expression. After all, this man had mysteriously shown up with no prior warning as if he was the wind.

    ¡°I won¡¯t comment on your unannounced intrusion, however, my own conclusions are obvious. Clearly when one rises too high and grows arrogant, he would sooner or later return back to earth due to that arrogance. Am I not correct in my interpretation?¡±

    The scholarly young man did not look surprised by Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s statement, but he did not appear to fully agree either.

    ¡°Yes, that would be true if your tale was fully accurate and did not contain any bias through what I detect, your own interpretation. However, I was told the tale without any mention of the gods¡¯ arrogance. To me, the tale indicates one clear maxim of life: If careless, those who rise too high would always be struck down by the cooperation of those below.¡±

    The scholarly young man appeared to be held by a sense of melancholy for a blink of the eye as he made his statement. Although the scholarly young man¡¯s expression quickly returned to normal, this did not escape Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s notice, who laughed even though he had just been accused of being ¡®biased¡¯.

    ¡°Hahaha, young man, you clearly have an interpretation due to your own bias as well.¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr and the unnamed scholarly young man stared into each other¡¯s eyes for a tense few moments. But then, at the same time, both of them suddenly burst out in laughter at each other. The scholarly young man then turned toward Rein.

    ¡°Seeing as both the blacksmith and I have different opinions, how about yours, young man? Surely, you have yet to have been fully influenced and limited in views by the dregs of the world, right?¡±

    Rein felt surprised. Compared to his younger brother Jein, he was old enough to understand and even read between the lines of the conversation between Blacksmith Tiehr and the scholarly young man. Never did he imagine that young as he was, he would be included in this discussion. Rein bowed his head for a few moments to think.

    He did not really know what he thought of the tale. He had been thoroughly preoccupied with making a profit from selling these weapons.

    Rein shrugged and solemnly declared his conclusion slowly but without much conviction, ¡°To me, the only thing that I understand is that I, too, can reach the new height with these Spears of Heaven!¡±

    The four adults in the room looked at each other with wry smiles on their faces. However, all of them seemed to radiate a sense of happiness and remembrance, as if there was a joyful memory they had long forgotten back when they were young. In the background, Jein could be heard giggling and repeatedly shouting.

    ¡°Take me there, older brother!¡±

    Rein was tongue-tied by everyone¡¯s response. In his mind, he really was only thinking of making a profit and growing the Hehr merchant company. His words had probably been interpreted to be some grandiose sort of declaration!

    The scholarly young man warmly patted his hand against Rein¡¯s right shoulder a few times.

    ¡°We old timers are just too jaded to draw such a perspective. I haven¡¯t heard that in a long time. If ever we meet again, know that I am surnamed Yonhr, and my given name is Charh.¡±

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Rein could not resist berating the young man in his heart though. This young man was calling himself an old timer?! He was clearly pretending to be some wise old guy to make himself appear intelligent and experienced!

    Rein¡¯s thoughts were quickly disproven. In a flash, to the shock of all those present except for Blacksmith Tiehr, Charh vanished into the wind as if he was never there. Jein¡¯s expression was especially priceless. Both his eyes and mouth were wide open, as if his jaw had dropped down to touch the ground.

    The only possibility that the man could disappear with such a magical technique was that he was an actual advancer, perhaps even a god! After all, gods often appeared young even if they were actually old ¡®monsters¡¯.

    Jein immediately implored Blacksmith Tiehr about the world of advancers. Jein might be young, but he was no idiot. He was certain that the blue tunic scholarly young man who vanished into thin air was one!

    Unfortunately, he would not have his plea answered, for a man¡¯s loud berating voice could be heard coming from the shopfront.

    ¡°I am a god damn imperial soldier! I have been waiting for¡­ I could have eaten ten large feasts in this period of time! The sun was to the east when I lined up. Now, it¡¯s to the west! I¡¯m on imperial business!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr could only smile at Jein and apologize as he stood up.

    ¡°It would seem I have some trouble I have to deal with. Would you, your sir, be willing to provide some assistance?¡± Blacksmith Tiehr was requesting Rein¡¯s, not Jein¡¯s help.

    Part of the Hehr merchant company business was selling weapons to the imperial soldiers stationed in the Golden Desert Town, and Blacksmith Tiehr was no doubt beseeching Rein¡¯s aid in resolving this matter. Blacksmith Tiehr was quite worried about carelessly offending this so-called imperial soldier. The imperial corps instilled respect but also fear in the populace.

    Rein pridefully nodded. This was a simple matter. He had been present in many negotiations with the imperial corps, and was fully aware of the customs among them. He was rather confused as to why an imperial soldier was losing his cool, or even shopping here. The Hehr merchant company already sends the imperial corps weapons every month.

    The two walked toward the shopfront. Blacksmith Tiehr felt somewhat anxious but quickly calmed down upon seeing Rein calmly striding toward the shopfront with his head held high.

    In front of Rein stood a young soldier, who looked to be in his early twenties. This soldier was the source of the cursing voice, clearly angered from waiting in line, but also oddly appeared incredibly anxious. Spittle flew out of his mouth as he non-stop cursed the shopkeeper.

    Rein scanned the young soldier. The man was equipped with an iron lamellar armor, an iron cap, as well as a sword hanging by his waist. Clearly, he was from a notable family that could afford such quality gear.

    Normal soldiers, especially in a town on the outer edge of the country, would be much more likely to be simply equipped in light leather. It was likely that the young soldier originated from a noble family and just happened to be dispatched to Golden Desert Town for experience.

    Rein continued scanning across the young soldier¡¯s belt for a plaque, and could not help but snort. The man only had a lower rank nine soldier plaque, the bottom of the barrel.

    Rein found this rather funny. He did not fear this imperial young soldier at all. Firstly, the young soldier was of the lowest rank-- lower rank nine. If the soldier had even a slightly higher ranked plaque, such as rank seven, perhaps Rein would actually give him priority.

    Secondly, although the young soldier¡¯s equipment suggested he likely originated from a noble family, Rein doubted a noble family would actually muster forces to come all the way to the edge of the nation to mess around over a minor weapons purchase. Rein concluded that there wouldn¡¯t be an issue even if he were to throw the soldier out of the store with Guard Wein and Guard Shier¡¯s help.

    ¡°Sir, please calm down.¡± Rein pompously spoke to the young soldier. ¡°This is a shop under the wing of the Hehr merchant Company, and I am the Young Sir Hehr. I truly am rather curious why a ¡®respectful¡¯ soldier like yourself would come to the shop. After all, our merchant company directly handles all orders from the imperial forces stationed in this town!¡±

    The young soldier seemed like he was about a burst, but restrained himself upon seeing Rein¡¯s intricate red and yellow tunic. However, the young soldier also thought that it would be easy to trick the youthful Rein.

    ¡°I am an important imperial soldier, it¡¯s best if--¡±

    ¡°Sir, you¡¯re a lower rank 9 soldier.¡±

    The young soldier wanted to raise his negotiating position, but Rein was much more knowledgeable than the usual teen.

    Rein continued to wait for the young soldier¡¯s reply with curiosity. What family did this young soldier belong to? Perhaps he would feel insulted by me and declare his origins. Not as if any clan would cause much trouble over a weapons purchase at the outer edge of the kingdom, Rein laughed in his heart.

    However, the young soldier remained tightlipped. For some reason, it would appear as if the young imperial soldier did not want to leak his family origins here, or put his family name on the negotiation table.

    Across the realms, the family name was of high value in any type of negotiation. Families naturally protected their own, and as such, people were always careful around those with a tight connection to powerful families, or powerful positions.

    Rein felt truly surprised. This quality-armored soldier should have brought up his origins by now-- normally.

    Rein was thoroughly confused as to why this young soldier wanted to avoid revealing his origins.

    Behind the young soldier was a few common folk who had somewhat displeased expressions, for they had been skipped in line. Unlike Rein, they were in no position to stand up to the young imperial soldier. The atmosphere remained rather tense and awkward in this confrontation.

    The young imperial soldier finally relented after a moment of hesitation.

    ¡°I will pay an extra ten percent of the fee, let us hurry. I need to return to my post as soon as possible!¡±

    Rein could only slightly frown before giving the shopkeepers a nod. The young soldier¡¯s statement quelled the displeasure of those in line, and the shopkeeper quickly proceeded to attend the young imperial soldier.

    An extra ten percent fee was fair compensation for expedited service. It seemed the fellow was just desperate to get some extra weaponry. Perhaps this noble was just a bit of a scaredy cat being so far from his noble home.

    It was a rather common sight for the rich to pay an additional price for priority service if they so desired. If one¡¯s background was well known, some larger shops and restaurants might even provide automatic priority.

    Rein nodded with a proud smile. That was easily resolved. He felt rather proud that he had gotten a bonus fee while resolving the issue without having to rely on brute force through those guards, Wein and Shier.

    He truly felt he was contributing to the stable running of his father¡¯s business. Of course, he doubted whether the soldier actually needed to return to his post. At Golden Desert Town, the imperial soldiers were generally quite lax overall.

    The town occasionally had to deal with bandits, but that had nothing to do with the imperial garrison in town. The town itself had a ruling noble family surnamed Ahnk, who had his own forces that kept a lookout and defended the town.

    The imperial forces were mostly here to keep an eye on the town and assist if there was a foreign invasion, which hadn¡¯t occurred in god knows how long. Otherwise, the Hehr merchant company would not have been able to conduct stable business relations with the desert tribes for the past decade. All this knowledge was known to Rein, but not necessarily to the common populace.

    Regardless, with this sorted, Rein, Jein and the two guards Wein and Shier returned to the Hehr Mansion and along the way Rein could not resist looking up at the beautiful blue sky again.

    The two brothers ate lunch with their parents on their return. The meal was nothing special-- rice, fatty pork, and a vegetable native to the region, a rather common meal for a household of Hehr¡¯s wealth.

    During the meal, Jein ceaselessly asked his parents about advancers and the Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s story. Unfortunately for Jein, his mother could only provide some rather vague details that circulated among the mortals regarding the world of advancers.

    ¡°As for actual proper tales, I know none, Jein. But I¡¯ve been told that the gods could change forms! They would be beyond massive, a titan so huge and tall, their fist would become the size of our mansion! The head of the titan would block out the sun!¡±

    Even though Jein did not get a complete tale, the description was enough to kickstart his imaginations. Rein himself had heard many of these descriptions.

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure when this idea of his started, but he had always imagined these titans to be ape-like creatures as huge as the mountains that would pound the ground and cause earthquakes with their fists. Likely, a long forgotten tale he had heard during his childhood!

 Ch4: Father and son

    It was soon early afternoon, and Rein, a sour expression plastered on his face, found himself in the main building facing his father. He knew what was about to come-- his father was about to discuss the meeting with the Everlasting Pavilion Alliance as a form of Rein¡¯s education. Rein had long grown bored of such discussions. He did, however, understand the necessity of learning from his father.

    ¡°The Everlasting Pavilion is one of, if not the largest merchant alliance group in the Minhr Nation. However, its operations are not limited to here. It is a multi-empire merchant alliance, for example, it operates in the Zoh Empire to our east as well. Take note of the fact that we, the Minhr, have had a long history of wars against the Zoh. Thus, the Everlasting Pavilion maintains a stance of neutrality in all politics to maintain their operations across countries.¡±

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve gleaned that Everlasting Pavilion wants us to join as one of their subsidiaries. They naturally want to expand into the nomadic tribes of the desert up north, which is incredibly challenging because of¡­?¡±

    Sir Hehr looked at Rein and his query clearly indicated that this was Rein¡¯s time to demonstrate his understanding.

    ¡°Many of us in the Minhr Nation have long regarded the nomadic tribes of the Golden Desert to our north to be barbaric, and this was obvious with the citizens¡¯ pervading attitudes during our border skirmishes. The reason we call them barbarians is that they appear uncivilized, and only once one of our ancestors traveled through their tribes on a whim, did we gain an understanding they too had their ways. This understanding, as well as the connections this ancestor of ours made during his travels, allowed us to build business relationships with many of the tribes.¡±

    ¡°Other companies lack our understanding, especially because they still regard them as mere barbarians, and thus we have an absolute monopoly over the metal and other unique resources that the many tribes mine in the desert.¡±

    Sir Hehr nodded at his son¡¯s reply in satisfaction.

    ¡°Precisely! Luckily the ties of our¡­ past family with the desert tribes broke due to the previous war, and they chose not to reestablish ties. Thus, we, the exiled branch, could profit off their miscalculation.¡± His father¡¯s words made Rein snicker in his heart.

    ¡°Only with demonstrated understanding can trust be built! That is why you must always revise the many notes and understandings of the tribes that our ancestors have written down over time, even if you have already read them countless times.¡±

    Rein could only inwardly complain that he had indeed reviewed those notes countless times, yet his father still demanded him to scrutinize said notes repeatedly...

    ¡°Now, back to the matter with the Everlasting Pavilion. Obviously, we might get access to a string of customers by joining them. However, it is not so simple. Even if there is more demand for the metals from the desert in the future¡­¡±

    Sirr Hehr once again looked at his son. Rein thought for a moment before answering.

    ¡°It is unlikely that we can meet any particular increase in the demand, because the tribes of the Golden Desert are nomadic. Their roaming lifestyle means that the stationary mines may not even be easily manned.¡±

    Sir Hehr nodded again, feeling increasingly satisfied with his son.

    ¡°Yes, and if we join as a subsidiary and don¡¯t meet the expectations demanded by the bureaucratic higher ups, it would be an absolute disaster for us. Of course, I am confident in my own abilities, but the nomadic tribes are the nomadic tribes-- they travel around the desert and simply aren¡¯t capable of carrying enough metallic resources to satisfy a large merchant alliance like Everlasting Pavilion.¡±

    Sir Hehr paused for a second, before overcoming his hesitation and expressing his thoughts.

    ¡°I am actually suspicious that the Everlasting Pavilion actually knows of this, and only wants to use our channels with the nomadic tribes to infiltrate the desert mines. That probably wouldn¡¯t sit well with the nomadic tribes¡­¡±

    ¡°Rein, my son, I hope you can further increase your understanding of power and interests in our discussions. Business negotiations, well, any negotiations, always come from a place of power and interests, whether that strength be of money, connections, more knowledge, more understanding, good looks-- in the case of women, beauty, or in the case of men, handsomeness¡­ all can play a role in your business negotiations, and...¡±

    Rein naturally recognises his father¡¯s speech patterns-- his father was obviously about to make a prolonged concluding statement and end the discussion. He could not resist cutting his father off.

    ¡°Do not worry, father, I will continue to strive to understand different kinds of such methods on the negotiating table, and act as necessary to mislead and gain an advantage.¡±

    Sir Hehr looked at Rein and wanted to finish his statement, but even he himself realized his concluding statements were always the same and repetitive.

    ¡°Very well. Make sure to head over to your fiance¡¯s mansion today. Your engagement to her is an agreement between our two merchant families to work hand-in-hand on equal grounds in an expansive cooperation to a few nearby towns. They must be concerned about the visit from Everlasting Pavilion today. That, too, was a reason for my rejection.¡±

    Rein sighed with relief. He felt that it was good for his father to reject the Everlasting Pavilion. He had grown up with Meynan and they¡¯ve already long gotten used to each other. His time with her was always joyful and she had long expressed her desires to him. If his father had not rejected the Everlasting Pavilion, he would have been placed in an impossible situation...

    He had actually been feeling anxious about Everlasting Pavilion¡¯s visit last week. It was only today, after his father rebuffed Everlasting Pavilion¡¯s offer that Rein could relax and enjoy the weather.

    As Rein stood up to leave, his father dragged him back with a hand on his shoulder.

    ¡°Son. I hope your mind isn¡¯t still preoccupied by what happened with the main family, yes?¡± Sir Hehr seemed fully aware that Rein still had rather deep-seated distaste towards the incident of their exile, even if he was extremely young at the time.

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°When I changed our surname, I picked Hehr from a long list of historical records. Do you know why?¡± Sir Hehr tried to make eye contact with Rein, but Rein dared not meet his gaze and casted his eyes downwards with a shake of his head.

    ¡°The surnames in this world of ours originated from connotations associated with a sound, combined with a throaty or hissing noise. Our new surname Hehr is the sound of a sigh-- that is to let go, to not dwell on past events that are no longer of consequence to our future. The throaty noise in the end is just an ancient custom-- surnames are representative of a family line, and it is imperative that all who utter it put in a bit of extra effort to pronounce the surname, as a form of respect.¡±

    Rein understood in his mind, yet his heart couldn¡¯t quite fully comply with his father¡¯s wishes. He could only divert the subject to avoid the feeling of discomfort.

    ¡°Meynan is surnamed Jeihr. Does that mean anything?¡±

    ¡°The sound ¡®Jei¡¯ has a sort of feeling of incisiveness, so it¡¯s likely to have some meaning linked to some type of ¡­ aggression,¡± mused Sir Hehr. He opted to drop the topic and waved for Rein to visit his fiance.

    As for their original surname, Rein was too young at the time-- by now he simply could not recall what it was. His parents never mentioned it, and the housekeeper that accompanied them in their exile also avoided the topic.

    When Rein exited the Hehr Mansion, a carriage manned by a servant and pulled by a black stallion was already waiting for him. The carriage had a clear ¡®Hehr¡¯ symbol carved onto the two sides in a dominating fashion, and the wood used was expertly lacquered and polished as seen by the reflection of light off the surfaces. It was clearly a high quality travel arrangement pre-arranged by his father ahead of time.

    Traveling to the Jeihr Mansion was going to take too long on foot, and it would be respectable to leave and return well before the skies darkened.

    Looking up, Rein noticed that the originally clear blue sky during early afternoon was now thoroughly covered with thick gray clouds. However, a bit of sunlight still peeked through a few of the gaps here and there. He felt it was a pity that the rare good weather in the Golden Desert Town had left after merely half a day.

    He hopped into the carriage, and settled onto an extremely comfortable, soft velvety red seat. He pulled the blinds to the carriage close before speaking to the carriage attendant.

    ¡°Make haste!¡±

    The black stallion galloped and pulled the embellished carriage forward. After a while, Rein arrived at another quadrangled mansion that had a clear ¡®Jeihr¡¯ signboard above the gateway.

    Waiting in front of the gate was a elderly man that many in town referred to as Steward Xeer. His long white hair was neatly swept back and hung down just below the back of his shoulders, and he was dressed in a neat traditional blue tunic. It was well known that Steward Xeer had served the Jeihr merchant family as far back as anyone¡¯s memories could go, so he was well known and well respected.

    ¡°Welcome, Sir Hehr. Please come in. Sir Jeihr is already waiting for you.¡± Some servants had already begun referring to Rein with a heightened level of politeness.

    ¡°Thank you, Steward Xeer. My father would be overjoyed to see you still healthy and active at such an age.¡± In fact, Rein was rather amazed that this elderly man had remained sprightly for so long.

    The townsfolk had long suspected that the man might very well have trained in some body manipulation magics to remain alive so long. Steward Xeer only ever gave a wry smile when questioned, and opted to remain silent about the topic.

    ¡°I am just well taken care of by Sir Jeihr,¡± was the elderly man¡¯s reply.

    The two entered the Jeihr Mansion, going through the center gate before turning ninety degrees to walk down a hall, then turning ninety degrees again to exit a side doorway into the main courtyard.

    Unlike the Hehr Mansion¡¯s center pond and pavilion, the Jeihr Mansion was significantly larger. This allowed its center courtyard to be a massive garden with various different types of flora. Stone steps lead the way through the garden, and the path was lined with lamps that would light up during the night.

    At the center of the garden was a bamboo hut within a small bamboo clump. One could call it a small bamboo forest, but the clump was so meager that such a description would be misleading.

    At first, Rein thought he would be meeting Sir Jeihr at the main building, but Steward Xeer instead led him towards the bamboo hut.

    Weaving through the bamboo clump and entering the bamboo hut, Rein came face-to-face with Sir Jeihr and his fiance, Meynan.

    When Rein saw both Sir Jeihr and Jeihr Meynan, he couldn¡¯t help but do a double take. He expected to first have a discussion with Sir Jeihr regarding Everlasting Pavilion first, and perhaps afterwards, he would be able to see Meynan.

    He then noticed Meynan being absolutely dolled up and ravishing, and could only inwardly exclaim at Sir Jeihr¡¯s shamelessness. The man was clearly using his daughter, dear precious Meynan, to test Rein¡¯s heart and combat whatever Rein¡¯s father may have decided with regards to the Everlasting Pavilion¡¯s invitation!

    Of course, Rein did not express this outright and only scolded Sir Jeihr in his heart as being excessive in his actions.

    Meynan, only recently, became regarded as one of the beauties of Golden Desert Town. It happened recently, because Meynan, like Rein, was about to become an adult. In fact, she would turn sixteen a few months earlier than Rein, the age at which the Minhr Nation considered someone to be of age. By now, Meynan already had a rather curvy figure.

    Although Rein tried his best, especially with Sir Jeihr around, he could not resist looking at Meynan¡¯s beautiful slightly pointed face, small red lips, and meeting her big eyes. All this was framed by silky black hair partially arranged to form a crown on the top, while the rest flowed past down below the shoulders.

    Upon observing all these doll-like details, Rein could only again lament the excessiveness of it all. Sir Jeihr truly made his daughter put maximum effort into her appearance for this. Perhaps, Sir Jeihr, in his heart, felt incredibly threatened by the Everlasting Pavilion and was pulling out all his cards¡­

    Rein simply could not help but recklessly run his eyes down Meynan¡¯s body. She was wearing a tight fitting turquoise sleeveless double-slit dress that fully demonstrated her slender figure, moderately endowed breasts, smooth arms and long legs. His eyes especially lingered for an extra blink of the eye on side-slits that were so high that Rein doubted if she even wore undergarments. Naturally, he could not resist the cleavage window hole toward the top of the dress either. At this point his eyes ran back up to meet her eyes.

    Meynan felt a bit shy, but bravely met Rein¡¯s gaze. If anything, she had stood as still as possible, even slightly arching her back while Rein¡¯s eyes were roving all over her body. Not only that, she had intentionally moved her legs to further open up the side slit of the dress for Rein¡¯s eyes. She was also brought up under merchant ¡®etiquette¡¯, since she grew up in one such family.

    Truthfully speaking, she felt quite proud of herself. She clearly had the goods that would keep this future husband of hers interested. When Rein did look back up into her eyes, there was a moment in which she felt their gazes communicate a sort of softness toward each other.

    Meynan was fully aware that with men, there was often a higher degree of lust involved. For her, she had long realized that what was most important was whether the man would back her when it mattered most, and Rein¡¯s presence through their growth had long etched itself into her life. She had long found it unsettling without spending time with Rein everyday.

    Her only regret today was that it was actually her father who had ordered her to dress up, no doubt because of the reported Everlasting Pavilion offer to the Hehr merchant family that came through the Jeihr¡¯s information channels. She would have loved to dress up and play with the ¡®horrible¡¯ Rein¡¯s attention as she pleased! In fact, she had intentionally done so quite a number of times in the past already starting from her early teenage years!

    ¡°So, how is my daughter? How is the Everlasting Pavilion?¡± Sir Jeihr, rather satisfied with Rein¡¯s reaction, jumped directly to the important questions in his mind.

 Ch5: Jeihr Dynamics

    Rein smiled and acknowledged Meynan with an affectionate gaze before restraining himself and turning to Sir Jeihr. Most fathers would be displeased but Sir Jeihr seemed happy with Rein¡¯s wandering gaze over his daughter. Rein could even see a bit of mirth in the eyes of the middle aged man!

    Sir Jeihr was intentionally messing with Rein¡¯s heart using the classic merchant honeypot softening scheme. But in Rein¡¯s eyes, he was the ultimate winner. After all, his father had long rejected the Everlasting Pavilion! You could say that Rein ¡®won¡¯ a victory under the current circumstances.

    Rein hadn''t interacted with Sir Jeihr enough times over the past to understand the middle aged man thoroughly, but he knew enough to guess at Sir Jeihr¡¯s motives. Frankly, he was ambivalent towards the man. On one hand, he was Meynan¡¯s father. On the other hand, the man prioritized power and prestige of his family, which reminded Rein of his original ancestral house.

    Regardless, the three clasped their hands together by forming a hook with the four fingers of each hand and respectfully bowed at each other, before settling down onto stools beside a wooden table in the bamboo hut. This was the common method of greeting across the realms, spread by a person,or perhaps god long forgotten. Supposedly, this hooking symbol was a representation of human cooperation and triumph.

    A maidservant skillfully served clover leaf liquor-tea, and all three took a few sips of this liquid. This was the most popular drink in this region that tasted mellow with a hint of chestnut flavor, with a hint of liquor brewed from the same plant leaf dried for the tea. A mix that was both flagrant and warmed one¡¯s throat.

    Rein quickly got to the important point at hand.

    ¡°Sir Jeihr, as you may have suspected, the Everlasting Pavilion came to our House Hehr and offered to take us in as a subsidiary. However, rest assured. My father has rejected their offer, and fully intends to continue our cooperation in the future.¡±

    Sir Jeihr¡¯s expression remained neutral for a few seconds, but Rein noticed his fiance put on a pleased and relieved expression.

    Eventually, Sir Jeihr laughed uproariously, before stroking his gray beard. He did not seem to care at all that Rein had dismissed his concerns so easily.

    ¡°I was worried about nothing. It seemed odd to me that the Everlasting Pavilion, a multi-nation merchant alliance, would find merchant companies like us on the edge of the Minhr Nation for cooperation.¡±

    His worries quickly settled, Sir Jeihr shamelessly modified his attitude immediately. He now warmly treated Rein as family, completely putting down his originally professional merchant attitude, causing Meynan to feel incredibly embarrassed of her father.

    ¡°My son-in-law, feel free to spend some time with my daughter before you return home. Take your time! We are already family.¡±

    Chuckling, Sir Jeihr left the bamboo hut before Rein could muster a reply. Once her father had left, Meynan gingerly stood up and walked up to Rein, who also stood up in response.

    After checking that her father was gone, Meynan dismissed the maidservant, before wrapping her arms around Rein¡¯s neck and completely melting into his embrace, all proprietary gone.

    With Meynan this close, Rein could smell the alluring fragrance of her hair. He wrapped his hands around her slender waist, and could not control his hands from roaming up and back down her back, exploring her form, before going even lower, even daring to give her bouncy buttocks a few rough squeezes.

    ¡°You¡­ you lecherous man¡­it¡¯s just a few more months...¡± Meynan moaned but did not break the embrace. If anything, she pressed herself harder against Rein¡¯s body. Rein eventually restrained himself even though it seemed Meynan likely wouldn¡¯t mind it going further.

    Although he never found himself overly respecting traditional rules-- perhaps that was thanks to him having the knowledge of other interesting customs such as the nomadic tribes of the Golden Desert in his ancestors¡¯ recordings-- he still had to take into account his future wife¡¯s public reputation in the town.

    Meynan whispered softly into his ear, intentionally panting a bit as to tickle Rein¡¯s ears.

    ¡°If I wasn¡¯t told by your mother how you were trained to successfully resist those other flirty women, I¡¯d be worried¡­ it¡¯s great that your father rejected the Everlasting Pavilion¡­ now, our wedding will surely happen!¡± She spoke with a joyful tone at the end, and Rein responded by gripping her buttocks tighter. Meynan released another stifled moan before looking up into his eyes. Rein met her gaze before dropping his head down for a long and sweet kiss. Their gaze remained locked thereafter, memories of the past flashing within their eyes.

    The two had actually known each other since childhood, through merchant conventions that their families participated in. Rein¡¯s parents had moved to the Golden Desert Town immediately after their exile, and begun taking advantage of their ancestral home¡¯s lost ties to the desert¡¯s nomadic tribes.

    The Jeihr merchant family was long established already, thus they were the bigger company. However, at the time, the current Sir Jeihr was only given a small sum to demonstrate his competence such that he would be allowed to ascend to the throne of the Jeihr family.

    Back then, Rein¡¯s father was a rising star in the Golden Desert Town, and as such, the two competed fiercely with each other for many years in terms of prestige. This meant that the two did not see eye-to-eye and had quite a bit of bad blood for quite some time.

    The two grew a bit older and had their firstborn, which ironically, occurred at a similar time. At this point, the two had slightly mellowed out and the prestige of the two families had become rather stable. Sir Jeihr had become the head of the Jeihr family, and Sir Hehr had built a stable merchant family.

    The two¡¯s prestige could rise at the same time, mainly because they dealt in different areas. The competition between them was always more of a reputation brawl, instead of contending in the same business sector.

    The two eventually ceased outright going at each other, throwing the occasional barb but mostly ignoring each other, probably due to some inherent pride. Well, that would change too.

    At a certain merchant convention, the two finally discovered that Rein and Meynan got along incredibly well as children. To their shock, the two children would stick to each other like glue and the two younglings would more or less window shop and appraise goods at the convention together.

    When questioned, they discovered this had actually occurred much earlier than they realized. The two youngsters had intimidated the respective guards to keep their lips closed regarding the matter.

    The two fathers felt incredulous. Here, they were, growing older, completely circumvented by two kids. They could see the clear disbelief in the opposite¡¯s eyes and were about to have a go at each other once again. One was about to accuse the other of seduction, while one wanted to vent at the other for the act of swindling.

    However, what happened next shocked the silly men even more. Upon noticing what was about to happen, their accompanying wives both shot their respective husbands a warning glare, before warmly greeting each other as if they were sisters.

    Sir Hehr and Sir Jeihr finally realized that they had competed so fiercely with each other for prestige in the past that they had completely missed that their two wives simply regarded their conflict as nothing but peacocks spreading their feathers, and had long become something of sworn sisters.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    The two women¡¯s friendship was actually rather easy, seeing as the two households did not even compete in the same industry, and the two shared the struggle of raising their firstborn at a similar time period.

    Luckily, the two men had grown older, wiser through the years. It was true that they might not have taken it well back in their early years. Now, the two sat down side-by-side and each let out a long drawn out sigh before mocking each other¡¯s incompetence. Outsiders would have thought they were fighting again, but the two women knew that there was no actual venom thrown.

    This was the source of Rein and Meynan¡¯s arranged engagement.

    As for Rein¡¯s conflicted opinion on Sir Jeihr? Well, up until now, Sir Jeihr and his wife had yet to successfully bring forth a son. So there was a lingering suspicion in both Rein and Meynan¡¯s minds that their marriage was only agreed in part due to Sir Jeihr wanting to retain a bit of autonomy for the family by going through the relationship between the sworn sisters, while at the same time strengthening both merchant families. This suspicion was not unwarranted. Many well-off families would arrange marriages for purposes of power and backing in the country.

    Although Rein did not know Sir Jeihr well enough to draw any definitive conclusions, he had interacted enough with him to make a reasonable hypothesis. Sir Jeihr was likely concerned that other children in the family branches would seize control of the Jeihr family. Most families in the Minhr Nation generally preferred sons getting the inheritance.

    Although the Hehr family was smaller, it had a strong and only connection to the nomadic tribes. Thus, the marriage between Rein and Meynan would lead to a few outcomes. Meynan would not end up having to become the other family¡¯s resident-- the Hehr family was smaller after all. Meynan would be in line to sit on the head seat of the Jeihr merchant family-- her ties to the Hehr family, who had unique ties to the nomadic tribes would negate any opposition.

    Rein further concluded that this would mean that Sir Jeihr would effectively remain in power of the family even if he was of an age where he would be expected to hand over power to the new generation.

    Well, Rein was not opposed to this outcome. He simply disliked the fact that although the result suited him very fine, Sir Jeihr''s motivations came from a questionable place. He even wondered how much autonomy Meynan would even have in such a situation¡­

    On another note, though rarer, it was not unheard of for women to become the matriarch of a merchant family. If anything, there was a common saying that the success of a king very much depended on the schemes that the queen could pull off in court.

    Furthermore, in the battle for the throne among the royal princes in ancient times, the prince who would become king much relied upon his mother¡¯s shadow hands. There were even tales of concubines that somehow climbed their way to the throne. Imagine the numerous ingenious political schemes one would need to perfectly execute in order to accomplish that.

    Rein felt slightly uncomfortable with thinking negatively about his father-in-law. However, Meynan herself has hinted at it as well, though unwilling to outright state her thoughts on it.

    As for Rein¡¯s own opinion on this subject-- in truth, he had always felt his mother was the one in charge of the Hehr family¡­ the invisible hand, so to speak. His mother often whispered into his father¡¯s ears, and his father, more often than not, agreed with her advice. Perhaps, some people would mock his parents, but the Hehr family¡¯s success was undeniable.

    Rein was also of the opinion that Meynan had merchant acumen, unlike his younger brother. Having grown up alongside her, it was indisputable that she had always had a good eye, accurately accessing goods back when they were kids, a crucial part when the market was often littered with half-baked products and scams.

    Beyond that¡­ There was a saying that sons often were attracted to women that shared similarities to their mothers. And seeing as Rein felt that his mother was the invisible hand that pushed the Hehr merchant family to prestige¡­ He figured Meynan would be just fine.

    Regardless, Sir Jeihr had proceeded with his plan, taught his daughter the unique aspects of the Jeihr family business, before hinting at Rein to offer the engagement proposal, leading to the present state of affairs.

    Meynan now sat on Rein¡¯s lap, blissfully enjoying each other¡¯s company as well as the sight of the garden that could be seen from the window. Neither of them wanted to continue dwelling on the schemes and underpinnings behind Sir Jeihr¡¯s plan of action.

    It was gradually growing darker, and a slight rumbling of thunder and lightning could be heard far off into the distance. A storm was coming, which would clear the air in the Golden Desert Town again.

    Rein knew he would unfortunately need to leave this beloved of his soon. He firmly gripped Meynan¡¯s smooth neck, turning her head so he could give her another deep kiss.

    ¡°Sorry Meynan, it¡¯s getting dark and I have to go soon¡­¡±

    Meynan felt rather frustrated, in fact she wanted to break all rules and make her man stay and get married right away. In her mind, they had known each other for so many years already anyway.

    ¡°You¡¯re my man already, so you should just stay!¡±

    She naturally knew that for their families¡¯ reputation, it would be best for Rein to leave before it got too dark, not to mention that there might be a downpour soon.

    Rein too knew this but he also wanted the moment to last a bit longer, and thus played along.

    ¡°I wonder what I¡¯ll be doing if I stay here tonight?¡±

    He then boldly hitched up her dress before slipping his hands through the dress¡¯ side-slits, dragging his hands up her supple thighs in a teasing manner. In surprise, Meynan placed her hand onto Rein¡¯s hand, but did not exert any force to stop him, only following his hand movement with her own hands.

    She sensed that Rein was playfully messing around with her with something they both wanted but couldn¡¯t quite get yet. Feeling somewhat annoyed, she decided to respond in kind, grinding her own buttocks against his clear bulge.

    The two looked into each other¡¯s eyes as if trying to gauge who would first step away from the line they were edging closer to.

    At this point, they were both starting to breathe rather deeply, barely holding onto their own voices. Rein continued to stare into Meynan¡¯s eyes, and could not help but try to further test her limits. His hand slowly slipped between her thighs that were together, and teasingly rubbing up and down, gradually inching higher, closer and closer to her precious spot.

    At first, she subtly squeezed her thighs together in hopes that it would slow Rein¡¯s hand down, to no avail. Just before Rein¡¯s hand reached the spot, he finally felt Meynan exert a stopping force through her hand that had followed along on top of his hand the whole way. He smiled in victory before holding Meynan¡¯s waist and standing the both of them up, while inwardly laughing. This type of game was more advantageous to men, he felt.

    Upon turning around and facing Rein, Meynan''s expression contained a mix of pleasure and frustration. She only barely resisted today¡¯s situation due to her underlying minimal adherence to traditions. Not only that, she felt that she had lost a little competition against Rein. In her eyes, they were competing on who wouldn¡¯t dare to go further! Part of her father¡¯s competitive nature was ingrained in her after all.

    She paused for a moment before lifting both of Rein¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Such dirty and despicable hands!¡±

    Rein could only wryly smile, finding it funny that Meynan was scolding his hands. However, he suddenly noticed a mischievous smile on Meynan¡¯s face that he had long seen many times as they grew up together, foreboding trouble.

    In a flash, suddenly he found both his hands had been guided upwards, one on each of Meynan¡¯s breasts. He could not help but reflexively squeeze roughly, and Meynan arched her back, pushing her breasts into his hands as well as letting out an incredibly elongated moan with a round mouth, while raising her knee to nudge his bulge.

    To Meynan¡¯s satisfaction, she successfully pushed forward, causing Rein to fall back into his seat as his bulge twitched helplessly in his red and yellow pants. She stepped away feeling victorious, leaving Rein looking rather silly with his hands hanging in the air as if he was still savoring the feeling.

    Rein knew that he looked extremely flustered right now, but he recomposed before clasping his hands together by the traditional fingers hook shape, one palm facing upwards, the other downwards, and gave his fiance an exaggerated bow.

    ¡°Thank you, my dear lady, for your incredible hospitality. Such service is commendable!¡±

    His words made fire light up in Meynan¡¯s eyes. All indications pointed to Meynan wanting to give her man a good hit. However, before she could act on that impulse, Rein quickly excused himself and left the bamboo hut, returning to the carriage outside the Jeihr Mansion while giving a casual wave midway.

    For a short while, Meynan continued to feel proud of her final move. However, after thinking back to the moments she recently shared with Rein, she increasingly felt the burning desire all over her body, before suddenly realizing an unfortunate fact. Rein also realized this when he walked in odd waddling steps when returning to the carriage. It was likely that in their competitive teasing of each other, both of them had lost, since neither of them were fully satisfied.

    Before entering the carriage, Rein noticed a black cloaked figure hovering around the entrance to the Jeihr Mansion. The black cloak was loose and baggy, completely obscuring Ren¡¯s ability to determine any clues, such as whether the figure was male or female.

    He also noticed that there were some kind of black wisps flowing in the air around the black figure, which made him feel exceedingly apprehensive. Although he had never had much contact with the world of advancers, he recalled a tale. The tale of the fallen, the dark arts.

 Ch6: Mortal Hell

    Rein was about to call out to this black figure, but then he held his tongue, feeling that doing this would be rather dangerous.

    Without warning, a taller black cloaked man popped out of nowhere, arriving with his hand clamping down onto the shorter black cloaked man¡¯s shoulder. He whispered into the shorter man¡¯s right ear.

    The earlier black cloaked man struggled for a bit and seemed to absorb the dark wisps in the air around him back into his body, before allowing the taller one to drag him off. The taller black cloaked man noticed Rein, but gave a short glance at him with disdain. The two figures became wrapped up in a cloud of black smog before vanishing into thin air.

    The black cloaked man was unconcerned about being noticed by Rein. Their appearances were nondescript. They had vanished and authorities weren''t likely to chase after two random black cloaked men when no crimes had yet to be committed.

    Rein quickly notified Steward Xeer to be careful and requested him to use the Jeihr guards to protect Meynan. He suspected that the earlier black cloaked man wanted to do some unsavory act to his to-be wife. The presence of Steward Xeer calmed his heart. Rein was certain that this man had strength beyond mortals. Plus, the Jeihr group was not one that could be easily messed with.

    He resolved to also inform the imperial guards-- it was unlikely that the ruling Ahnk family of the Golden Desert Town would be able to successfully deal with the fallen. The fallen referred to advancers who had given into the whisperings of the devil in their hearts and adopted dark magical arts.

    It was late night when Rein returned home. There would be no moon that could be seen up above thanks to the heavy clouds and occasional rumbling in the distance. However, the rain had yet to fall, as if it was resisting the heavens and waiting for the right moment.

    Rein had already sent information about the two cloaked men through the relevant channels on his return to the Hehr Mansion. In Golden Desert Town, this would be the ruling House of Ahnk and the imperial forces stationed here.

    Currently, Rein was in a seated posture on his bed, in his room within a side building. His bed was made from panels of antique wood with an overhanging canopy. Depictions of various animals were carved and dusted in gold, while each panel was bordered by gold intricate floral patterns.

    His room was orderly, but rather packed. Thanks to his increasing responsibilities, he had piled learning tools into his room. This included ink and brushes, scalpel for practicing the craft of the so-called aurae inscriptions, as well as numerous books. All this was necessary for his understanding of the House Hehr business.

    Right now, Rein was meditating with even and measured breaths. These even and measured breaths were the method to stabilize the flow of aurae within his body. This was the long established method of advancing the mortal body. At birth, the human body was not conductive to aurae, thus mortals were unable to use magic. The concept was that the balanced flow of aurae would evenly develop the body, eventually allowing the body to act as a perfect reservoir for aurae.

    At the same time, Rein recited the few mental scriptures provided by Guard Wein. He felt a pity that he only had access to a few verses. It was common knowledge that scriptures were most effective if the experiences of the scripture¡¯s creator matched that of the user. Mental scriptures mostly focus on human emotions. And these emotions and patterns are different among every single person.

    If the emotions were to fluctuate, then the body constitution would fail to evenly develop, and any flow of aurae through the body would be like turbulent water flowing down a rocky river.

    Guard Wein was the one who had taught him all of this. There was also the issue where youngsters at his age might not be fully aware of their own emotions. This was why many advancers and their inheritance schools or sects try finding disciples at a young age, such that they could condition the child¡¯s mind as soon as possible.

    All humans across all realms would at the very least make an initial attempt to become an advancer. Unfortunately, many would fail to actually substantially change the body constitution enough to step into the advancer world. To truly enter the advancer world, one needed to transform the body to the point where these even breathing techniques were no longer important.

    At that point, the body would have been transformed to where one could survive just by absorbing the aurae in the environment through the skin of the body-- why breathing was no longer needed. This was one of the signs that one had successfully entered advancer world.

    Advancers referred to the earlier stage as the inner realm, when aurae is still stuck within the body, followed by the shell realm, when one has successfully transformed their body constitution and is able to coat their whole body in their own aurae, and survive without needing to breathe. At least, this was the orthodox method to progress as an advancer.

    There were non-orthodox progression paths, but the survival and success rate of those other paths were either incredibly low or inhumane, and often led to future troubles.

    Rein sighed. Although he has been doing this for many years, he barely made any progress. The circumstances of birth were truly undeniable. He was born in a relatively successful merchant family. No doubt, that gave him benefits. However, his body had close to no affinity with magic.

    He did his best to recite the scriptures to calm this agitation in order to continue his meditation. This was a mental state that Rein had gradually developed after testing his disappointing elemental affinity. An acceptance of his fate as a mortal.

    Most, if not all mortals, desired to enter the advancer world. Rein was no different. Being an advancer meant longer life, increased safety, traveling more of the world, and for some, power. Many would see their dreams dashed though, just as Rein¡¯s were.

    The reason for this was twofold. Firstly, one would need to have a high enough affinity with some of the elemental aurae of the world-- this would allow one to quickly and easily absorb at least one type of elemental aurae, and use it to change the body constitution.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Not being able to process enough aurae to fully transform the body constitution before one reached the end of their mortal lifespan would naturally mean death.

    This was easily tested with a common magical orb designed by advancers, to send in different types of aurae through the body. The tool detected whether these elemental aurae flowed with ease or not. The easier the flow, the brighter the magical orb would shine in response from the feedback loop through a child¡¯s body.

    Once that occurred, said advancer would then step in and use their fantastical powers to more accurately gauge one¡¯s potential, and decide whether to develop that individual¡¯s potential.

    The second problem was comprehension. Humans, unlike the other beings in the world, were created with weaker bodies but much more intelligence as a starting point. Thus, humans relied strongly on the mind to first understand and comprehend the way of the world, before applying that to the body and thereby breaking through and improving the whole being.

    At first, it would seem that the second problem was the greater trouble. Understanding and comprehending the way of the world was not so easy. It often required an unique encounter, as well as one¡¯s ability internally to resolve the experience. Mental scriptures were of partial assistance in this area.

    Regardless, this second requirement could be negated, because of an existing third point. There exists a type of medicine commonly referred to as psychedelics. Perhaps it could be considered cheating, but essentially, as long as one had a decent degree of elemental affinity, one could use the psychedelics to enter something akin to a heightened consciousness state, temporarily gain an epiphany and break through a mental barrier.

    Even if it was temporary, once the brief mental breakthrough changed the body constitution, the body would not regress even if, after the psychedelics wore off, the advancer found themselves not being able to recall the epiphany they supposedly experienced.

    Rein had partook in some trade with the desert nomadic tribes that provided spices useful in creating these psychedelics for the lower level advancers.

    Psychedelics solved the problem of comprehension required for humans to progress, so most regarded the first problem of inborn elemental affinity to be the core issue and deciding factor.

    On another note, psychedelics were regarded as the key reason for the rise of humanity in this era. There were some side effects to its use, but Rein, remaining of the mortal world, was largely unaware of such knowledge.

    Rein had already been tested-- these tests occurred yearly in every town for children reaching the age of five. Seeing as he was going to be taking over the Hehr businesses, it was clear as day-- well it was night time now, and the sky was full of heavy clouds-- that he did not meet the requirements.

    Rein was not overly surprised by the result. Not then, not now. Advancers were rare, and although not fully confirmed, it was accepted that elemental affinity with aurae often had some link to gene inheritance. To his knowledge, he had no ancestors that were advancers. Thus, he gradually managed to put his heart to peace and was content with his role in continuing the Hehr businesses.

    Still, he continued these simple exercises as it would provide some improvements to the body. He might not have the elemental affinity that would allow him to absorb the aurae in the world,  but slight body constitution improvements would still lead to a healthier life and more robust body.

    Rein soon stood up and started performing some stances and movements.

    All these skills and knowledge were imparted to him by the Guard Wein, who had once attempted to become an advancer, dreaming of the advancer world. His younger brother Jein had been taught these too, but Jein was only eight years old, a tad bit too young to be able to practice without any supervision. Like him, Jein also had no elemental affinity.

    Soon, Rein noticed the occasional white flash followed by a thundering boom vibrating his eardrums from the dark skies. However, raindrops had yet to fall.

    Rein laid down onto the soft cotton mattress, resting his head against the goose feather pillow. He felt rather safe inside his room-- the building so far has never experienced any leaks and the Hehr Mansion had withstood all storms since its construction. The encroaching storm outside further emphasized the safety inside the room, and Rein peacefully drifted off to sleep.

    He would, however, wake up to a fiery hell.

    Rein found himself shocked awake by a desperate roar. He took a moment to orientate himself before opening the doors to the center courtyard.

    Pew!

    An arrow whizzed past his face, burying itself into the wooden panels of his bed.

    He felt a cold shiver run up his spine and cold sweat immediately drenched his back. The Hehr Mansion was quite close to the center of the town. This meant that whoever these enemies were, they had thoroughly penetrated the town¡¯s defenses!

    In fear, Rein hid behind the door frame while peeking out into the courtyard. In the Hehr Mansion center courtyard stood a group of men. This group of men is in ragtag clothing, so they are likely bandits. Surprisingly they were in some sort of orderly system. Bandits were not generally orderly, so Rein suspected that these might be mercenaries instead.

    Rein¡¯s heart was pounding with fear, but his father had always emphasized that regardless of issues, one needed to be calm. Especially in business, sometimes there could be vast changes due to surprising situations. This was why Rein tried to assess the situation first.

    Rein could not help but cough due to the billowing smoke blown into his room in the night breeze. Its source was none other than the other structures of the Hehr Mansion as well as the trees in the center courtyard being on fire. Luckily for him, the smoke seemed to have impeded the accuracy of arrows as well, which likely saved his life just a moment ago.

    Accompanying the fiery blaze and suffocating smoke were sounds of thunder and flashes of white lightning in the skies.

    Amidst this inferno, Rein would soon have to reconsider his assessment of the group of men in the courtyard.

    ¡°Kill them all, men, women and children! Remember, the fallen are in this town! These dark practitioners have long allowed devils to occupy their hearts and minds, and can change appearances to fool us! It would be impossible for us to tell unless we actually have interacted with the person these devils are pretending to be! If you¡¯re not careful, said devil might even attempt to possess you!¡±

    ¡°But sir, this one is but a teen¡­¡±

    Rein tried to see more details, but his eyes were blurry and watery from the smoke. Still, the words he heard made him jump in shock, fright, but also anger. It sounded absolutely ridiculous to him that these men would attempt to wipe clean the town. Surely those imperial soldiers would defend the people! Plus, he had informed the imperial forces of the fallen earlier, so they should have been prepared!

    All that he heard only made him feel increasingly apprehensive yet confused. The imperial forces should have acted by now¡­

    At this very moment, Rein saw a small shadow crawling towards the group of men from behind through the haze. He quickly recognized the figure to be his younger brother, Jein. Shocked, he stayed frozen in his hiding spot, at a complete loss as to what Jein was trying to do. He could not help but wonder why Jein was even crawling on the ground? His younger brother had stood up on two kegs since six years ago!

    Rein wanted to yell at his younger brother to cease his dangerous actions, but no sound came out. His throat had turned hoarse from nervousness. Then, to his disbelief, this ¡®Jein¡¯ leapt at one of the men with an ear-piercing scream, and immediately bit off a chunk of a man¡¯s left calf!

 Ch7: A Disastrous Fate

    Complete chaos ensued and all the men immediately turned around, slashing their sabers frantically at this ¡®Jein¡¯, and ¡®Jein¡¯ vanished into black wisps of smoke. The man who had a part of his calf bitten off was going to be maimed for life, even if he stopped the current bleeding. Silence ensued for a moment before one of the men lost his cool.

    ¡°What the fuck, there are actually evil creatures here! I definitely wasn¡¯t paid enough for this!¡±

    The whole group instantly started bickering and complaining to a man that was no doubt the hirer of arms.

    ¡°I already paid you all a handsome fee. But fine! We will double it after the job is done! Quickly!¡±

    The sequence of events made Rein¡¯s heart fill with even more trepidation, if that was even possible. That¡­ that couldn¡¯t have been Jein. It must have been a devil in the form of Jein.

    Fallen advancers were often simply referred to as devils, and rumors were that they often used illusions or modified their appearances to ambush their prey. This would mean that the fallen have truly taken over the Golden Desert Town! But Rein knew that he was no devil! Yet with what just happened, this group definitely would not spare him!

    Also, the ease at which the supposed leader of the group gave a higher price clearly indicated that these men are mercenaries, and the leader had long prepared to offer a higher price due to his better knowledge of the current events in the Golden Desert Town. Rein quickly deduced that this man must have prior knowledge and chose to hide some information, fearful of scaring off the mercenaries from participating.

    WIth the gap of time provided by the quick renegotiation among the mercenaries, Rein rapidly slammed his doors shut, but that also alerted the mercenaries that they had a job to finish. Rein could immediately hear the follow-up sound of arrows burying themselves into the wooden doors!

    ¡°Rush the door, but be careful! The fallen have many tricks! They will deny themselves one,or pretend to be some seductive damsel-in-distress, among many other unscrupulous dark and evil methods!¡±

    Rein initially wanted to open another side door to try to reach Jein¡¯s room to fully confirm if the ¡®Jein¡¯ that vanished into black wisps of smoke was real or just a fake imitation. Luckily, his panicking mind still had an ounce of clarity and he remembered that Jein was accompanied by a personal loyal guard every night in case he ran off somewhere in the middle of the night.

    His mind whirled and quickly concluded that seeing as these mercenaries are now in the Hehr Mansion¡¯s premise, Guard Wein and Shier must definitely be dead already¡­ The rest of the family, if alive, must have escaped through the emergency pathway!

    Rein no longer hesitated, lifting up a straw floor mat underneath his bed, opening a hatch there before leaping in and closing the hatch, trying his best to have the straw mat hide the hatch again in the process.

    Upon closing the hatch, he quickly locked it with a mechanism that could only be operated from his side of the hatch.

    In his hurry, he had forgotten to bring a lamp, so all he could see was darkness. Using his sense of touch, he carefully but haphazardly climbed down around fifteen rungs of a ladder created from metal, before stubbing his toe into a flat ground that was the bottom of the tunnel.

    He looked back up in fear at the hatch above, but it did not appear to have been discovered. Perhaps those mercenaries believed that a fallen might transform into a piece of furniture or something of that sort¡­? Regardless, that¡¯s the luck that Rein needed right now!

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Rein jumped in fright before mocking himself for getting scared of hearing his own terror.

    Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself. Then he turned round and round on the spot, feeling for the direction of the tunnel. After his heartbeat settled down a bit, he gradually heard a soft sobbing noise in the distance.

    That¡¯s probably...Jein!

    Rein initially did not notice this because of the pounding of his own heart amid the fear of the mercenaries discovering the hatch.

    His hope revitalized, he rapidly went in the direction of the sobbing voice that sounded like the real Jein, and soon saw a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. The sliver of light allowed him to finally see that the tunnel was supported by wooden beams with triangular support at the top, every few feet or so.

    Rein finally reached the end of the tunnel, which opened up into a small dusty room lined with stone in all directions. A ladder at the center of the room stretched up to an overhanging hatch.

    As Rein looked toward the source of the sobbing voice, he felt strength drain from his limbs and he collapsed onto his knees into a crawling position. Only with great courage could he raise his head and slow crawl over to a group of three listless bodies.

    His heart was pounding now, but not from adrenaline urging him to escape. Instead it was disbelief mixed with a nervous kind of hope.

    He reached out to touch the first listless body. This was none other than his father. The skin was slightly cool already and Rein felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, thoroughly extinguishing his hope.

    Looking down at his father¡¯s lifeless corpse, he saw a number of arrows littered across the chest area. It looked to be the same type of arrow that had whizzed past his very own head earlier.

    Rein initially wanted to sob like Jein, but he found himself feeling empty in disbelief instead. He had just remembered the recent discussion at the end of which he cut off his father''s concluding statement.

    ¡°Open your eyes, father!¡± He half-screamed. ¡°You still never finished that annoying statement of yours...¡±

    There was no response. Yet Rein found himself still lacking in tears. He inwardly raged that those damn mercenaries were just killing the innocent left and right! So what if the fallen could use dark magics to present themselves as different entities?! Surely, there was a way to differentiate between the two! He promised himself there and then that he would one day kill them all!

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    His fist was clenched to the point where his fingernails drew blood on his palms. That pain gave him a moment of contemplation. He felt that he should be crying and yet he was instead filled with boundless anger at the injustice of it all.

    At this point, Rein noticed a heavy breathing sound. He looked around trying to find the source, but soon realized it was he himself that was gasping for air and struggling to breathe.

    Rein dismissed his chaotic emotions before looking at another non-moving body. It was his mother with her back propped up against a stone-wall, her loose sleeping robes drenched in crimson.

    Rein felt sluggish at a scene he thought should be impossible. His parents were hale and hearty just half a day ago. They had survived and recovered after their exile from the ancestral family. How could they be dead?! When he thought of the suffering they had to experience during that time, to be hit by this disaster during their lifetime felt like the powers-that-be were hellbent on destroying their lives!

    There was so much blood that a pool of it formed to the side of his mother¡¯s body, and Jein was endlessly sobbing while sitting in her lap, with streaks of dark red blood here and there on his body and clothing. Jein did notice Rein, but he seemed to only wail louder.

    ¡°Jein!¡±

    Jein only clutched harder at their mother¡¯s robes upon hearing Rein¡¯s voice. Rein suddenly remembered that a fallen had not so long ago taken Jein¡¯s form. That ¡®Jein¡¯ had been hacked down and vanished into black wisps.

    Rein knew barely anything regarding the fallen. As far as he knew, there wasn¡¯t actually a corpse after that fake ¡®Jein¡¯ was slashed down, so it was entirely possible that this ¡®Jein¡¯ might very well be a fallen proficient in imitating a child in distress.

    He observed Jein head to toe, scanning Jein¡¯s facial expression, and remembering what a random mercenary had said before regarding close members being able to identify real or fake.

    This was definitely his younger brother!

    He reached out, and felt that his mother still had some barely detectable warmth in the body.

    ¡°Mother!¡±

    His loud shout brought his mother¡¯s eyes open. But her eyes were dim like a candle about to be extinguished at any moment. Her face looked gaunt and her breath close to inaudible. Her eyes could barely focus onto Rein¡¯s face. Her mouth opened and her voice was raspy.

    ¡°My son...I¡­¡±

    She suddenly coughed out blood. Rein did not want to admit it, but with the blood pool as well as a likely internal injury¡­ he knew in his heart this would be his last moments with his mother.

    Once again, he cursed those damn mercenaries in his heart, and swore that he would present their heads to the Hehr Mansion on pikes one day!

    This was the only current way Rein could restrain himself for now-- a promise that he wasn¡¯t even sure he could execute. His mother struggled, trying but failing to reach behind her back for something.

    Rein knew there was something important, tried his best to calm his trembling hands, and quickly reached behind to find two small pouches. Looking inside he saw a brass key in one with a few gold and silver medallions. The other pouch also had a few identification medallions, but they were bronze and copper.

    Trying to calm Jein down in fear that someone would find them through his cries, Rein hung one of the pouches around his small neck, in hopes that it would provide him with some comfort.

    Jein clutched at the pouch in his hand and slightly calmed down, though tears were still flowing in silent streams down his cheeks.

    ¡°The brass key...bank...business commodities, rights, deeds¡­¡±

    His mother could barely talk, uttering the simplest few phrases to get the point across. She did not mention the medallions. She knew that Rein was fully aware of what the medallions were used for.

    Her eyes constantly switched between Rein and Jein¡¯s face, trying her best to burn their images into her mind. But soon, her eyes became lifeless, and her head drooped down. Rein quickly closed her eyelids.

    Rein¡¯s eyes grew wet and he wanted to scream, but his throat felt dry and hoarse, and all that came out were a few hacking grunts. And yet the tears still would not come for him. He picked up the still whimpering Jein, who continually clutched at the pouch around his neck. It would seem as if Jein too, could not truly cry anymore. Jein¡¯s eyes appeared increasingly dead as if he had lost all hope.

    Rein didn¡¯t know how he was still able to take action in this kind of situation. He only felt numb and felt his body moving on its own, as if there was an inherent survival instinct that wouldn¡¯t let him rest no matter what. Although he felt enraged, his father¡¯s teachings allowed him to stay relatively clear-headed.

    He was already thinking ahead. He knew he had no chance of becoming an advancer, but with the House Hehr assets, he could maintain some semblance of normalcy and gradually find those responsible and hunt them down one by one by hiring other mercenaries, or perhaps, even an advancer. But, he would need to get out of the current dire situation alive first.

    To his knowledge, most mercenaries are still mortals, and generally speaking would have mastered magics up to around the mid inner realm-- half-way through transforming their body constitution into a full aurae conductive state. As long as he had the funds to hire someone stronger than that¡­

    As he made preliminary plans for his actions, his wet eyes caused Rein to nearly trip over something soft and pudgy¡­ it was the arm of the third body. This was Jein¡¯s guard, but he, too, was covered in blood and had his chest punctured by arrows. Clearly, there was no life left in him.

    Rein tried his best to remain calm while carefully thinking through his plans, but right now, he was feeling all kinds of chaotic emotions that he had never experienced before and could not understand nor resolve.

    There was a sense of continuous fear and dread intermingled with sorrow. He also felt a burning anger sitting in the pit of his stomach. He still struggled to fathom why these mercenaries were so hellbent on killing them all, including even the innocent animals. Was it the end of the world if a few escaped? He even wondered that maybe, all this had happened because he chose to inform the imperial guards of the fallen¡¯s presence in the first place!

    He wanted to return to slash the group of men down. However, his rationality prevailed. While he had practiced basic mortal arts that allowed him to kill a boar, his magic power was only a beginner, in a lower range of the inner magic realm of power, and it certainly had zero chance of improving in the near future.

    Also, there was no way he¡¯d be able to face a group of mercenaries, who definitely had more experience. As mercenaries, they definitely at least reached halfway through the inner realm. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been hired.

    All of a sudden, out of the corner of his eye, Rein suddenly noticed the fingers of his father¡¯s corpse twitch. He turned in shock and disbelief. His father couldn¡¯t be alive.His body was completely cool

    His father couldn''t still be alive! His body was completely cool when Rein had touched it earlier!

    He crept closer back to his father¡¯s corpse.

    Katcha!

    His father¡¯s jaws suddenly lowered, leading to a mouth wide open with a grinding noise. A black wispy air gushed out right from the mouth, flowing into Rein through his mouth and nose.

    Rein didn¡¯t even have time to swear as his vision flashed and he started hearing a cackling voice in his head.

    ¡°This is nothing personal¡­ but I lost my body. Well, you¡¯ll do¡­ it¡¯s not as if a beginner of the inner realm with your talent would amount to much in life anyway! Ahahaha...¡±

 Ch8: One Misfortune After Another

    The cackling voice echoed in his head, filling Rein with dread. He knew something supernaturally horrible was about to happen to him. The fear of the fallen was deep-rooted in the world-- one of the common evil things that these devils would do was to possess anyone¡¯s body!

    The very next moment, Rein felt a sharp headache that was accompanied by an ear-splitting ringing, causing him to immediately collapse onto the ground. Rein tried to think clearly but the pain was so intense he could only try to hang on to the very bare semblance of sanity.

    His mind besieged, Rein completely lost track of his surroundings, including Jein¡¯s reactions. He rolled around on the ground, clutching his head, as the continuous sharp pain pierced his very soul. He barely hung on to his mind by thinking of his treasured memories with his parents given the events that had just transpired.

    The sharp pain slightly abated, before the voice was heard once again. The voice had changed to an extremely alluring motherly tone.

    ¡°Why are you holding on? Your parents have gone onto the next world... you and your younger brother won¡¯t have much to hang onto even if you continue to live¡­ you should consider it an honor to have your body be taken over by an advancer, and pass onto the next world to spend a blissful and joyful time with your parents...they are likely impatiently awaiting your arrival right now...don¡¯t you remember their warm embrace? Dear, with my abilities, ¡®our¡¯ younger brother would definitely be safe!¡±

    With that said, the sharp pain returned, more unrelenting than before. Rein continued to hang on, but he could not help but start wishing he could ¡®go¡¯ and meet his parents again.

    An insidious idea had planted itself in his mind-- If the afterworld exists¡­ perhaps he could spend an eternity in bliss¡­ wouldn¡¯t that be wonderful¡­? But he remembered-- Jein and Meynan might still need him. Jein¡¯s fate would be uncertain if he mingled with this devil!

    He had to be there for them surely! He constantly tried to picture Jein¡¯s excited expressions of the past in his mind, as well as Meynan¡¯s beautiful figure and her smile from childhood through the many festivals and yearly celebrations they had enjoyed together.

    His sanity was like swimming against a riptide that wanted to drag him to the depths of the seas. Rein found himself gradually tilting to insanity, before barely clawing back a bit of himself, yet soon being pulled away again by an irresistible force. Luckily, today would not be the end for him.

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    The cackling voice grumbled and Rein¡¯s sharp pain immediately ceased.

    A banging noise echoed in the stone room. The sound did not originate from the hatch of the stone room¡¯s ceiling, but rather from the tunnel. This meant that the mercenaries had finally discovered the secret tunnel originating from the Hehr Mansion,  and was about to forcibly break the hatch that had been blocked from the inside.

    The splitting headache completely vanished, and when Rein finally regained clarity of mind, he was lying on his back in the stone room, and he glimpsed a black cloud seeping through the gaps between the hatch and the stone ceiling in escape.

    ¡°Big bro! Big bro!¡±

    Rein didn¡¯t notice it during his intense headache, but it was likely that Jein had been screaming at him for the whole time, worried about his big brother suddenly rolling on the ground and clutching at his head. Only Rein could hear that cackling voice of the fallen that had attempted to possess his mind and body.

    Rein figured he was now temporarily safe, saved by that devil¡¯s fear of being caught by this band of mercenaries. The devil must have lost his body, hid in his father¡¯s body and then tried to take over his body? It was likely that the devil led those mercenaries to the Hehr Mansion before hiding in his father¡¯s body.

    As Rein¡¯s thoughts reorganized themselves, he had managed to more or less connect the dots. He felt a strong hatred for these mercenaries and their indiscriminate methods, but he now understood their fear of the fallen.

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret escape route!¡±

    An elated muffled voice suddenly reverberated through the tunnels to the stone room.

    Rein blinked and quickly realigned himself, doing his best to shake off the remnant dull feeling in his head. He looked at the hatch in the ceiling of this stone room. He quickly picked up the remaining pouch he dropped during the crazy headache he experienced, and hung it around his very own neck. This hatch would be both his and his younger brother¡¯s only chance at survival now.

    Rein turned towards his parents¡¯ corpses, kneeling before giving a bow. Jein imitated him. Both he and Jein hooked the four fingers of each hand.

    ¡°May our bonds remain locked in our hearts for perpetuity.¡±

    Such was the farewell greeting in this realm. Rein was fully aware of how delicate their current situation was so he no longer dawdled.

    He lambasted himself for being a useless son, unable to even give his parents a proper burial. He could only swear in his heart to take care of Jein and find a way to avenge his parents.

    Rein then rapidly climbed up the ladder towards the hatch, and Jein followed with his dead eyes looking back down at his parent¡¯s corpses. At this age, Jein already had an initial understanding of death.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Rein nervously but silently lifted the hatch by a sliver, looking out through the gap into a storeroom. The devil had escaped through this hatch too-- who knew if he was waiting to pounce again?

    Luckily, Rein saw no black wisps that he associated with these fallen devils.

    He exited the hatch, then reached down to pull Jein up through the hatch as well. He then closed the hatch, and used his whole body weight to shift some heavy crate on the side on top of the hatch.

    Rein quickly recognized this was a storehouse just two streets away from the Hehr Mansion that his parents had shown him before. It was right next to Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge.

    This storehouse was a secretly hidden room with an entrance that looked to be part of the wall next to Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge from the outside. It was well insulated to heat and sound as a result, designed for both safe storage of key items, and as part of an escape route.

    The Hehr family had designed the escape route in such a way likely due to the fact that Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s place had numerous weapons as well as armor. In addition, Blacksmith Tiehr might be an advancer, and that was likely why, not only did the House Hehr had hired him for a princely sum, they also placed him in this important location with quality living arrangements.

    With this thought running through his mind, Rein understood the wisdom of his parents. In a mess like this, Blacksmith Tiehr would surely be the best bet for safety from any pursuers. This was the brothers¡¯ lifeline.

    The exit of the secret storeroom was centered in a back alleyway, and at the end of the alley would be a side entrance into Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge. At this stage, Rein breathed a sigh of relief. They were close. Half an alleyway and they would be safe. He considered hiding in this secret storeroom, but the devil-- a fallen advancer, had made him judge that the mercenaries might have a proper advancer that could circumvent his blockage of the hatch, as unlikely as it may seem.

    Rein leisurely opened the door out of the secret storeroom. In the alleyway outside, one would see a rectangular gap suddenly appear out of a normally uniform wall. What Rein saw immediately made him close the door again, and the rectangular gap instantly vanished.

    Rein rested his back against the door. On his face was an expression of absolute shock and disbelief. The whole alley was filled with numerous mercenaries duking it out with a bunch of townsfolk! There were corpses, severed limbs and bloody puddles littered all over the ground! Once again, he was reminded of the mercenaries¡¯ words-- they definitely meant it when they spoke of wiping out the Golden Desert Town!

    It was also likely that the whole Golden Desert Town was in flames and smoke. Rein wasn¡¯t sure of this since the door opened into an alleyway, but he had felt an intense heat and glimpse the smoke-filled skies above the walls when he opened the door.

    The secret storeroom had well insulated walls, leading to Rein having the initial misconception that the alleyway outside would be empty and safe for their passage. Luckily, he had been cautious as a fox and not simply rushed out with Jein in tow.

    It was not simply a matter of hiding anymore. Rein realized that they needed to escape the town, and Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s important further rose in his heart.

    His thoughts also turned to Meynan, who was no doubt similarly affected. But he also remembered the mysterious Steward Xeer that had been around as long as he could remember. Yes, Meynan must be fine, he believed.

    Calming his heart, Rein determined that first, he and Jein would need to reach the forge¡¯s side door, half an alleyway away, through all the fighting, blood and gore.

    A sudden thud that sent the heavy crate up into the air for the blink of an eye provided a timely reminder that the mercenaries were not far behind.  Luckily, the heavy crate plopped back down and maintained blockage of the hatch. Regardless, sooner or later, the mercenaries would break through the hatch into this safe room.

    He looked at Jein and did his very best to reassure the young child in preparation for the blood-soaked alleyway.

    ¡°Jein¡­ outside there¡¯s a lot of fighting and blood¡­¡±

    Rein struggled to find the right words. He had seen severed heads and limbs outside in the alleyway, and the amount of blood soaking into the ground with smoke and dust collecting on the surface, weren¡¯t exactly something you could prepare an eight year old for.

    ¡°Keep your eyes from looking around  too much, we just need to run to the end of the alley, Jein, and meet Blacksmith Tiehr! Keep moving no matter what!¡±

    Jein¡¯s dead eyes brightened for a moment at the mention of Blacksmith Tiehr, and he gave a determined nod.

    He quickly tore a few pieces of cloth in the storehouse, wetted them with a bit of water stored inside a pot meant for drought situations, and wrapped these around his own and Jein¡¯s nose and mouth. Pulling Jein¡¯s hand, he kicked open the exit and instantly rushed toward Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge.

    The hot smog and haze crashed into Rein¡¯s face, causing his eyes to tear up. He streaked forward regardless, his survival instinct telling him that any hesitation would lead to disaster. Jein was trying his best to move his short legs, but he was more or less half-dragged by Rein in their rapid escape.

    Then, An ear-piercing shriek suddenly sounded, causing all the bandits and townsfolk to turn and twist their heads in agony.

    A captivating female face appeared from the skies above the alleyway, floating in the haze, and the rest of her body was shrouded by black wisps of smoke. The repulsive shriek originated from her open mouth, a sharp contrast to her soft and enchanting facial features.

    The next moment, she closed her mouth, and spoke with a bewitching yet angry tone, ¡°Everyone retreat! Our mission has failed! Our hidden scion has fallen to this kingdom¡¯s dastardly tricks! Do not waste your lives anymore!¡±

    To Rein¡¯s horror, more than half of the townsfolk that were fighting instantly transformed into black cloaked men and started dashing toward the end of the alley. This left the other townsfolk aghast. They had been fighting for a long time thinking they were protecting the town with allies!

    The devilish woman then waved her arm, tossing out a few spherical crystals. These orbs exploded into multiple clouds of sickly green and deep violet mist upon impact with the ground.

    The bandit group caught in the mists screamed as every single one of them found their skin festering with yellow-green pulps that burst open, only for the liquid that seeped out to then burn their skin scarlet. One body after another collapsed onto the ground, their faces twisted in agony and despair. Luckily, Rein and Jein, along with a few other bandits and defending townsfolk, were on the other end of the alley, and thus found themselves spared this grisly fate.

    For Rein, this was the signal to quickly continue his escape with Jein. He bolted toward Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge, but his movement did not escape the notice of the otherworldly female figure floating in the sky.

    Her eyes glowed with interest when looking at Jein. Rein only heard her mutter, ¡°... a young child to groom into food....¡±

    Rein could only lament at his and Jein¡¯s misfortune upon hearing these words.

 Ch9: First Combat

    The very next moment, Rein found himself plastered against the ground under some sort of invisible pressure. No. Rein quickly realized it was the captivating woman¡¯s foot on his back. Though the devilish beauty looked dainty, her magical powers made Rein feel as if her foot was as heavy as a mountain. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Jein was already held in the woman¡¯s arms, barely visible within the black aurae surrounding her body like a protective cloud.

    For the very first time today, Rein felt an all-encompassing fear. He had felt some dread throughout his escape up until now and a sense of sorrow and dismay from his parent¡¯s demise that he managed to suppress in the moment. But, it had never grown to the point where he became frozen without resistance.

    Part of him was aware that he should be struggling to try to save his younger brother, but he only felt helpless against the weight plastering him against the ground; he instantly gave up on even trying to resist.

    All Rein could think was that he had to survive, and the only way to even have a half-chance at that was to remain completely compliant on the ground. And even then, this devilish beauty might drop that corrosive sphere onto him!

    If he struggled in any way to try to save Jein, he would undoubtedly die a miserable death.

    ¡°Lovely!¡± The evil beauty grabbed the two pouches that hung around Rein and Jein¡¯s neck and was delighted to find what they contained.

    An enraged roar suddenly shattered this pressure on his back, and Rein found himself being able to breathe again.

    The wall right next to the devilish woman collapsed into rubble. A large fist burst through, followed by Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s square face, which appeared fierce as a tigress defending her cubs, contrasting to his normally welcoming expression. This was further accentuated by the veins on the surface of his face, which emitted a crimson hue.

    The devilish female¡¯s eyes were wide with surprise, and she quickly raised a hand covered with an extremely solid black layer of aurae to block the fist.

    ¡°Burst!¡± Blacksmith Tiehr roared again.

    Fweep Fweep Fweep!

    Numerous solid crimson fist shadows projected from his knuckles, each shadow crushing surrounding air before smashing into the devilish woman¡¯s black palm.

    ¡°Outer advancer!¡± She screamed in pain. The devilish woman¡¯s arm now hung limp beside her body, and she had dropped one of the pouches she had stolen. Rein immediately grabbed it and returned it to around his neck, though the second pouch was nowhere to be seen.

    The devil beauty had only defended against the projected fist shadows. Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s actual crimson-coated burly fist was still traveling towards her.

    ¡°Fuse!¡± Blacksmith Tiehr boomed.

    The dispersed red aurae from the fist projections that had shattered upon contacting the devilish woman¡¯s defenses rushed backwards and gathered into the approaching physical fist again, causing Blacksmith¡¯s Tie¡¯s intimidating aura to rise even further.

    The devilish woman had a look of panic in her eyes, and quickly tapped a pouch hanging on her waist that was nearly fully obscured by the black wisps surrounding her body.

    A sturdy looking black scale from a powerful beast-- Rein¡¯s guess-- popped out, enlarging to completely separate the two ends of the alleyway.

    She then clutched onto Jein¡¯s collar and rapidly glided away, as Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s fist smashed into the scale treasure, causing a resounding boom to echo through the alleyway, scattering all the smoke and dust.

    Blacksmith Tiehr braced his legs against the ground before throwing forward a few more rapid fists into the scale treasure in an attempt to open up the path to the devilish woman.

    It would be inaccurate to say the devilish beauty was flying away though. She was more or less hovering at a certain height above the ground, moving toward the alleyway exit where her underlings had dashed toward previously. She did not seem like she could actually fly into the skies and instantly leave the area.

    ¡°All of you! Turn around and face this burly man! Slow him down by any means necessary, and your families will be well taken care of by me when I return!¡± commanded the devilish woman.

    Meanwhile, the black scale treasure now had multiple cracks across its surface. With a final fist, Blacksmith Tiehr caused the scale to fracture into a few separate pieces that littered the ground. The black pieces gradually lost whatever enchantment it was given, reverting to yellow hued remnants.

    The black cloaked team had turned around to face Blacksmith Tiehr, and although initially they appeared hesitant as well as scared of this burly man, they could not avoid their task.

    Against an outer advancer as identified by the devilish woman in the brief previous clash, they were aware that they would undoubtedly die, especially since the devilish woman who was much stronger than any of them needed to sacrifice a defensive armament just to escape half the length of an alleyway.

    The devilish woman had promised them that she would take care of their families to encourage them, but in reality, it was also a veiled threat that if they did not fight, their families would face retribution.

    The remaining bandits and townsfolk that were tricked by the disguised black cloaked group to fight alongside them previously, decided to band behind Blacksmith Tiehr. Blacksmith Tiehr turned toward Rein, ¡°Go inside the forge and leave your younger brother to me.¡±

    Rein felt some concern, noticing that although Blacksmith Tiehr appeared strong, the man seemed to be panting heavily after his earlier exertion. Then again, he knew little of advancers and their world.

    He felt helpless. He should be fighting for his younger brother, but at this key moment, he knew he was absolutely useless and could only skulk through the hole in the wall to hide inside Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge.

    Looking out through the hole in the wall, he saw Blacksmith Tiehr letting out a few coughs, before once again giving an almighty roar, leading the group behind him towards the direction of the group of devils.

    After that he would only hear the sound of metal clashing with metal, loud painful screams and wails as well as courageous hollering. This continued for well over the time it would take to drink a cup of tea, and the sounds of combat gradually became increasingly scattered. No doubt, the battle had moved farther and farther away, chasing after the devilish beauty who was trying to escape.

    Looking around, Rein noticed that Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge had managed to avoid being set on fire, likely because of the advancer¡¯s strength in resisting any invaders.

    After witnessing Blacksmith¡¯s Tie combat level, Rein concluded that his parents likely knew the blacksmith was an advancer trying to blend in with the mortal world.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Rein, now alone, sat on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees. His normally black and sleek hair was a mess covered in dust and soot, his clothing grayed and desecrated by a few bloody streaks here and there. His body was fully trembling now, an emotional release under the illusion that at least he himself was finally safe in Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge.

    His slight reprieve made him enter a state of heightened awareness that felt as if he was outside of his body. He realized he was nothing but an ant, a truly useless body. His parents died in front of him, and he had thought at least that he could protect Jein. Yet instead, he was now sitting safely in the forge waiting for Blacksmith Tiehr to rescue Jein. He scoffed at himself. What ¡®Young Sir of House Hehr¡¯? More like a piece of flesh fated to feed the crows.

    In the brief moment of silence, Rein increasingly felt that his life before today was a pathetic joke. It felt real yet illusory.

    However, Rein would not have time for further contemplation. A smirking bandit stepped into the forge through the hole in the wall. The bandit had a sly expression, and had a chopper in each of his hands.

    He looked at Rein and smirked, ¡°My friends died trying to break in here before, but now it¡¯s only you. I have been paid to kill everyone in this town to eliminate all the devils! Oh, the joy of killing¡­¡±

    The bandit broke into a huge grin that showed his crooked teeth as he confidently stomped toward Rein. He also noticed the pouch around Rein¡¯s neck and felt even more elated at potentially finding bonus loot.

    Rein did not know why the bandit spoke such words to him, but he quickly stood up, barely able to stand up straight due to his overall emotional fatigue, quickly picking up the closest tool as a weapon-- a heavy hammer.

    The bandit looked at the teen and frowned, wondering why the teen did not start begging for his life like many others he had slaughtered, before letting out an almighty bellow.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you scream, you youngling!¡±

    It would seem that the bandit initially spoke to Rein in hopes of eliciting a desired response. Rein instead picked up a hammer to fight. The bandit had originally assumed it would be an easy task intimidating a teen dressed in merchant clothes. An intimidated prey usually put up less of a fight, and decreased the risk of danger to himself.

    Rein had never been in an actual fight before, but he had been taught basic techniques by Guard Wein, and also sparred occasionally. He recalled Guard Wein¡¯s words with regards to being in a fight: ¡°In a fight, nothing ever goes to plan. In your first fight, everything will be a mess, so you must conquer your fear and might have to very well go all out for your life, otherwise you will fall.¡±

    He started his deep breathing exercise, calming his heart and mind. His dangerous situation had made him focus his mind. Perhaps not even he knew he was capable of such clarity of mind. He knew that the bandit was undoubtedly more experienced than him. He would definitely need to fight like a cornered dog, and even then, that would only give him barely a chance at survival.

    With that in mind, he determined that all he needed to do was land a single blow to crush any part of the bandit¡¯s body with the heavy hammer. Getting sliced by the bandit¡¯s choppers would be worth it if he could land a heavy blow.

    The bandit grew increasingly vigilant after noticing Rein perform a breathing technique. This was not going to be as effortless as he initially thought. He gradually shifted his feet forward, swaying the two choppers in his hands in a bid to elicit a careless response from Rein.

    Rein was well instructed by Guard Wein. He felt anxious and tense, but remembered all the lessons taught to him especially with regards to distance and feints. He stood tall with the heavy hammer.

    There was no reason for him to move. He needed to maintain a stable stance right now and be ready to react. He had to wait for the bandit to close the distance-- the bandit¡¯s choppers had a specific range of attack.

    The bandit felt slightly unnerved, seeing his prey acting like an unmoving rock under his provocation. He realized he would need to surprise the young teen.

    As the distance between the two gradually closed, Rein kept track of the distance that the bandit could reach with his choppers. He once again reminded himself of his objective as he regulated his breathing, trying to keep his heart from pounding too hard as the bandit edged closer.

    He reminded himself that even if he were to take a semi-fatal hit, as long as he could smash the heavy hammer into the bandit, Blacksmith Tiehr would likely be able to save him with his advancer powers when he returns.

    A few more steps, and the bandit would be in range to attack Rein with his choppers. The bandit suddenly smirked. He was experienced and even if the teen in front of him was trained with the right approach, there was no way the teen would respond well to a surprise.

    The bandit suddenly threw his left chopper towards the right side of Rein¡¯s body, before dashing forward to close the remaining distance while chopping down with his right at Rein¡¯s left side.

    Rein could only dodge towards his left, surprised that this bandit had made the pivotal choice of sacrificing one of his choppers. Unfortunately, that movement threw his body in line of the bandit¡¯s right chopper.

    He tried to move the heavy hammer to meet the bandit¡¯s right chopper, but his stance was unstable after dodging to his left, and he could not summon the proper strength to accurately shift the heavy hammer.

    At the very last moment, Rein roared like Blacksmith Tiehr, barely summoning enough strength to awkwardly maneuver the hammer into the bandit¡¯s line of path. He attempted to smash the bandit with the hammer, completely disregarding how heavy an injury the right chopper might cause to himself if left unimpeded.

    But the hammer met no resistance, nor did Rein get injured by the chopper! Rein suddenly saw the chopper withdraw. It was a feint! Next, all Rein felt was the bandit¡¯s foot connecting with his chest followed by the crackling sound of a few broken ribs, causing him to lose his grip on the hammer before stumbling backwards.

    Rein felt his back crash into a wall, a throbbing dull pain on his left chest where the bandit¡¯s foot had cracked a number of his ribs. He could not help but slide down the wall and onto the ground in agony. He could not even groan in pain, as he was winded from the bandit¡¯s foot connecting with his chest.

    Inwardly, Rein struggled to understand why this bandit had opted to use multiple feints against a total amateur like him.

    The bandit once again had a wide smile on his face. However, he felt cold sweat on his forehead, and was relieved that he had planned a set of moves that would normally be unnecessary facing a greenhorn like Rein.

    It was a good thing he had listened to the words of his long dead mentor to never be careless even if facing someone that appeared relatively harmless. As said, even lions had to use their full strength when hunting a rabbit.

    He had noticed Rein focusing on his choppers and the distance, and thus decided to surprise Rein by first, disrupting the distance through throwing his chopper, and then using his other chopper as a feint.

    The unexpected foot to the chest was the final strike. This had helped him avoid being struck by the hammer, which Rein had decided to aggressively wield with disregard of his very own life, betting on Blacksmith Tiehr to save him afterwards.

    The bandit leisurely picked up his previously thrown chopper from the ground, and moved towards Rein in a relaxed manner. Rein wanted to struggle, but he could not even breathe properly after having his ribs cracked by the bandit¡¯s kick.

    As the bandit moved closer, all Rein saw was the manic expression of the bandit. His distinct mocking smile with sadistic eyes and crooked yellow teeth. Rein saw a shadow of a chopper hanging in the air.

    Everything was for naught. He thought he could one day get revenge for his parents and also keep his younger brother safe. Yet, he was unable to even survive this encounter against a single bandit.

    He closed his eyes, bracing himself for his demise.

    Instead, he suddenly felt warm liquid splashing onto his face. His initial thought was that the bandit had decided to pee on his face as a form of humiliation.

    Bandits were famous for using many methods to humiliate their foes and their prey. However, when he opened his eyes, what his crossed-eyes saw was a sharp sword tip in front of his nose, and the warm liquid spurting onto his face was blood from the chest of the bandit that had been pierced by the sword.

    The bandit collapsed sideways, revealing Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s figure. Rein, again, had his miserable life saved by Blacksmith Tiehr, only to notice that Blacksmith Tiehr was covered in wounds, bruises and blood.

    Normally, this might not be surprising given that Blacksmith Tiehr had been in combat, but Blacksmith Tiehr suddenly coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood before collapsing onto a knee. Blacksmith Tiehr muttered dejectedly, ¡°Sorry, Rein¡­ I could not take your younger brother back¡­¡±

    Rein finally felt as if the world had abandoned him. He had somehow survived everything, but his parents and Jein were nowhere to be found. All his emotions, the rage at the situation, the fatigue, the helplessness consumed him and he only felt a burning and throbbing headache before he lost consciousness.

 Ch10: Echoes of the Fallen True Gods

    In his dreams, Rein found himself in a whitish and hazy picturesque landscape, as if he was in an ink painting. The colors of the environment flowed into each other and cascaded together.

    Was this heaven? He was more or less close to death after all. But if a heaven really existed¡­ Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder why these Gods of said heaven would even allow the injustices his family had just experienced.

    Rein wandered in the forest, appreciating the view of nature but his heart was chaotic in rage.

    The heavens and the Gods that built it, too, are responsible for his pain and suffering!

    But, his heart gradually calmed as everything around him was in a muffled state, including the chirping of the birds and the sound of cicadas. The forest animals such as squirrels occasionally crossed Rein¡¯s path, but none of them actually seemed to notice Rein¡¯s presence.

    As he wandered, Rein found himself moving deeper and deeper into the forest. It was as if his path was predetermined and he was unable to extradite himself from the path in the dream.

    Rein soon found himself standing in front of a huge tree that reached limitlessly into the skies. Its base was thick beyond measure, stretching wide to the point where it would take more than a hundred men to wrap their arms around the trunk.

    An odd looking humanoid stood at the tree base. She looked similar to a human, but her figure looked stout and thick, a few heads shorter than Rein. Her hair was like that of a lion¡¯s, a beautiful dark brown mane that wrapped around her face.

    Baffled, Rein could only wonder what this being was. He had certainly never seen any record of such a being in his readings.

    There was also a small jet black bead on her forehead center that seemed to suck in Rein¡¯s attention. The odd being smiled upon seeing Rein approach, but did not open her mouth to communicate. Rather, the humanoid spoke a simple sentence directly into Rein¡¯s mind, ¡°Your heart and aurae called out to us...¡±

    This being¡¯s words were in a language unknown to Rein, yet he fully understood the meaning within the phrase. The meaning of her words were directly inserted into his mind.

    He wanted to question this mysterious lion-maned short humanoid, but before he could, a sharp whistling wind came from the skies above. He tilted his head backwards, only to see a humongous ape dropping down from wherever the top of the thick tree was.

    The monkey landed in front of Rein, causing the dreamscape to shake and tremble, accompanied by the sound of a muffled earthquake. The large monkey also had a jet black bead in the middle of his forehead, similar to the short humanoid.

    The ape further transformed, growing larger and larger until it was as tall as the gigantic tree, its presence awe-inspiring, casting a shadow across the whole forest. Rein recalled that there were once beasts as large as the world, referred to as primordial beasts, and he suddenly recalled that the reason he had an impression that the immortals were titans such as a huge mountain ape, was precisely because he had seen this ape in a dream when he was nothing but a small child.

    Although the monkey had transformed into a huge mountainous ape that reached the sky, for some magical reason, when Rein looked up, he could still see into the mountain ape¡¯s eyes. It was as if the dream was helping him look farther than he naturally could.

    The primordial mountain ape spoke a few words in an ancient language, before staring back into Rein¡¯s eyes. The ape formed a circle with its two hands, creating a black sphere. All of the sudden, Rein felt as if he could not resist being sucked into the ape¡¯s eyes, as memories of the mountain ape entered his brain.

    The dreamscape twisted in a whirl, and he then found himself submerged and slowly sinking in a thick and sticky blood pool, and no matter how he struggled, he could only sink deeper down, until his head sank below the surface and he could not even breathe.

    As he struggled to take in air, he only repeatedly swallowed the blood which made his whole body burn, starting from a sizzling in his throat. He was gradually suffocating, and his last feeling was that of relief after the trials he had gone through that very night...

    Rein was found himself shocked awake. He was back in Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge. The dream he just had felt incredibly surreal, but he was clearly still in Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge¡­

    Looking down at his body, Rein noticed his abdomen was wrapped in bandages with the smell of ointment, probably emergency treatment for his broken ribs by Blacksmith Tiehr.

    What a perplexing dream. It felt so real, but surely, it was nothing but a deranged dream due to his overreacting to the loss of Jein, Rein believed.

    He stood up onto his unsteady feet, his legs still weak and his mind muddled by the horrendous events of the night.

    The only thing keeping him on his feet was the anger sitting in the pit of his stomach. It had been resting there ever since he saw his parents dead. He checked the pouch around his neck. It was a pouch with bronze and copper medallions.

    He had carelessly hung the major pouch with the Hehr merchant deeds around Jein¡¯s neck, assuming that the two would not part. That devilish woman might have targeted Jein because of that pouch. Advancers were said to be able to sense items inside mortal storage methods. That was essentially lost now. It was only luck that Rein had managed to retrieve this other pouch, thanks to Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s appearance.

    Rein felt even worse about his own uselessness. Perhaps if he had hid these pouches with another method, he might have protected the Hehr merchant deeds.

    Angered at himself, he smashed his fist into a mirror hanging on the wall. The mirror cracked, but Rein was only had only done some physical conditioning-- he was not some powerful advancer. His stupid action only delivered cuts to Rein¡¯s knuckles¡­

    As Rein looked up, he saw his own face split into multiple reflections by the cracked mirror. For a moment, he felt guilty beyond comparison. He still remembered that when that devilish woman wanted to take Jein, he was unable and did not take any action.

    A failure of a brother, he told his cracked reflection. Even if he was weak, he could have surely at least tried! Perhaps he could have launched himself at the woman right when Blacksmith Tiehr attacked! That might have influenced the outcome!

    As he looked into that cracked mirror, he hated his own scattered reflection more and more. He was meant to be someone to carry on his family legacy. He was educated by his father and ready. But in the end, it became nothing.

    He was just as weak as a child in front of that devilish woman, and in the face of this disaster. And now all Rein felt was bitterness and anger, and yet he was unable to exercise this fury. How could he change anything when even Blacksmith Tiehr couldn¡¯t bring back his younger brother?

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Within his self-contemplation and his raging chaotic aurae, unaware to Rein, his body was burning, gradually absorbing the aurae in his surroundings through his breaths, and his body was rapidly transforming. If one passed aurae through his body, they would be able to sense that his body was now semi-permeable to the flow of aurae.

    Rein¡¯s body was burning, but he regarded that as nothing but his rage coursing through his veins. Then a ringing in his head sounded. In order to expel this rising heat and clear his mind, Rein found himself smashing a right fist into the wall again. Unlike the last time, his knuckles no longer bled and only felt a dull lingering ache. Furthermore, the wall vibrated as if barely keeping its stable structure.

    In disbelief at his body¡¯s durability, Rein finally noticed his body constitution had gotten significantly stronger. It was recorded that one could consider themselves of the mid-inner level once one¡¯s body had changed to the point where punching relatively stable mortal structures no longer injured the body.

    He remembered that Guard Wein had instructed that the inner advancer realm was about experiencing and regulating all emotional states. Was it possible that this night¡¯s events had opened a door for him? Allowing him to stabilize his body and develop to a higher level? Was this the price of becoming an advancer? All these questions entered Rein¡¯s mind simultaneously.

    Then, pieces of a mountain ape¡¯s memories flashed through his mind, and he felt as if that if he wanted to, he could instantly move his body to any location he could see clearly with his eyes. It was no dream after all-- that mountain ape had truly given him knowledge that he should not have.

    He saw an anvil a few lengths in front of him, and as if compelled by a mysterious force, his hands came together to form a circle in front of his abdomen. The circle inside his hands turned into an aurae ball of jet black sphere, sucking in his hands first, followed by his arms and then the rest of his body.

    In a single breath, a jet black sphere reappeared above the anvil,and Rein¡¯s body swirled out from the sphere followed by his arms and lastly, his hands.

    Rein was at the same time befuddled, delighted, but also frightened. He shouldn¡¯t be able to perform such a magical skill. Yet, it had felt like it was something he could naturally do, not dissimilar to how he could easily control his fingers and arm as he wished!

    He concluded that this was something that the primordial mountainous ape had given him in that surreal dream. That dream must have been some sort of supernatural event. Or perhaps, it was something that he was always born with, but awakened due to tonight¡¯s stressful events. After all, dreams were supposedly nothing but one¡¯s internal reflection, so it was said.

    Rein could not fully make sense of it. The reason he believed it being possible he had always had it was that he recalled having a dream of a titanic ape back when he was a small child. If anything, this made it even more confusing.

    Also, to his relief, he did not feel any exhaustion after executing the skill-- the skill only used up a smidge of his aurae. Extremely powerful advancer skills were said to sometimes completely deplete an advancer¡¯s aurae. Rein felt instinctively that if he tried to travel farther with this skill, the aurae consumption would be higher-- no, he knew it was so!

    His instincts also told him that he probably could perform the same skill without forming the sphere with his hands, but he would die from aurae exhaustion before he could successfully attempt that as of now.

    Now, his heart brightened up with a bit of hope as he clenched his fist and gave it a pump. He was elated that he could suddenly perform this magical skill. Maybe with this, he would actually be able to kill those mercenaries, bandits and those fallen devils!

    A heavy sigh echoed from a dark corner of the forging room, drawing Rein¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Ha! At my death¡¯s door, I¡¯ve finally seen an origin skill!¡± Blacksmith Tiehr croaked joyously.

    Rein looked over at a dark corner of the forge. When he awoke, his emotional state had led him to temporarily lose awareness of the current situation. He simply thought Blacksmith Tiehr had gone off somewhere to treat his own injuries. Instead, Blacksmith Tiehr was crouched in a dark corner.

    The sound of Blacksmith Tiehr shuffling forward in a seated position echoed in the forge, and soon, Rein discovered that something was horribly wrong with Blacksmith Tiehr.

    Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s normally robust body was now comparatively thin and frail looking, and his skin dry and flakey. His square face appeared sunken in and gaunt. His previous facial veins that appeared crimson during the fight against the devilish woman were now a rotting moss green that occasionally pulsed dull yellow.

    This was why Rein did a double take when Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s face became illuminated in the red glow of the forge.

    Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s gradually stopped laughing, and frankly, the laughing expression did not seem to fit his current grim appearance.

    Blacksmith Tiehr sighed and spoke with a gruff voice, ¡°yes, look at this old man on death¡¯s door. And no, do not feel guilty. These injuries were not caused by that devilish woman, but by an advanced poison that could only be made by an extremely influential advancer organization.¡±

    His expression returned to a normal welcome and magnanimous smile that he often had when facing Rein and other young teens and children.

    Rein hesitantly wanted to make a request even though he knew Blacksmith Tiehr was poisoned, ¡°the House Jeihr¡­¡± But he was quickly reassured.

    ¡°Worry not, young Rein. Steward Xeer is a telekinetic realm advancer, a level above my outer realm. For an inexplicable reason, he has chosen to serve as a hidden protector for the House Jeihr. Specifically the current Sir Jeihr.¡±

    Rein had suspected Steward Xeer to be an advancer, but not this strong! House Jeihr was certainly more powerful than he imagined. Perhaps Sir Jeihr had taken into consideration his daughter¡¯s heart to some degree after all. He further realized that even larger organizations that attempted to target House Jeihr might discover that it was not a rabbit, but rather, a hidden tiger.

    ¡°Meynan will be safe,¡± Blacksmith Tiehr reassured. ¡°However, due to my poisoned veins, I will not be able to take you to safety¡­ you will need to wait here until the night gets deeper and the bandits leave. They have been instructed to kill everyone in the Golden Desert Town. This will allow me to preserve some strength for emergency situations as well.¡±

    Rein sat back down with his back against the wall. It was great that Meynan has the protection of a telekinetic realm advancer. He knew little about what the telekinetic realm meant. But supposedly, it was the fourth major level of advancer power realms. The name itself signified that said advancer would be able to use incredibly long-ranged control magics. Something along those lines, Rein figured.

    He calmed his restlessness. Knowing that Rein had little knowledge of the advancer world, Blacksmith Tiehr provided additional information.

    ¡°Those of the telekinetic realm have a unique soul that allows them to directly manipulate the physical realm around them, and can even use this soul to manipulate the physical realm to reform their physical body.¡±

    Having this knowledge, Rein was fully convinced of Meynan¡¯s safety. He still felt jittery due to his previous helplessness in the face of the bandits, mercenaries and devil advancers. He reminded himself that the worst was over, and returned his focus to himself.

    ¡°Origin Skill?¡± Rein questioned. Blacksmith Tiehr had demonstrated that he had knowledge of Rein¡¯s odd supernatural experience.

    ¡°Yes,¡± croaked Blacksmith Tiehr. ¡°WIll you forget about Meynan? You do know the unspoken rule that the advancer world and the mortal world cannot have any strong ties, yes?¡±

    Rein remained quiet. He had wanted to know what an origin skill was, but instead, Blacksmith Tiehr was using this knowledge to separate him from his childhood love.

    ¡°It¡¯s for your own good. You will be hunted and ostracized by other advancers if you do not follow this rule. You will also outlive her hundreds or even thousands of years. Do you understand?¡± Blacksmith Tiehr did not hold back. He felt that his time was limited.

    When Rein remained silent, Blacksmith Tiehr decided it was pointless to pursue this point. In his eyes, Rein would know the reality of the situation sooner or later.

    ¡°Origin skills are considered the echoes of the fallen true gods,¡± he explained. ¡°Yes. The true gods are long dead. Occasionally, stars align and an advancer will see a vision that gives them knowledge of an origin skill.¡±

    ¡°Most scholars believe that these visions are the results of the death throes of these true Gods. Before their deaths, they must have used their limitless powers to etch themselves into the world. Occasionally, someone would come in contact with it when circumstances align.¡±

    ¡°The magical skills are echoes of their memories. A desire to control the world even after their deaths!¡±

 Ch11: Draconic Metamorphose Bead

    Rein¡¯s heart jumped in fright at this revelation.

    ¡°Does this not mean that in a way, I have become a hand of a true god?!¡± Perhaps some might be elated, but Rein understood enough to suspect that perhaps¡­ he was being possessed in some way.

    ¡°Not exactly,¡± chortled Blacksmith Tiehr, before a hacking cough interrupted his amusement. He continued, ¡°Imagine if both you and I felt hungry and were interested in killing a rabbit for its meat. Knowing that we share this goal, I give you a knife to kill said rabbit. Would you have not attempted to kill said rabbit if I didn¡¯t give you the knife?¡±

    Rein contemplated this question, and knew he would still have attempted to kill the rabbit for this meat. Provided he didn¡¯t have lamb meat on hand. That was his favorite.

    ¡°This is what I mean by stars aligning. To be accurate, it is when an individual¡¯s heart vibrates to the same tune of a true god¡¯s echo. At least, that is what scholars believe.¡±

    ¡°But,¡± Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s voice deepened heavily with gravity. ¡°You are right in that there are some that believe those with origin skills are but possessed beings of the true gods. These advancers will hunt people like you relentlessly. There are also advancers that are interested in these fallen true gods, and you will be but a conduit in their eyes to understanding the true gods. The advancer world is a dangerous world.¡± Blacksmith Tiehr sighed in self-deprecation. ¡°Just look at me¡­¡±

    The man¡¯s words ignited a fear in Rein¡¯s heart. Rein resolved to be careful in demonstrating skills or any knowledge to do with his vision of the short humanoid and primordial ape in any shape or form in the future, if he could avoid it.

    ¡°Do you want to hear another tale?¡± The blacksmith suddenly asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m growing into an adult, what use are these tales?!¡± Rein groaned in his heart. He was certainly not in the mood to listen to the blacksmith¡¯s tales right now. However, Blacksmith Tiehr had given him assistance that was impossible to repay. Thus, he nodded.

    ¡°I will tell you a final tale, feel free to listen or ignore it as you will. But if you listen, I have a final gift for you,¡± Blacksmith Tiehr forcibly continued, determined to tell his tale. In this forge enclosure, as long as he spoke, he would be heard. His intuition told him that this final tale he was about to tell could very well be important for Rein.

    As for the accompanying gift? Blacksmith Tiehr had long decided on this when Rein fainted on the ground. In many ways, it was a dying legacy of his journey.

    ¡°A long, long time ago, when I was still a young teen like you, I dreamt of becoming an advancer who would roam the realms of the world! It was the realm of the golden crow, where fire aurae was most plentiful, and I, with my slightly high affinity for fire aurae, was considered an above average talent worth developing!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr suddenly gave a few hacking coughs, with the final cough spitting out a greenish yellow saliva. However, he continued his tale with a joyful voice, reminiscing in his happy memories.

    ¡°I joined a top ten sect of the realm once I broke into the shell realm from the inner realm. What a glorious time! I formed a strong group with my brothers, and we started roaming across the golden crow realm, completing sect missions left and right.¡±

    ¡°Sure, not all of them were easy, but we were always successful in completing those missions. We were soon considered an unrivaled advancer group in the shell level advancers, and all the other advancers would avoid us when we marched down every street! After all, a good team of shell advancers could even take down a careless telekinetic advancer!¡±

    ¡°Us brothers¡¯ advancer powers slowly but surely advanced, and eventually all of us broke through into the outer realm. We felt incredibly powerful with our newfound strength. We were already originally an unrivaled group of shell advancers in the golden crow realm. Thus, we decided we would go on a celebratory journey to another realm: The legendary realm of the dragons!¡±

    At this point, Rein¡¯s heart had settled down, and he held onto Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s every word. This was the very first time Blacksmith Tiehr had told him about his life before being hired by his parents. It also opened his eyes to the existence of other worlds.

    ¡°The dragon in ages long past was a symbol of auspiciousness! Though their reputation had fallen, what better a place to visit immediately after becoming outer advancers? Not only that, when we arrived, we immediately found out from an amicable young man that there was a unique treasure. We thought that the heavens were delivering the treasure to our doorstep and it was meant for us! Such a treasure appeared right after our rise in strength? That was our reassurance! We felt it was destiny!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s originally bright eyes seemed to have significantly dimmed. He appeared to be an arrow at the end of its flight. He coughed up a large volume of green spit mixed with blood before continuing in a mournful tone.

    ¡°If it was too easy, we would know it was a trap. But it had a good level of security that our team would not have been able to break through. There were other collaborators that planned to work together, especially because the treasure was supposedly a dragon¡¯s heart. It contains the dragon¡¯s thickest blood, and can be used to create potions to augment any and all draconic related skills an advancer might have!¡±

    ¡°Draconic magics¡­¡± His eyes were misty in a dream as he sighed, ¡°the capability to create storms, roll waves into tsunamis, tremble the earth. An affinity to all elements of nature!¡±

    ¡°We were certain our team could get our hands on the dragon¡¯s heart and subsequently vanish in a puff of smoke back to the Golden Crow realm! Us brothers would have another ace-in-the-hole once we drank ourselves drunk on the dragon''s heart blood!¡±

    ¡°Did we obtain our target? Damn right we did! The treasure was being moved among a number of different caravans in different directions, but our informer knew exactly which one it was! We and our collaborators were tied down by the guards, but my brother, talented in stealth and speed, activated his secret magical art and easily stole the treasure while another talented in advancer systems broke the inscription defense surrounding the treasure! The other collaborators were amateurs in the face of our teamwork. We left like the wind immediately after!¡±

    ¡°We soon found out we could not escape two groups of pursuers. One was the group we stole from-- the dragon demon elites. Another was a group of humans led by our informer! We soon figured out why we couldn¡¯t shake them off.¡±

    ¡°The informer was actually a telekinetic advancer that had hidden some sort of magical mark on each of our bodies that allowed him to track us. It was difficult to remove these marks as it was placed by a far stronger advancer. We needed to last long enough to remove these marks. In truth, we only found out after the inscription master in our group ate a few rare augmentation pills that temporarily increased his perception to identify the tracking marks hidden in plain sight on our bodies.¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°The dragon demonic elites were even more fearsome. After all, this was their treasure! They transformed into their true dragon forms and soared through the clouds amidst thunder and lightning. Of course, the treasure had the blood of a dragon, they could easily pinpoint the aurae that inevitably would leak out from the treasure!¡±

    ¡°Whenever we heard thunder, we would know that the demon guards had drawn close. Luckily, we developed in the land of the Golden Crow, and had many flight techniques including blood sacrificial ones. This allowed us to sacrifice the blood of our own lifespan to maintain a distance from both groups while slowly purging the telekinetic advancer¡¯s tracking marks.¡±

    ¡°We also continuously supported our inscription specialist in trying to form a system to suppress the remnant dragon aurae emitting out of the treasure. As long as we could suppress it for a few days, and remove the tracking marks, we would be able to throw off our pursuers! Our aurae replenishing pills were thrown to our inscription brother, who continuously attempted different types of systems to suppress the aurae.¡±

    ¡°We eventually accomplished both! Our pursuers gradually stopped being able to track our path, and we quickly made our way to a rarely used realm portal center of the dragon realm. Some of us had injuries, most of our pills consumed, our life blood dangerously low. But still, our brother talented in illusion arts casted a decent disguise for all of us as we moved to the portal¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr now had blood tears sliding down his square face, and Rein had an inkling that nothing good came out of this tale.

    ¡°To this day, I could not figure how that group of humans had managed to overtake us and set up a trap at this portal location. They could not have tracked us after we removed their tracking inscriptions on our bodies. Nor were they fast enough to overtake us without us noticing it. But they were there disguised as guards of the portals! I don''t even know what they did with the original dragon guards stationed there¡­¡±

    ¡°They also immediately saw through our disguise. Perhaps they had kept count of our team members, and because our disguise was casted by a single brother talented in illusions, we could not increase our distance too much from that brother¡­¡±

    ¡°The first indication we noticed was when one of the human advancers disguised as a guard welcomed me before suddenly stabbing me with a dagger coated with a high level aurae poison. In some ways, we were lucky, since I was one of the brothers that specialized in body strengthening magics. Thus, my tough body could suppress the poison, and the dagger did not penetrate deeply. Anyone else on my team might have died rapidly from the poison.¡±

    ¡°However, next, all the fake guards numbering over one hundred piled onto our group, launching their advancer magical arts and weapons at our ten-man team. Our team immediately retaliated, meeting force with force to create time for our system master to immediately set up a small defense system.¡±

    ¡°But one hundred was one hundred, and my brothers fell one by one. And I, the tough-bodied advancer, was the last one standing as I watched my brothers collapse one by one around me. And in my pouch was the treasure box that carried the dragon¡¯s heart, the treasure that had caused the death of my brothers, and soon me as well.¡±

    ¡°At that point, I realized I was a mistake. Why did I let my greed consume me and my brothers? Why did I ever think we were powerful enough to steal a dragon¡¯s heart just because our team was unrivaled in the shell advancer level? Surely, I could have prevented this disaster¡­¡±

    Rein understood Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s regret. The man and his allies had clearly become overly confident, leading to their ends.

    ¡°My brothers were injured but not corpses yet. Thus, I opened the box, hoping to gift the dragon¡¯s heart to the leader of our enemies, and secure my companions¡¯ waning lives.¡±

    ¡°It was a scam! When I opened the treasure box, it was but a draconic metamorphose bead. A dragon would create this bead upon sensing its impending death, and it was the method through which these dragons passed their knowledge generation to generation, in imitation of the fallen true gods. The draconic metamorphose bead would increase the elemental affinity of the next-generation dragon who consumed it as well!¡±

    ¡°One might think this was useful, but the reality was that it was absolutely useless for all non-dragons! The bead itself has the remnant will of the dead dragon. This was the same for all metamorphose beads of various races as well! Historically, any humans who attempted to consume these types of metamorphose beads would go mad like a demon, their mind hijacked by the remnant will!¡±

    ¡°No matter how I explained myself, my surrounding foes believed I had hidden the dragon¡¯s heart elsewhere. I knew then that my doom was guaranteed!¡±

    ¡°But this would not be the end of me¡­ because the dragon demons arrived immediately after, distracting the telekinetic human advancer and his lackeys. I immediately realized this was my chance to survive and seek revenge! I quickly took out a top grade spatial power crystal that we had found in some ruins in one of our sect missions, and channeled the power into the random closest portal, activating it in a single breath of time!¡±

    ¡°This would not have saved me, but my illusionist brother wasn¡¯t quite dead yet, and he, with his dying breath, conjured multiple illusions of me activating all the portals and entering them all, misleading my pursuers!¡±

    ¡°I entered the portal, traveled the void and appeared in another unknown realm. I did not stay there. I repeatedly activated random portals every single time, jumping through god knows how many realms, before finally exhausting the top grade spatial power crystal as well as nearly all of my own aurae.¡±

    ¡°And this was the realm I arrived at. I needed to hide in case my pursuers somehow made it to this realm.¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr looked at his own mess of greenish yellow spit on the ground by his feet.

    ¡°And this poison is a type of aurae poison. It only acts when one uses magic. As long as I did not practice advancer arts and found an antidote¡­ I would not suffer. Fifty years! That has been the time I have stayed in this realm. But I could not find an antidote¡­ the poison was unique!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr then shook his head as he closed his eyes in defeat.

    ¡°For fifty years, I searched for an antidote. Once I consumed the antidote, I could then seek revenge! But I did not dare to find any medical advancers. If my condition was to be leaked out, undoubtedly, my enemies would be able to find me due to the unique nature of the poison I received. Fifty years is nothing to a telekinetic advancer. They definitely have the patience to continue seeking in this time period, and I have barely stayed undetected here. I have no doubt they believe I have the dragon¡¯s heart blood. Even if it truly existed and I had consumed it, they would take my life and seek to extract the strength of the dragon¡¯s heart blood from my own heart.¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr''s expression was now completely peaceful-- he had accepted his fate.

    ¡°But you know, after spending time in Golden Desert Town, now at death¡¯s door, I discovered that attending a forge and hammering out different tools and weapons for everyone in need wasn¡¯t so bad at all¡­ It has been so¡­ calm and peaceful¡­ something I never had back when I was a genuine advancer.¡±

    It became silent in the forge, and the air rather awkward. Blacksmith Tiehr had more or less admitted his impending death after the poison in his veins acted up in his fight against the devilish woman, which caused Rein to feel even more guilty.

    Rein felt that if he had perhaps put up a bit more extra resistance against the devilish beauty, Blacksmith Tiehr would have succeeded in saving Jein while putting in significantly less effort.

    Blacksmith Tiehr finally spoke again after a long pause.

    ¡°Rein, the echoes of the fallen true gods have communed with you. But origin skills are just skills. They need a strong and abundant source of magical power. And, such a unique and powerful skill will inevitably attract attention if used-- owning a jade ring inevitably becomes a crime for a poor man. And the advancer world is a dangerous place, in which the weak are inevitably prey to the strong¡­¡±

    Rein finally realized that Blacksmith Tiehr was not just warning him about being overconfident. The tale was also an insight into the advancer world that Rein would have to enter if he wanted revenge for his family.

    This only made him feel ashamed for questioning the worth of Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s offer of a final tale a short period ago. This did not dissuade his determination; Rein felt that he was on a path of no return. Today, he had seen and lost too much to return to being a simple mortal.

    ¡°So¡­¡± A manic energy consumed Blacksmith¡¯s Tiehr¡¯s slumped body. ¡°How about you consume this draconic metamorphose bead?¡±

    Rein scratched his ears in disbelief.

    ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡±

 Ch12: Madness or Brilliance

    Blacksmith Tiehr had gone mad from his impending death, was Rein¡¯s instinctive opinion.

    He had already said that all humans that had consumed these types of metamorphose beads went mad eventually. Yet now, the dying man was suggesting such an idea?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand, Rein?¡± Blacksmith Tiehr croaked in epiphany. ¡°For inexplicable reasons, I have survived until this moment with the draconic metamorphose bead! Here and now! Is this not fate? Is this not destiny?¡±

    ¡°As I thought about it, I realized! The remnant dragon¡¯s will, will find itself pitted against the echo of the fallen true gods! You will not be overtaken by madness!¡±

    Rein was hardly convinced. The echo of the true gods was just a remnant¡­ Rein suddenly understood Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s thoughts. In some ways, the echo was a true god¡¯s remnant will!

    Surely, this idea would have occurred to other advancers? Then again, origin skills were exceedingly rare, and most races most definitely protected their metamorphose beads, a type of inheritance treasure for their new generation.

    No! Rein admonished himself. He was unwilling to be bewitched by Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s insane line of thought.

    ¡°Rein!¡± Snapped Blacksmith Tiehr. ¡°You have no elemental affinity! The draconic metamorphose bead, as dangerous as the history of such beads may be, will raise your affinities with all nature-related elements! Do you not understand how important this is? My theory is sound! You must bet on it!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr tapped his finger against a pouch on his waist, activating his aurae to open the pouch. The moment he did so, the yellowish-green veins in his forehead pulsated again, nearly causing him to lose consciousness.

    He then stuck his arm inside this bottomless pouch and when he withdrew his arm, he threw a small wooden bead that had arcs of red lightning dragons jumping around on the surface at Rein, who reflexively caught the bead in the palm of his hand.

    ¡°You see? Usually, it is said that a metamorphose bead¡¯s remnant will resists if it is ¡®incompatible¡¯. The echo of the fallen true god must have already negated the remnant will in the bead. See how the bead¡¯s temperature remains cool, isn¡¯t emitting any haze, and remains perfectly docile in your palm?¡±

    ¡°This is the bead?¡± Rein stared at the wooden bead with dancing red lightning dragons. He wasn¡¯t sure  why the bead looked thus, but he figured its appearance must be based on the wishes of the dead dragon that formed it.

    Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s words were true. Although Rein himself had never seen a resisting metamorphose bead, as far as he could tell, the bead in his hand showed nothing of the sort. He placed the bead onto the ground, then picked it up again. No changes were observed. It had the exact same appearance.

    Rein was also fully aware that he needed elemental affinity. He understood the importance of it in both absorbing aurae and using advancer arts.

    He closed his eyes in contemplation, and finally nodded. Blacksmith Tiehr had said that in recorded history, humans who consumed such a bead eventually went mad. If the man¡¯s theory regarding his immunity was false, at the very least, he might still have enough time to seek his revenge, and save Jein before his own mad demise. That was good enough, Rein figured.

    ¡°Let us proceed!¡± Blacksmith Tiehr was feverish with excitement despite his face green with poison.

    ¡°Swallow it.¡± He commanded as he placed the bead into Rein¡¯s mouth.

    Rein felt warm and fuzzy in his heart. This was the bead that Blacksmith Tiehr lost his brothers to. Although they originally thought the treasure was a dragon¡¯s heart¡­ for Blacksmith Tiehr to hand this bead over to him meant something.

    Next, Blacksmith Tiehr struggled and moved behind Rein before using his weakening aurae pool to help Rein¡¯s low advancer base gel with the draconic metamorphose bead.

    ¡°The bead was not meant for a mortal human to absorb, but with my assistance¡­ I will shield you from any adverse reactions. Also, you will not be able to use spatial storage pouches yet. Even if your origin skill appears spatial related, you won¡¯t be able to. You need to enter the shell realm first, which will allow you to interact with magical objects through touch.¡±

    Rein removed his top, revealing a well toned body of a young adult. This was thanks to the guidance that Guard Wein provided the teen, as well as Rein¡¯s body¡¯s early maturation.

    However, his skin was pure white instead of a slight tan that most martial practitioners would have, because unlike most of the others that practiced the techniques for their career-- even if it was for a dastardly career such as a bandit-- Rein, more or less, practiced in his room at night for his own health. Thus, his skin barely saw the sun.

    Blacksmith Tiehr placed his palms on Rein¡¯s back, and forcefully held back his coughs while he channeled and guided the flow of aurae through Rein¡¯s veins. His crimson aurae flowed into Rein''s body, causing the Rein¡¯s veins in his back to adopt a slight red glimmer, especially in the areas close to Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s palms.

    Rein gradually felt tingly numbness with a hint of pain radiate across his whole body from his abdomen and outwards towards his limbs. The pain was significantly more intense across the area of his ribs that was injured by the bandit¡¯s kick.

    This sensation continued for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, before he felt his body¡¯s sensation return to normal. Rein also noticed that the pain down at his ribs had disappeared. The bead, in remodeling his body, had helped heal his rib injuries.

    ¡°I¡¯ve helped you to start the assimilation process, so now the bead undoubtedly recognizes your body as part of itself. Even if someone wants to retrieve the bead, It would be pointless to kill you since I¡¯ve used my aurae to rapidly assimilate half of the bead with your body. It will take some more time for the bead to fully meld into your body.¡±

    ¡°I say this because someone must have known that the treasure was no dragon¡¯s heart, but rather the bead. They must have set the trap!¡± grumbled the man.

    Blacksmith Tiehr face had grown even paler, and he coughed up another puddle of yellowish green puke mixed with blood, before giving a warning.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t be stupid like me. Or lose sight of what¡¯s important. Originally you should not be able to truly become an advancer even with that echo of the fallen true gods communing with you, due to your lacking body constitution. Perhaps this is fate¡­ this draconic metamorphose bead is now going to gradually become completely a part of you, allowing your body to have a much better aurae affinity with most elemental aurae within the world. I hope you will survive¡­ survive better than I have. I have a feeling my brothers would agree with my choice if they were still alive...¡±

    Rein knew all this to be true. But Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s constant reference to fate left him discomforted. He didn¡¯t quite appreciate the possibility that his parents, Jein and his original life was the price for this fate!

    Blacksmith Tiehr reached into his pouch again and withdrew a large orb. Rein recognized this orb as an elemental affinity testing tool. It wasn¡¯t all that surprising that Blacksmith Tiehr had this magical tool. Many advancers would try to find a seedling to pass on their legacy as they traveled the realms.

    ¡°Come, Rein! Let me see the legacy I have left!¡±

    Rein reached out and touched the orb. It only flowed a dark purple, a soft brown and white-yellow¡­

    ¡°What?!¡± Blacksmith Tiehr felt incredulous. ¡°Dragons are supposed to have a high affinity with all elements! I¡­I¡­¡±

    The man¡¯s spirits further dampened and he practically slumped to the ground as he stared at the forge¡¯s ceiling, before letting out a choking laugh.

    ¡°So I was scammed twice. Not only was it not a dragon¡¯s heart¡­ it was also a defective draconic metamorphose bead¡­ what a joke¡­¡±

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure how to respond, but he himself did not share in Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s dejection.

    ¡°Blacksmith Tiehr,¡± he smiled as he stood over the poisoned man. ¡°I originally did not even have a chance in the advancer world. Nor revenge. So, this is good enough!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a bit of life had entered his body again.

    ¡°Yes. Yes! I taught you inscriptions as well! You are my legacy. My brothers¡¯ legacy!¡± His impending death had awakened his desire for him and his dead brothers to have had a meaningful effect on the world.

    Blacksmith Tiehr then closed his eyes in focus as if sensing the situation of the town. At least, that was what Rein suspected from his superficial knowledge of advancers.

    In just a few moments, Blacksmith Tiehr opened his eyes again and told the young teen in front of him, ¡°Go! The bandits and mercenaries have cleared out. It would only be a short window before the imperial army arrives, and who knows why their response to the massacre was delayed! Remember, the advancer world is harsh and cruel!¡±

    Rein realized that Blacksmith Tiehr made sense. The Golden Desert Town originally had an imperial army that should have defended the citizens from this disaster. However, they were nowhere to be seen during the town¡¯s massacre.

    Rein noted this as something he would need to investigate to truly understand the cause of his family¡¯s demise. As he turned to leave, Blacksmith Tiehr interrupted him.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Rein turned back around again to see Blacksmith Tiehr had now returned to his dark corner, slumped against a wall, barely able to resist sliding sideways onto the ground.

    Blacksmith Tiehr pointed to his most prized crafting set of tools for forging weapons as well as a set for inscriptions.

    ¡°Take them with you. And if you have time, don¡¯t forget to practice those simple forging and inscription arts that I have taught you¡­¡±

    Rein did not understand why Blacksmith Tiehr wanted him to keep the tools. As far as he was concerned, his goal was to find and slit the throats of his enemies. He had no time to practice any of the forging techniques.

    But then, he recalled Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s outburst regarding his own legacy, and also recognized that his future life was very much given to him by Blacksmith Tiehr. Thus, he acquiesced and decided to might as well take these tools. The inscription tools were relatively small, and some of the hammers, while somewhat weighty, do fit in a travel sack. As for the large heavy hammer¡­ he could certainly use it to smash the skulls of his foes with this tool!

    He wrapped all the tools in pieces of cloth. This would stop the tools from clashing against each other and causing a noise if he were to carry them around.

    Blacksmith Tiehr then threw out a small crimson plaque that Rein caught. On the plaque was a mysterious symbol engraved in a domineering fashion.

    ¡°If you ever visit the golden crow realm in the future...please visit the black crow sect, one of the descending sects of the golden crow lineage. Tell my master my fate and remember my name: Cihm of the Tiehr family!¡±

    The man pointed at a travel sack in the corner of the room. Rein nodded, then he picked up the travel sack to hold his new belongings, preparing to leave in the window before the imperial army would reoccupy the town. He checked the inside of the travel sack, noticing some old clothing and some wrapped rations already inside.

    ¡°I always have something ready in case I need to escape¡­¡± Blacksmith Tiehr smiled.

    Rein nodded, evermore grateful for Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s role in his life. Still, for a moment, he felt rather unsure of himself. He had always been proud and confident of himself, excelling in learning how to inherit and manage the Hehr merchant company. Now, he was about to enter a whole new world, a world that he once thought he could never enter. He turned back to look at Blacksmith Tiehr.

    Blacksmith Tiehr, who had been around for as long as he could remember, who always welcomed him and Jein, and weaved fantastical tales of gods and demons;the world of advancers.

    Blacksmith Tiehr was basically on death¡¯s door with his pale and sunken face, his veins yellowish green and body slumped back up against a wall. Blacksmith Tiehr still looked straight into his eyes, and seeing the uncertainty, gave an encouraging nod, though his eyes were filled with pity.

    ¡°Rein...I hope¡­ you won¡¯t lose sight of that which should be given importance and end up a broken man like me¡­¡±

    Rein duly committed the dying man¡¯s words to memory. He wanted to grieve for Blacksmith Tiehr as well, but he knew he had no time to do so as of now. This realization reminded him of the rage at tonight¡¯s events within him, which began bubbling again.

    ¡°What will you do?¡± Rein knew Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s impending death, but he still found it slightly difficult to outright leave.

    ¡°Hah! Rein.¡± Blacksmith Tiehr was filled with mirth at the youth''s question. His tone turned grandiose. ¡°Of course, I will die here. I will destroy this forge. I will erase all traces here. They will discover no dragon¡¯s heart. Even the ones who truly know that the treasure was actually a bead will find no traces here. I will send myself against the imperial forces and punish them for their role tonight! Consider this my final parting gift!¡±

    Blacksmith Tiehr truly had too many gifts. When Rein heard this, he felt a deep sense of sorrow again, but he also knew he could not hesitate any longer. He clenched a fist. He once again captured the burning sensation in his guts! He needed to follow it to seek justice for tonight¡¯s events! If even Blacksmith Tiehr could raise his own spirits at his end¡­ Rein felt that the fire in his own heart should burn even brighter!

    Rein muttered a vow to himself, ¡°I may not know where I am going, but this burning anger and pain¡­ it will guide me through any doubt. Because I must! For my ruined life, for my deceased parents, for Jein, for Blacksmith Tiehr, the House Jeihr, the Golden Desert Town¡­ and for myself!¡±

    With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and left through the hole in the wall with the traveling sack over a shoulder, and an ominous large hammer strung onto his back with a rope around his chest.

    After Blacksmith Tiehr saw his only legacy leave, he stumbled back onto his feet. He bent over and expelled as much of the poison phlegm in his body with an almighty roar. Then, his now frail and gaunt body was layered with a crimson shell. Following that, a crimson haze surrounded his body, forming a fiery aura of rage and recklessness.

    ¡°Brothers. Allow me this final charge. Then, we will meet once again!¡±

 Ch13: Skill Mastery On The Road

    Rein re-entered the alleyway filled with blood, corpses and severed limbs. The air was completely filled with a suffocating smoke and reeked of iron, nearly causing Rein to vomit. Rein focused his mind on the fury within his heart in order to resist this sensation.

    He noticed that he had lost his cloth dabbed with water, likely in his struggle against the bandit earlier on. However, the smoke did not feel overly suffocating. His guess was that his body strengthening had increased its resistance to many elements.

    His body was in the mid-range progress of the inner advancer realm, and had been further improved with the assimilation of the draconic metamorphose bead. Blacksmith Tiehr never specifically mentioned it, but Rein felt his body sturdier after the bead had combined with his body. Supposedly, dragons had bodies as tough as steel. Perhaps a bit of that had influenced his body, Rein reasoned.

    He turned his thoughts to escape, and surveyed his surroundings, trying to identify the best method to leave.

    Since time was of the essence, Rein figured that with his improved resistance against the smoke, the best way to rapidly leave the town would be to use his newly acquired skill across rooftops. He needed to avoid conflict with the imperial soldiers that were supposedly returning to town. Who knew if these imperial soldiers were here to clean out citizens that they believe to be devils?!

    He quickly formed a circle with his hands again, before pointing it at the roof of the forge and activating his aurae, causing his forehead veins to have a slight blackish-purple tinge.

    Once again, his instincts guided him as, with a swirl, his body entered the black sphere formed at the center between his hands, before his body spun out of another black sphere that appeared above the roof.

    However, Rein found only air to step on, and he crashed down onto the roof, rolling a few times before managing to spread his limbs and clutch with his hands to stop himself from rolling off the roof of the forge.

    A few roof tiles got dislodged and slid off the roof while emitting a high pitch porcelain sound, before falling off the edge and breaking into pieces upon contact with the ground.

    Rein inwardly cursed. He must have aimed his teleportation location too high. That must have been why his feet found only air and so he fell a few feet onto the roof and lost his balance. Blacksmith Tiehr words were proven true-- he needed to be careful as he was only beginning to use this origin skill.

    Rein groaned, resting for a breath of time, looking through a thin film of black smoke, up at the cloudy night sky in which there was no moon, not to mention, the occasional flash of lightning and rumble of thunder.

    How odd. Rein had initially expected there to be rain tonight, but even now, none had fallen. That was just a momentary observation and Rein refocused his mind. He knew that he needed to practice and focus on aiming the skill properly if he wanted to use it accurately. Instincts from some acquired knowledge or memory were unreliable.

    He stood up again, and climbed onto the top of the roof, taking a quick look at his hometown, the Golden Desert Town, that he would soon be leaving.

    He could not see particularly far, especially because the smoke was much thicker down low. But of what he could see, the town was a complete fiery hell. Many, if not most of the surrounding buildings were on fire, and this was likely the same for the whole town.

    Even if the imperial forces reoccupied the town again, Rein doubted they would stay for long. The infrastructure was completely gone, and those bandits and mercenaries probably killed most of the townsfolk¡­ Many of these townsfolk were people he interacted with daily before today¡¯s disaster...

    Rein hardened his face. This was but another reminder of why he needed to bury his hesitation, and follow his fury to its end!

    He stood straight again, and focused his gaze at a point above a roof, the farthest he could see through the black smoke. This time, he narrowed his eyes and made a concerted effort to pinpoint a spot of the right height by his estimation of where the circle formed by his hands would be if he was standing on that roof.

    Rein appeared as his body spun out of a small black sphere on another roof, with his eyes looking downwards and his knees slightly bent, to land properly in case he teleported too high again.

    His body was once again a tad bit too high above the roof, but comparatively less high than his previous teleportation, and he was ready for the short drop onto the roof.

    Rein shook his head, somewhat impatient and angered at himself for not learning fast enough. He needed to master activating and directing this skill quicker. He needed to reach a level of expertise necessary to rescue Jein!

    He had really only performed this origin skill three times.

    Once again, Rein prepared himself. He would definitely try to improve his control as he leaves this town. Rein aimed at another far off roof through the black smoke, intentionally aiming lower.

    Rein¡¯s vision turned completely dark for a breath of time, and next, he found a force slamming into the bottom of his feet, causing his bent knees to crash into his own chest as he fell backward onto his bum.

    He had aimed too low¡­ When he spun out of the black sphere, his feet contacted the solid roof first. Because he aimed too low, his knees were pushed by the ground into a bent position and into my chest.

    At this point, Rein was starting to have a proper understanding on how this origin skill worked.

    He activated the skill a number of times before arriving at the southern edge of the town, where he could see a large tree with a strong supportive branch that he could teleport to and leave.

    During the process, every single use of the skill became increasingly refined. In the end, it was not a huge difficulty to aim his own sight and his circle hands accurately.

    Rein decided that since he was nearly out of the dangerous town, he might as well test whether this origin skill could be used to damage objects. There was no knowledge in his mind that indicated this was possible, but he wondered if he could use the skill to directly attack a target¡­ surely that will be an effective way to kill a target, with this skill that is supposedly ¡®heaven defying¡¯!

    He now aimed his skill directly at a thin and weak branch of the tree, focusing his gaze as if wanting to teleport to a point on the trunk.

    As he channeled his aurae through his body to activate the skill¡­ nothing happened. The aurae kept flowing on the edge of the circle formed by his hands, but the skill could not be activated.

    Rein felt disappointed. Why wasn¡¯t the skill activating? Some might think Rein reckless with this attempt, but he had thought it through. In theory, his strengthened body was tougher than a flimsy tree branch, so if he activated the teleportation skill, his body would pop over and snap apart the branch.

    That did not happen. That fact made Rein realize that magic had rules. He didn¡¯t understand the rules. It must be like how fire magic can generate heat, but if one tried using water elemental magic to generate heat¡­ it would be hopeless, was his understanding. Regardless, Rein now understood that this origin skill of his could not be used as an attack.

    He quickly moved on, adjusted his aim to a point above a thick supportive branch and teleported to it, landing on the branch before turning back to look at the Golden Desert Town.

    Rein¡¯s eyes had a hint of melancholy, before they quickly regained a slight red tinge again as his mind refocused on the fury in his heart. He had burned the image of the town¡¯s destruction into his mind.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Even though he was only an inner advancer, his few uses of the teleportation skill barely used any of his aurae. In fact, he felt he could currently perform this skill at least a few hundred times, of a similar distance he traveled through the black smoke from roof to roof.

    To his estimation, this distance was around a few kilofeet. That being the case, he could rapidly travel over a thousand kilofeet in a short period of time, quite an amazing feat for an inner advancer. As his aurae reserves increase in the future, this distance would as well. Who knows how far he would be able to travel once he became a shell advancer?

    Rein bowed his head in contemplation. He finally had a slight inkling as to why Blacksmith Tiehr had such a large reaction when first seeing him activate his origin skill. He only had superficial knowledge of advancers and their world, but he knew that this odd ability of his was rather exceptional, to put it mildly. Then, there were also the existence of innumerable other origin skills¡­ It would be a mistake to think he was alone.

    He faced the forest again. The Black Wolf Forest was regarded as only slightly dangerous to mortals because of the low level of demon beasts living within it. Demon beasts referred to the animals in the forest that had gained intelligence and spirituality, and along with that, magical abilities.

    For the most part, inner advancers such as Rein would not travel alone through this forest, but rather,  with at least another similarly leveled companion.

    It was called the Black Wolf Forest, because a long time ago, there was an extremely powerful black wolf demon in the forest that required cooperation of multiple high ranked advancers to slay. No one truly remembers details of the tale anymore, since it was too long ago and the forest has had minimal threats since then.

    These days, merchants often hired bottom tier of mortal fighters, a group of mid-ranged inner advancer mercenaries to protect their wares, and frankly, the low leveled demon beasts that still exist in the Black Wolf Forest would be too intimidated to even attack such a group.

    Rein was told by his father that any demon beasts that were stronger had long been hunted down by proper advancers for resources, and these low level demon beasts were left to live just to occasionally provide some game for shell advancers.

    Although Rein was only a mid-ranged inner advancer-- a baby spout that had just peeked its tip out of the soil, Rein knew that with his origin skill, he would be able to escape any group of demons.

    Thus, with a swirl, Rein entered a black sphere that shrunk into nothingness and vanished into the forest. As he left, he could hear the faint sound of battle and Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s final defiant bellows¡­.

    In the darkness of the forest, a mature looking teen soundlessly popped out of nowhere, dropping down half a foot before landing onto a tree branch. This was, of course, none other than Rein.

    The foliage of the forest was not particularly thick, and streams of dim light leaked through the canopy to provide minor illumination to the forest ground. However, it was still quite dark, and Rein could only see the outline of his hand in front of his face unless he intentionally moved into the path of the canopy opening.

    A strong breeze rustled the green leaves that had a tinge of red and yellow under the dim light, dislodging quite a few to drift lazily onto the ground. Judging by the color of the leaves, Rein could tell that the season was late summer moving into autumn.

    Rein had already continuously teleported for some time. He plopped down on the tree branch with his back against the tree trunk to take a rest, while remaining vigilant of any sounds in his surroundings.

    Even if he could teleport away quickly, that did not mean he was completely safe. A low level demon beast might not catch up with his travel speed, but it was entirely possible for one to ambush him now that he was resting.

    Rein took out a piece of travel ration from his travel sack. He had no idea what exactly this was, but it was lying inside the travel sack when he picked it up to carry all the items Blacksmith Tiehr had passed down to him.

    He unwrapped the unique wrapping leaves to reveal a squarish bun with rounded edges that looked like it had been deep fried from its golden brown surface. He quickly took a bite, only to find that this bun was hard and crunchy, with his teeth barely managing to bite through.

    He could not help but frown, taking a sniff of this odd bun to ascertain whether it had gone bad. It did not smell funny in any way, thus Rein figured it was some sort of magical food of the advancer world, and so continued chomping down to replenish himself.

    It was not as if he¡¯d be able to procure any other food as of now. Could he escape the low level demon beasts? Yes, but killing them for consumption while avoiding injuries was totally another question.

    Thinking of his current situation, Rein could not help but thank his deceased father. His education gave him a decent understanding of the geography of the area close to Golden Desert Town, and even a superficial geographical knowledge of the rest of the Minhr Nation.

    He was currently traveling towards a town on the southern edge of the Black Wolf Forest, called Wolf Syrup Town. The town specialized in selling syrup manufactured from the trees of the Black Wolf Forest.

    Wolf Syrup Town should be a place where he could procure some food. The crunchy squarish bun didn¡¯t have any flavor at all, and he would very much prefer to survive on ¡®proper¡¯ foods.

    In addition, he needed to figure out how to truly enter the advancer world. He might be able to find some method through a recruiter in Wolf Syrup Town that administered entrance tests. The issue was that this age was a bit high-- Most advancers would consider him, only a mid-ranged inner advancer at age sixteen, to be well¡­ a worthless pile of shit. And, he was not about to use the origin skill and attract unwanted attention. Still, Rein knew he needed guidance in advancer arts and insights.

    He needed to reach an advancer realm strong enough to rescue Jein. Blacksmith Tiehr was supposedly an outer advancer, so at the very least, he needed to reach such a realm to rescue Jein-- probably.

    He was hopeful about Wolf Syrup Town, but only slightly. Wolf Syrup Town was a modest town. It was unlikely there would be any advancer inheritance schools, or sects operating close to it. Sects were the primary recruiters. They were large-scaled organizations that inducted new members with a code of belief that guided their magics. Inheritance schools only focused on passing on a style or line of advancer arts.

    As he ate, Rein¡¯s mind drifted to the topic of Meynan.

    He could just put all this behind him, find and marry Meynan and live a mortal life. But that would be abandoning his younger brother to a fate worse than death in the hands of the fallen.

    If he were to do so, would Meynan even respect him? No, how could she respect him if he became a man that abandoned a younger brother for a peaceful life.?

    If his younger brother continuously suffers at the hands of the devilish woman, would his deceased parents be happy with him just living a blissful life, not to mention ignoring those that had done harm to them?

    Rein felt that at this very moment, that if he wanted even an ounce of self-respect and pride, he had no choice but to take action. He had to enter the advancer world.

    Perhaps, he could find Meynan after rescuing his little brother and seeking revenge against these bandits, mercenaries and the fallen¡­

    Then, he remembered Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s words regarding how as an advancer, if he were to take such action, he would be ostracized.

    As his mind examined all his options, he finally came to terms with his reality. Returning to a mortal blissful life was already nothing but a dream, even if a small part of him yearned for the possibility of such a life.

    There was also the fact that Meynan¡¯s marriage to him was linked to House Hehr¡¯s unique position. That was all gone-- that devil beauty had stolen the more important pouch with family deeds. Perhaps Meynan would accept him, but she had Sir Jeihr behind her¡­ then there was the whole House Jeihr and their internal mechanisms.

    As much as he still treasured Meynan in his heart, Rein felt that It would be idiotic for him to get mired in such mud while he could be strengthening himself to save his younger brother and find those responsible for the Golden Desert Town¡¯s massacre.

    Rein¡¯s determined expression, barely visible in the dim forest, communicated his decision.

    At this point, Rein suddenly exclaimed and stared at the nearly-finished bun in his hands. The hard bun had sped up his aurae recovery! He could feel his body¡¯s strength and energy recovering slightly faster than normal!

    This confirmed that the bun must be some kind of advancer food that Blacksmith Tiehr had kept around for escape. This kind of provision was probably some kind of basic travel ration used by advancers.

    He no longer found this odd type of bun as distasteful as before, and rapidly consumed it. Perhaps if he had some honeyed milk to sweeten his taste buds, it would be even easier to stomach this tough-on-the-teeth food. Regardless, this type of aurae recovery food was highly beneficial to him in his current situation.

    Before long, Rein abruptly frowned. This had nothing to do with the odd bun he had just eaten. He cocked his head and listened carefully. Soon, a hint of light hoof sounds could be heard. Turning his head to his left, he saw in the far distance, a group of horses and human shapes passing through a stream of dim light.

    Carefully, Rein gathered his sack and teleported to a tree branch that was closer to the group, yet far enough that it would be near impossible for the group to notice him as long as he stayed in the shadows of the trees.

    As Rein observed the group, he noticed that they were covered in blood streaks and dust. In theory, their blood should have attracted the demon beasts, but the low level demon beasts of the Black Wolf Forest were so weak that they avoided the large group of mercenaries-- probably somewhere in the inner advancer realm.

    The group of mercenaries was slowly traveling on their meandering horses through the night toward Wolf Syrup Town, from the direction of the Golden Desert Town. Somehow, Rein had overtaken them during the night.

    Mercenaries! Rein could feel the fire in his belly burning bright and fierce as he wriggled his fingers, already itching to pounce. He hadn¡¯t expected his chance to come so soon!

 Ch14: One Down and More to Go

    Rein had always thought himself an incredibly well-controlled, calm and analytical person, especially because his father trained him to be so in the face of business dealings.

    Now, he was barely restraining himself, his wrath a fiery storm brewing in his chest. After all, he did have his life turned upside down, and the mercenaries¡¯ indiscriminate methods were a major reason for that. With the new teleportation power that was blessed to him by the supposedly fallen true gods, he believed himself fully capable of getting some form of revenge on the mercenaries in front of his eyes, with his very own hands.

    Yes! He was no longer just a desperate and powerless mortal in front of advancers! Things have changed!

    The heat of fury in the pit of his stomach gradually expanded, traveling up to his brain. Rein contemplated his options amidst the rising heat.

    With this teleportation ability, he should be able to slither around as a shadow and give all these damn bandits and mercenaries a few good slices to their vulnerable necks. All it would take is one strike and they would not even know their deaths until the sky was upside down. Unfortunately, he had a hammer, so he would not be able to silently dispatch his targets.

    There was also the possibility that these mercenaries in front of him might have unnaturally hardy bodies. But, Rein was not overly concerned about this. He knew that mercenaries in the area were likely to be mostly in the mid inner realm in terms of strength, perhaps a rare one might be a tad stronger. A surprised strike should do the trick-- he himself had the strength of a mid-inner advancer!

    Inner advancers have yet to truly advance to the point of being impervious to mortal weapons!

    As Rein grew increasingly restless, wanting to act out his desire immediately, his eyes grew increasingly bloodshot. However, his memory of Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s steady voice reverberated in his mind-- he had to be careful with his origin skill. He could not attract any form of attention.

    Thus, he controlled his anger and silently observed.

    The mercenaries seemed to be whispering to each other, likely as a result of habit when communicating in dark forests. However, they seemed relaxed and unworried in this Black Wolf Forest. One of the mercenaries who had an ugly scar on his right cheek even wantonly laughed aloud.

    Rein teleported closer once again, in hopes of catching the mercenary group¡¯s whisperings and mutterings. He knew it would be important to pick up information regarding the group before he acted.

    Then, he would be able to strike when least expected. Although he had little experience, he understood the right approach. In many ways, it was quite similar to approaching business strategy.

    ¡°... the highest paying job I¡¯ve ever had. With the coin earned, I¡¯d be able to live a good five years of my life without trouble with my son, even if the job was distasteful. But as our recruiter told us, many were fallen devils, or possessed by those beings, so perhaps we did some good in our role!¡± The scarred right cheek man told his companion.

    The companion frowned at the scarred right cheek man before berating him in a slightly dissatisfied tone, ¡°I actually had to kill a small child that had no devilish air. Not to mention, we lost quite a few brothers in the mess. That recruiter should rot in the twelve hells! He tricked us into Golden Desert Town!¡±

    ¡°Luckily, we demanded a raise upon the revelation of devils in the town,¡± a beady-eyed man behind the two chimed in. ¡°As mercenaries, it¡¯s normal for us to lose a few brothers occasionally¡­¡±

    The mercenaries farther back continued to express their thoughts, unaware that Rein had already begun his plans to ensure that many of them would not see the rising sun.

    Rein heard many of the mercenaries¡¯ words, and could barely resist his raging urge with what he heard. He followed the group toward Wolf Syrup Town, consistently maintaining a good distance while staying in the shadows with his origin teleportation skill.

    He felt rather enraged-- in his eyes, these damn mercenaries were mocking him with their excuses for their misdeeds! ¡®Tricked¡¯ into the Golden Desert Town?! That scarred man had traded his loved ones¡¯ lives for a good five years with his son!

    Rein constantly monitored the mercenary group, attempting to find out through the group dynamics if there was an upper inner advancer hidden within them. He knew he had no way to identify the strength of every single individual, but if there was someone much stronger, the others should be bowing their heads to that someone.

    As he followed and strategized, he soon came up with a rather foolproof approach. He knew his origin skill could not directly kill, but it would allow him to pop up anywhere his sight rested upon. He also could not attack the current mercenary group-- the members would quickly realize something was wrong.

    Thus, the best method in his mind was to track these mercenaries to their dwellings in Wolf Syrup Town and teleport beside their heads when they were in a state of being unaware of their surroundings...

    Rein clenched his fists as he stood on a tree branch, waiting for the slow mercenary group to move a good distance ahead before he teleported once again.There was also a hint of excitement mixed in within his bloodshot eyes as he slowly finalized his methods.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Yes. Mercenaries are known to get drunk when they get paid. In his eyes, these mercenaries would soon become sitting ducks.

    Rein and the group of mercenaries soon arrived at the Wolf Syrup Town, situated at the southern edge of Black Wolf Forest. Although close to the edge, the town itself is still within the boundaries of the forest, so the shadow of tall trees could be seen stretching into the dimly-lit town.

    Rein did his best to track the dwelling locations of all the mercenaries. A large group simply went into an inn, but a few were actually residents of the Wolf Syrup Town, and went their separate ways to their home, having little interest in celebrating their haul with their companions.

    He could not help but panic. There was no way he could track all these few individuals to multiple locations in the Wolf Syrup Town, unless he could split his body and follow multiple targets.

    Rein quickly calmed his mind again-- whatever calm was possible within his resentful mind. He would have to accept losing track of a few individuals.  A large group had already traveled to the inn, and they were likely going to get drunk like a skunk. Culling their heads should not be too difficult.

    Aside from those mercenaries, he would be able to follow one individual of the Wolf Syrup Town. In Rein¡¯s eyes, this was a good enough ¡®debut¡¯ of his goals on entering the world of advancers.

    Rein chose to follow the beady-eyed man, teleporting from roof-top to roof-top in a similar fashion to his escape out of the Golden Desert Town. The beady-eyed man actually seemed to sense he was being followed, because he turned to look around quite a few times. It was also entirely possible that he feared someone wanted to rob him of his five years worth of living expenses rewarded from the mission.

    Regardless, the beady-eyed man did not think to look up at the roofs. He eventually reached a small thatched hut. Upon entering the hut, the beady-eyed man saw his wife, an average-looking woman in a beige rough peasant garb.

    The beady-eyed man looked lovingly at his wife. Perhaps she might be average-looking in town, but her smile was lovely, and this smile was what welcomed him home every time he went out on a mercenary task, from which he was not always certain he could return from. After all, many of his colleagues from the same line of work were now just bones beneath the ground.

    Tonight¡¯s task was the most horrific one he had ever been a part of, and this only made his wife¡¯s smile all the more lovely. This was why he had chosen not to celebrate his reward with the other mercenaries. The beady-eyed man gave his wife a tight hug and a kiss, before moving to a bathing area, which already had a tub of water prepared.

    His wife had long developed a habit of preparing two tubs of water late at night for her beady-eyed husband to wash off the blood, grit and grime that he often brought back from his missions.

    The beady-eyed man stripped, before opening the lid and jumping into the tub of cool water. He let out a comfortable sigh. Taking a cool water bath may not be what the well-off in Minhr Nation would call luxurious, but for the beady-eyed man and his wife, this was the only affordable option.

    It would be a waste to use firewood to warm up the water-- that firewood could be used to increase the family wealth further in case they had a child in the future, especially with the uncertainty of a mercenary¡¯s life.

    The beady-eyed man allowed his head to rest on the edge of the tub, and closed his eyes in relaxation. He always found that this action helped clear his mind, especially because his mercenary tasks were sometimes unsavory, such as the one tonight.

    He decided that he should start cleaning his body, especially because his wife had been waiting throughout the day for him to return. As he opened his eyes, all he saw was a shadow of a huge hammer before his vision went dark.

    Rein looked downwards at the smashed skull and splattered blood, and stated resentfully, ¡°My previous life disappeared because of you. What makes you think you could just live a happy married life? Your wife can only blame herself for loving a man like you.¡±

    The beady-eyed man¡¯s forehead had completely caved in, and his brain matter leaked out along with the blood. Some slid out of a gap in the shattered skull and fell to the ground with a plop. The man¡¯s wife would only assume that he had lost his footing and splashed some water around¡­

    Rein rested his hammer against his shoulder, then with a flick of his sleeves, Rein turned to face a window, and as his hands formed a circle, he disappeared into a single black point. He did not wish to stay any longer, in case the wife noticed something amiss.

    That was incredibly easy-- almost too easy. The beady-eyed man had his eyes closed relaxing in a tub. It would be far more difficult If Rein could not teleport in and out in a few breaths, and had to enter through the door and walk up into the bathing area. That would have taken much longer, and any noise might have alerted that man. That wider range of time would also make it entirely possible for unexpected situations to occur as well¡­ such as the man suddenly calling his wife to help out with something...

    Rein breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was in a state of bloodlust, underneath, he was certainly nervous as well.  He further understood why Blacksmith Tiehr called origin skills heaven-defying. To his knowledge, there weren¡¯t many magics that an inner advancer could use. An inner advancer¡¯s magic was still very much locked within the body. That was why inner advancers were still considered ¡®of mortal¡¯. His origin skill seemed to not follow these sorts of rules¡­

    He now set his sights to the large group of mercenaries. With just a single teleport, Rein traveled onto the roof of the inn. Without smoke obscuring his vision, the case in Golden Desert Town, Rein could now easily teleport as far as he could see, and the inn in the quiet town was bright beyond comparison. If he wanted to leave Wolf Syrup Town, he could also easily teleport to one of the trees outside the town, clearly visible above the town walls.

    Rein took a deep breath to calm his nerves. One down, but there were so many more¡­ just so many more!

    He originally thought that after he smashed that beady-eyed man¡¯s skull, he would feel a bit of satisfaction, but right now, he only felt a bottomless rage. Rein convinced himself this was normal as his hands itched to move onto his next target. He had lost everything, so how could one man¡¯s death be satisfactory?

    He quickly teleported again to a building to the side of the inn in order to observe the current situation of the mercenaries. Looking in through the window, he noticed the mercenaries drinking white wine from large pots, no doubt, something they could afford with their pay for tonight¡¯s job. A few had already blacked out from drinking too much, the few still standing appeared to be on their last legs as well.

    Rein sat down with a crooked smile. He felt slightly impatient, worried that the beady-eyed man¡¯s wife would soon find out what had happened to her husband and alert the whole town. Yet at the same time, his enemies were delivering themselves to his doorstep. Drunk men would not wake even if the earth cracked open and the sky fell. This was the perfect situation for him.

 Ch15: Slaughtering Pigs

    In the space of a few hundred heartbeats, all the mercenaries were snoring. Rein saw the innkeeper frown at the group of mercenaries slumped over the table, but there was nothing the innkeeper could do, and so the innkeeper simply left for his personal nest. It was not as if the innkeeper could drag a bunch of burly mercenaries around. Or wake a bunch of thoroughly drunken men in the depths of their beautiful dreams.

    Rein stood up, and in a flash, he appeared beside these drunken mercenaries. He wrapped the head of the heavy hammer with cloth to decrease any noise that might alert other inn dwellers.

    With the heavy hammer held high, Rein took aim and smashed down onto the first head. Then a second, eventually Rein lost awareness of his surroundings, only repeatedly bringing hammer-to-skull, and by the time he regained awareness again, there were fifteen headless bodies in the inn. He was but a butcher slaughtering pigs.

    He was at first surprised at the sight that greeted him when he regained his awareness. He had lost control, overtaken by a state of gleeful release. He had gone much further than he intended, and had thoroughly crushed many of these skulls with his hammer, and done so multiple times to the point where the heads of these mercenaries were severed from their bodies through blunt force.

    An overflowing pool of rapidly darkening blood leaked through the floorboards, and Rein could even hear a dripping sound in the basement underneath. Marred brain matter coated in sticky blood naturally decorated the floor and the drinking table.

    Despite his dazed culling frenzy, luckily for Rein, the cloth dulling the sound of hammer against skull helped prevent this bloody event from drawing any attention as of now.

    Rein froze for a moment but then smiled upon seeing the results of his actions. His expression appeared extremely twisted with blood sprayed across his face, especially in combination with his red-tinged eyes.

    As he took a deep breath, he discovered that the room that now reeked of iron, and though part of him wanted to vomit, he quickly convinced himself that he should be enjoying the smell of his dead enemies.

    Internally, he began thinking of how his father had always repeatedly warned him to drink in moderation, or risk being taken advantage of in business dealings. Looking at these corpses around him, he found it hard to imagine that these fools had played a role in massacring the Golden Desert Town...but, perhaps, only fools would be tricked into such a mission in the first place.

    He then returned to his observation spot on top of the overhanging roof of the building next to the inn, attempting to plan his next steps. Initially, Rein came to the Wolf Syrup Town to find an advancer recruiter, but after killing a total of sixteen mercenaries in town, this was no longer feasible. As an unrecognizable face, he would look suspicious to the authorities here.

    That was not much of an issue though. He simply needed to move to another town. These mercenaries might have worked and satisfied high society figures in the past, and developed some rapport with influential figures, but Rein did not have much fear of consequences-- although these mercenaries might be known, it should be quite impossible to identify and find him.

    Regarding the factions, mercenaries could take unsavory jobs, yes, but ultimately those missions were approved through the higher ranks of the Minhr Nation. It did not necessarily mean the ruling clan approved of such missions, just that one or two officials might have pulled some strings to get a questionable mission approved. Additionally, each province had their own dukes that had their own independent agendas, and do, to a certain extent, have a degree of freedom over their regions.

    Rein knew that he was thoroughly unknown in the advancer world, and could even be considered a corpse lost within the Golden Desert Town. The Golden Desert Town was essentially wiped off the map, so how would any of these officials even find him even through mortal records? Currently, he was very much akin to a ghost.

    Rein smiled in satisfaction upon this thought. His strike at these mercenaries was swift. There were definitely no clues that he could have left behind, apart from the fact that their heads were smashed in by a heavy hammer.

    Still, Rein knew that the imperial forces in Wolf Syrup Town would definitely search for a killer once these corpses were discovered, which would be anytime now. The beady-eyed man¡¯s wife would soon realize something was wrong. In Rein¡¯s eyes, the imperial forces had abandoned the Golden Desert Town, so they would probably have an interest in these mercenaries that had returned from the Golden Desert Town massacre.

    This pointed at only one path-- Rein needed to leave the Wolf Syrup Town!

    Rein now appeared on a dark street a hundred feet away from the inn. In truth, he could have simply focused his gaze and teleported back into the forest outside the town, but part of him felt that this town, as the start of his journey to slaying those who had ruined his life, was quite meaningful. He could not help but wish to walk down one of the streets for a moment in order to etch the feeling of his night in this town into his mind.

    He finally understood what people meant when they said ¡®reveling in the moment¡¯. Rein had long heard stories of madmen that would leave a sign or signature of some sort to signify their achievement. He figured that this must have been how they felt. He himself had long been dissatisfied with his parents¡¯ exile from the main family line early in his life. And now, they had lost their life in the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction. Tonight served as a release for Rein¡¯s heart.

    He turned a corner, before looking into a hut that still had candlelights on. His expression turned into a big grin. Inside the hut was the scarred right cheek man being served soup by a young boy that looked to be around seven to ten years old. He felt he had absolutely made the right choice walking down the street now that he had found one of the targets that he could not keep track of earlier on.

    Yes! He felt that it was his intuition that pointed him to this mercenary!

    He had the hammer slung on his back with a strap, and formed a circle of his hands, readying himself to enter the hut once the small child left his father¡¯s side. The scarred right cheek man, comfortably drinking his soup in the safety of his home, would doubtless let his guard down.

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    The scarred right cheek man looked down at his warm bowl of soup. It was nothing extravagant, a simple bowl of bean curd and vegetable soup. However, he felt it was truly a blessing that he would always get to drink warm soup made by his son every time he returned home, especially after the Golden Desert Town mission that left a bitter taste in his mouth.

    Being a mercenary was all he had known his whole life. When he was young, his family was destitute, with both his parents gambling any earnings away. Eventually, he left and joined a mercenary group. Many newly recruited younglings were more or less meat shields, but he had luckily earned the favor of the leader, and was somewhat taken care of.

    Eventually he found a wife, who died from childbirth¡­ leaving him with a son. Today¡¯s completed mission would give his son a much better future. The scarred right cheek man had long disliked killing for money, which was often required for well paid mercenary jobs.

    However, he wished to support his son, particularly because of his own disappointing parents. Thus, since he grew up a mercenary and since that was all he knew how to be, he had to keep doing it for a better future, even if he had doubts about his actions. He once considered entering the imperial forces, but that required discipline that he felt he did not have.

    Meanwhile, Rein readied himself, ordering himself to be patient. This was just another target!

    As the child returned to the kitchen, Rein held his breath before soundlessly teleporting behind the seated scarred right cheek man. As the man slurped his soup, Rein raised his heavy hammer above his head, ready to bring down his fury.

    All of a sudden, a woman¡¯s scream echoed through the town, causing the scarred right cheek man to look around with alertness.

    Without delay, Rein brought down his heavy hammer, knowing full well that he had made a mistake and overstayed his welcome in the town. The ease with which he had dispatched the other sixteen mercenaries and made him careless. That scream must have been that woman discovering her husband¡¯s death.

    The man turned at that moment and noticed the hammer coming down toward his skull, and barely tilted his head in time to avoid an instant death. Fortunately for Rein, his attempt was still rewarded with a loud crunch as the heavy hammer sunk into the man¡¯s right clavicle, thoroughly pulverizing the man¡¯s upper right chest and shoulder.

    The scarred man groaned in agony, trying to stabilize himself by reaching out with his left hand. However, the man¡¯s body was in a state of shock, and his left hand grasped nothing, instead knocking the bowl of soup off the table, sending it shattering against the ground with a resounding clatter, as the soup spilled across the wooden floorboards.

    Unable to hold himself up due to his pain, the scarred man slumped sideways and crumpled off his chair onto the ground with a dull thump. Rein wanted to deliver a decisive blow before he left the town. The man looked up at the mature-looking teen, only seeing his crazed yet focused expression and red-tinged eyes.

    As the heavy hammer came down at him again, the man barely summoned the will to resist the pain and rolled to the left by a smidge, only just avoiding the hammer that crashed onto the ground with a dull thump at the spot where his head was a blink of an eye ago.

    Rein instantly realized that this scarred man would not go down so easily if he kept aiming for the head. He knew he would need to adjust.

    Once again, he raised the heavy hammer and aimed for the head. However, this time, it was just a feint, and when the hammer came down, it changed course and flew directly at the scarred man¡¯s midriff.

    With his right shoulder area pulverized, the scarred man could barely move, and he only avoided the previous hammerblow because it was so obviously coming for his head. Although he once again tried to shift his body, he was not mobile enough, barely able to slightly shift left when the hammer switched towards his midriff.

    The sound of a number of right lower ribs being crushed could be heard as the heavy hammer head slammed into the scarred man¡¯s right abdomen, causing the man to first cough up saliva, followed by rasps of bright crimson blood.

    Another blow to the chest, and Rein knew with collapsed lungs, this man had lost the ability to even breathe and would soon lose his life, even if the man¡¯s eyes rolled in a final desperate struggle.

    That was too close. But, Rein had successfully dispatched yet another target despite that woman¡¯s unintended warning.

    A boyish scream suddenly reverberated in Rein¡¯s ears, and he turned to see the son of the scarred man, whose face was white and pale.

    When Rein looked into the young boy¡¯s eyes, he suddenly felt incredibly afflicted as a sense of queasiness assaulted his chest.

    The young boy had a light tan oval birthmark on his right upper forehead, appeared similar in age to Jein, and his expression was similar to what Rein could see on Jein¡¯s face when he found Jein beside his parents¡¯ corpses. This moment passed in the blink of an eye, but felt like eternity from Rein¡¯s perspective.

    Rein found his mind chaotic. He could not discern his current mental state, for innately, he had a sense of fear upon gazing at this young boy. He simply wanted to leave and escape immediately.

    The young boy now fished a small dagger out from somewhere unseen by Rein, and charged toward Rein in a frenzied rage that Rein recognized immediately as the same rage he saw in himself when looking into the cracked mirror before leaving Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge.

    He urgently strapped his heavy hammer back onto his back, and formed his hands into a circle. Looking out a window of the hut at a tree line barely visible above the town wall, Rein activated his teleportation skill..

    As Rein activated the skill, he felt a man''s hand firmly grip his left ankle as if trying to hold him in place, and the young boy, now positioned to his side, had thrown the dagger, sensing that he was attempting to leave.

    In a single breath, Rein found himself in the air surrounded by trees, but before he could stabilize himself he was pulled downwards by a firm hand clutching onto his left ankle, not to mention, a glint of metal flew forth from the middle of the circle formed by his hands before the skill fully deactivated. The dagger had followed through and flew into the darkness of the forest in front of Rein. Luckily, the teleportation channel formed by his hands also served as a defense of sorts. Else, the dagger might have struck his torso.

    As he plummeted downwards, dragged by the weight of a man¡¯s body that had inadvertently teleported along with him through the man¡¯s grip on his ankle, Rein completely lost control of his body and was repeatedly whipped by branches and leaves throughout the descent.

    He tried his best to slow his fall, clutching at whatever branch he could on the way down, but his efforts were thwarted by the firm grip on his left ankle.

    Luckily, the man finally lost his grip and Rein managed to grab onto a low-hanging branch, which slowed his fall. This branch then bent dangerously and finally snapped, and he landed onto the forest floor on his left side. His vision went white for ten heartbeats as the final fall completely winded him.

    Rein struggled to stand up, crawling onto his knees. Rein saw the body of a disfigured man barely visible under the forest canopy beside him, but he could not quite recognize who this man was.

    Squinting his eyes, he shockingly found out from the man¡¯s form, that it was the scarred right cheek man, only that the whole surface of the man¡¯s skin was now being eroded by a blackish-purple aurae.

    Rein stood up, hoping to move closer to the body to take a better look. However, he suddenly felt dizzy and faint, and collapsed back onto the ground. When he sensed that his aurae reserves were completely empty, he had an epiphany. It must have been the cost of teleporting the man that had gripped his ankle.

    Then, his consciousness dimmed and he drifted into his dreams, his body thoroughly exhausted.

 Ch16: A Trapped Mind

    Rein found himself charging into a familiar forge with two choppers in his hands, attacking a mature-looking teen that appeared scared and uncertain.

    He found himself throwing one of the choppers at the teen, before feinting with his other chopper followed by a body twist and a kick at the scared teen¡¯s chest.

    The scared teen had stumbled backward into the wall, and as Rein walked up to deliver the finishing blow, Rein suddenly recognized that the teen was not just anyone¡­ It was himself!

    The shocking moment coursed through Rein¡¯s mind, and a flabbergasted Rein woke up, finding himself back in the Black Wolf Forest with a blackish-purple corpse next to him.

    Rein had read many words of wisemen-- it was a demand his father had of him, claiming that it would come in handy when socializing with high class, well-educated clients of the Hehr merchant company.

    Rein had memorized a few, but in honesty, even though some of the words made sense, he could never quite fully comprehend much of it. For a single moment, he had felt rather stricken, especially because he remembered that there was a scholar who claimed that some dreams were messages from the heavens and signified a deeper comprehension without the dreamer necessarily being conscious of it.

    Was he similar to the bandit who had tried to kill him? Ridiculous.

    Rein quickly shook off the dream-- a stupid dream.

    Unlike the bandit, he was only seeking to kill those who had ruined his life, his family, and his town. Bandits more or less robbed on the road, and the mercenaries killed when paid.

    And yet, his mind thought of another critical question-- how did these men become bandits and mercenaries¡­? Not a question he could answer.

    Thus, Rein soon refocused his thoughts, and placed this dream in the back of his mind. It was just something his mind had conjured up due to the traumatic night.

    Yes. It had to be a doubtful part of his mind that was weak and wanted to challenge the part of him that was filled with resolve to hunt down his enemies, or maybe this was his mind interpreting and learning the strategies that the bandit had used on him, for future combat uses.

    However, Rein still remained somewhat uneasy. He felt a feeling of emptiness and uncertainty about his own actions, as if he had lost something important.

    If he lost something important, what would that be? He could not tell, but he could no longer feel the rage that was within him that helped him survive Golden Desert Town and kill the mercenaries in Wolf Syrup Town. Perhaps it was spent after his killing spree.

    With a shake of his head, Rein again banished the idea of resolving his inner conflict. What¡¯s important now was to find out whether the imperial forces might have long surrounded him while he was out.

    He was just outside the Wolf Syrup Town, and he perked up his ears as he stared at the town walls. He could hear the screams of women and the hollering of men. He then examined his own aurae reserves and found that he had recovered a smidge.

    That was a far better measure of the passing of time. It¡¯s likely that he had reawakened once his body recovered a sliver of aurae. That meant he had only lost consciousness for a short time.

    Rein sighed in relief, for that also meant any investigative forces would still be far behind.

    He then turned toward the corpse that looked odd after being corroded with blackish-purple aurae. He suspected that this must have something to do with the man being dragged through by the teleportation magic. It was possible that some official might be able to discover some clues from examining this ¡®corrosion¡¯ that would ultimately lead to him!

    Rein refocused his uncertain mind, and did his best to try and find a hollow area beneath one of the surrounding trees¡¯ roots to hide the corpse.

    However, he initially hesitated. He was worried that the corrosion on the body might infect him if he attempted to move the body. But then, he noticed that the blackish-purple aurae on the man¡¯s body was not spreading to any of the surrounding environment such as the grass or the trees.

    This lessened Rein¡¯s worries about touching the body, and he quickly dragged it into one of the larger hollows he could find. Surprisingly, when he touched the blackish-purple corpse, not only did the blackish-purple aurae not spread to him, but it was even repelled away from the areas that Rein gripped the man.

    This made Rein think. The blackish-purple aurae must have something to do with the origin skill that he was using. Perhaps only he could teleport safely using the skill, and since the scarred man had held onto his ankle, the man was dragged into the black sphere and afflicted by the energy of the skill.

    Yes! If he really needed to, he could simply drag an enemy into that blackish-purple sphere. This would drain much of his current aurae reserves, but if he were to become stronger and his aurae reserves rise by tenfold, or a hundredfold¡­

    The skill could be used to kill after all.

    Still, that was his final reserve. Teleporting the scarred man alongside himself had exhausted his aurae reserves in one go. That meant that it was only when using the skill on himself that his aurae exertion remained minimal, but not other bodies. As for the tools and travel sacks he had been teleporting alongside himself-- he can but assume that only ¡®live¡¯ objects required aurae exertion.

    Rein increasingly felt that his superficial knowledge of advancer magical arts was a problem, but at the very least, he had a sharp enough mind to gradually gain an increased understanding of this origin ability that he had only recently gained. It somewhat troubled him that the echo of the fallen gods did not pass on such information to his mind when he had awakened this origin skill.

    After dumping the corpse into the hollow beneath a tree¡¯s roots, Rein kicked dirt into the gap to try and cover up the body as much as possible, before finding a few branches with leaves still attached to cover up the scene of the crime.

    He sighed. This was good enough. If he had more time, he would even make sure to dig a grave and bury the body completely to avoid any complications. With a bit of luck, perhaps the blackish-purple aurae will eventually corrode that body, leaving nothing for the imperial forces to use for tracking advancer arts.

    The only thing that Rein could identify as a tracking ability with his lack of knowledge would be tamed canine demonic beasts that definitely had scent tracking abilities. At the very least, Rein had knowledge of the basics: All beings contained different types of aurae, but the composition was unique to each individual, leading to an ¡®aura¡¯ exclusive to the individual. It was the basis underlying many tracking abilities in the apotheosis world. Canines were often born with the ability to identify and pursue targets by relying on this aura.

    Looking up, he noticed a simple yet elegant dagger stuck into the trunk of the tree in front of him. It was none other than the dagger that was thrown by the young son of the now hidden corpse.

    Rein plucked the dagger from the trunk, feeling the weight of the dagger in his hands. He remembered something metallic coming out through the blackish-purple sphere before he ended the teleport skill. Luckily, the origin skill functioned in a way such that after his body passed through, the thrown flying dagger simply flew out of the sphere.

    The dagger did not have any intricate details. Such decorative elements would only be present on an expensive dagger. Its blade had a tapered point and a single fuller, as many daggers would have. The blade was well-polished, probably because of the care put in by the young boy.

    The only striking element of the dagger was the ¡®crossguard¡¯. Calling it a crossguard would be inaccurate-- it was simply a thick ring that was in the position where the crossguard would be normally. This was odd looking and yet gave the dagger an elegant feeling. The ring had some simple carvings that crept from the inner of the ring, curling out to the outer ring area, even extending slightly into the grip.

    Rein squinted his eyes. If he were to make a guess, some sort of spherical magic item should be placed in this crossguard-ring. However, this was just his uninformed guess, and he couldn¡¯t be certain.

    He pocketed this dagger. As a proper kind of blade, it would be more effective for sneak attacks in the future than the cumbersome heavy hammer. Plus, this dagger once belonged to the son of the scarred right cheek mercenary. Rein figured that the dagger would remind him of the mercenary¡¯s role in his hometown, and serve as bulwark against any doubt within him.

    The dagger also reminded him of that young boy of Jein¡¯s age¡­ Rein was once again reminded of the young boy¡¯s initial miserable expression followed by rage, making him recall a sense of conflict as well as fear at that moment.

    He quickly dismissed these considerations for now. He could no longer waste any time!

    He then picked up his travel sack and heavy hammer again, before looking upwards, forming his hand circle, and teleporting upwards until he was on a branch, at a height that overlooked the nearby Wolf Syrup Town.

    What greeted him was the sight of a frenzied town, where street torches were lit and groups of frenzied imperial soldiers ran door-to-door in an attempt to find the perpetrator for what now amounted to seventeen deaths in the town-- although the seventeenth death was only reported by a young boy who claimed that the perpetrator vanished on the spot, a rather unbelievable tale.

    The town had been completely locked down as well, but frankly, that was nothing to Rein, who could instantly teleport in and out. Rein once again realized how heavenly his origin skill was.

    As he turned to leave, he felt a few drops of water striking the top of his head, as well as a moist breeze blowing against his face.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    He looked up through a gap in the canopy at the cloudy night sky, and he could not help but snort as, for a moment, he felt indignant, that the rain was falling now for the mercenaries that he had justly killed, and yet did not earlier when the Golden Desert Town was butchered and left in flames.

    He had to right this wrong. Shouldn¡¯t the rains be falling for him?

    However, this indignant feeling quickly vanished as the image of the mercenary¡¯s resentful son popped into his mind. Rein, little by little, felt sickened at himself.

    But what was he to do? He could only turn and return into the forest, and head slightly north before east to search for a water source that was in the forest. He needed a place to clean off the blood and dirt from his body, as well as rest for the night, and doing either of those in Wolf Syrup Town was now out of the question.

    It did not take long before a figure flashed into existence beside a pond surrounded by trees. The figure was dressed in a messy red and yellow outfit that was covered in blood streaks as well as grayed by dust. The top and pants had clearly seen much better times.

    A small fox drinking water from the pond was startled by the sudden appearance of Rein, before bolting back into the forest.

    Rein looked around wearily, worried that demon beasts might be hiding beside the pond for an ambush. However, the rain had started pouring and the rumbling of thunder occurred ever more often. This could be obviously seen from the pond¡¯s surface, which rippled chaotically as it received the tears from the heavens.

    Low level demon beasts were really only marginally physically stronger compared to animals. They, too, liked to avoid storms and hide in their safe burrows.

    The water of the pond was supplied by a waterfall that fell from a ledge high up above. Although the sound of the waterfall was dulled in the current rainstorm. It could still be somewhat heard once one was close enough-- that was how Rein arrived at this location. In the current darkness, Rein could not see the waterfall properly, but it was probably a beautiful sight during the day.

    Rein looked around at his surroundings again, and no demon beasts could be seen.

    Just to be safe, he threw a few stones into the center of the pond to see if anything was lurking underneath the surface. Low level demon beasts did not have much intelligence, and this should startle them out. There was no reaction, and Rein could finally relax.

    Rein quickly stripped bare, revealing his toned body. Some of the rain that leaked through the forest canopy had already cleaned Rein¡¯s hair, but the blood soaking his body and the clothing, though slightly camouflaged by the red color of parts of the clothing, needed to be properly cleaned.

    Rein jumped in the pond, feeling a cool sensation across his skin. The downpour also now directly struck Rein¡¯s face, since the waterfall created an opening in the forest canopy to the small pond.

    Looking up at the dark sky that occasionally brightened up for a blink of the eye followed by a loud rumble, Rein felt large water droplets flowing from the top of his head downwards, dispersing the night¡¯s blood and grim away from his body.

    The coolness of the pond and rain completely washed away any remnant rage, making Rein truly feel a sense of calmness absent ever since the night¡¯s disaster occurred.

    Yet now, without the presence of rage, Rein could only feel a sense of loss and depression that he didn¡¯t realize he could ever experience. Looking down at the red and yellow outfit that he never had the time to change out of tonight, Rein suddenly grimaced with disgust, discarding it to the side instead of taking the time to wash it.

    Rummaging through his travel sack, Rein found a simple black outfit. It was a smooth black long sleeved top with knot-buttons at the front and long black pants. The outfit was slightly baggy because Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s body was slightly larger. This was probably something that Blacksmith Tiehr used back when he was younger and less bulky.

    Regardless, this slightly larger black outfit would have to do. Rein looked at the red and yellow outfit he had discarded to the side. Those were too flashy. This black outfit would be much more appropriate and help him hide in the dark as well, especially if he needed to assassinate certain targets in the future...

    He then sat down against the trunk of a tree with thick branches that warded off most of the rain. However, there would still be occasional drops that flowed through, smacking the top of Rein¡¯s head.

    Rein aimed to take a rest and maybe even try to doze off, but now that he had been calmed from the cool rain, and his rage satiated by his violence, the reality of his situation finally struck his heart.

    His thoughts returned to the Golden Desert Town in flames. Even though the rain had eventually fallen, this was no mercy from the heavens. It was too little, too late. When Rein left Golden Desert Town, everything was already up in flames, and this rain had only started to fall recently.

    The Golden Desert Town by now should have more or less been completely burned down. Most of everyone he grew up knowing were dead¡­ At the very least, this rain will put out any remnant fires...

    All that remained of his hometown was just his memories. The stores on the street that he would buy snacks from, the owners that occasionally treated him and Jein. Everyone would get together in the town center to celebrate festivals. There would be beautiful red lanterns that lit up the streets, from one end of the town to the other. Fireworks would light up the sky with a crackling roar...

    Rein closed his eyes as finally a tear rolled down his cheeks. Everything was gone, his parents, his younger brother. Out of everything, only dear Meynan and her family, with the supposedly telekinetic realm advancer Steward Xeer¡¯s support, could have safely passed through the storm.

    But Rein wondered what Meynan would even think of him as of now. Yes, they had grown up together...but Rein felt guilty that he could not protect his brother nor the pouch that contained the deeds that hung around his younger brother¡¯s neck. Looking at the red and yellow outfit he discarded, he no longer even knew who he himself was.

    He needed to enter the advancer world to find his answers. To rescue his younger brother. Perhaps this was fate. He and Meynan simply weren¡¯t fated¡­

    Yes. Rein convinced himself. Meynan would be far better off without him. His search for the cause of the Golden Desert Town massacre would no doubt cause trouble to all those around him. Even if he rejoined Meynan, he would be a source of woe.

    Rein felt increasingly alone. He was no longer a merchant, nor was he part of a family attached to such an idea anymore.

    His expression turned grim and dark. The sound of rain and thunder seemed foreboding. Rein suddenly stood up and looked up at the skies and roared in exasperation. But the only answer he received was rainwater in his throat, causing him to cough and sputter.

    When he sat back down again, he had taken out the dagger with the odd hollowed-ring crossguard that the young son of the scarred right cheek mercenary had thrown at him.

    In his downcast mood, Rein tried to retrace his steps in his mind. Although he felt spiritless, it was precisely this feeling that gave Rein a clearer mind than he ever had.

    He had killed the scarred right cheek man just as the mercenaries had killed his parents. Now, both him and that younger boy would not have parents.

    Rein could not help but bitterly laugh. He had killed that mercenary, but it was not like his own parents would come back to life. Beyond satiating his rage, he hadn¡¯t gained much of anything and was still alone. Would that young child become like him? Alone with a back up against a tree¡­

    His thoughts returned to the dream he had when he lost consciousness due to aurae exhaustion. Even though he had killed out of revenge for my loved ones, that young boy definitely saw him in the same way as he saw that mercenary¡­

    It was not as if he could have sought justice from the imperial forces either. Mercenaries only took on missions from a guild, and these missions were vetted and approved by the regional ruling dukes. As Blacksmith Tiehr had noted, the imperial forces were nowhere to be found during the Golden Desert Town massacre.

    All of these clues only created more questions than answers. All Rein could be sure of was that something nefarious was hidden underneath the surface.

    Following this line of thinking, Rein tried to not to feel guilty, but he could not control it as he wished. His rage was gone, and all he could think of was that the young boy looked around the same age as Jein.

    The world was to blame, he felt, for having dealt both him and that young boy a bad card of fate.

    Rein looked at the palm of his hands. A pair of hands that had produced at least a widow and an orphan. And yet, to what degree was this an avoidable result? Oddly, this pair of hands were completely hopeless and harmless in the early night when disaster first befell the Golden Desert Town.

    That was the first time he had ever felt such rage. Although he had experienced moments of anger throughout his life, today was the first time he truly felt the desire to slaughter¡­ and he did it without a second thought...

    What had so quickly enabled him to become so able? Rein suddenly recalled Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s tale of the Spear of Heaven a day ago. The tale had spoken of how the mortals invented the Spear of Heaven to strike down the gods that fought each other, who carelessly yet completely destroyed the settlements and labor of the mortals down below.

    An uncomfortable thought occurred to Rein. Was he still a mortal, or did he become a being closer to the gods, using my newfound origin skill to decide the fate of that young boy as well as the mercenary?

    Rein gradually felt something had gone very wrong, yet he knew he was not completely unjustified in seeking revenge. He could not place an exact finger of what it was though, but he felt that he himself had changed once he discovered that he gained the origin skill.

    All this further made him feel guilty, and regretful for not closely considering Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s parting words, to ¡°not lose sight of what¡¯s important¡±. Then again, it was not as if he could specify what had exactly changed in him...

    He picked up the young boy¡¯s dagger, wondering for a moment, exactly how it would feel to be killed by a dagger. It was not as if the young boy was that far off when the dagger was thrown.

    He closed his eyes, his heart spiraling downward in turmoil. As the exhaustion of the night deepened in his bones thanks to the cold and damp environment, Rein further doubted himself. Would he ever have the ability to save his younger brother when Blacksmith Tiehr couldn¡¯t?

    For a moment, Rein felt completely overwhelmed by all these emotions, and he gradually brought the dagger closer to his very own neck. The words of the fallen devil that had tried to possess him now reverberated seductively in Rein¡¯s mind. ¡°... pass onto the next world to spend a blissful and joyful time with your parents...they are likely impatiently awaiting your arrival right now¡­¡±

    Saving his younger brother was a task of too high difficulty¡­ Would he even reach the required advancer realm quickly enough to prevent his younger brother from death? He was, at the end of the day, a nobody in the world.

    Not even he himself recognized who he truly was anymore. How many would even care¡­? That young boy would even be happy that the killer of his father died.

    Rein, without his spent rage, was filled with desolation, gradually bringing the dagger to his own throat with his own pessimistic contemplation. The devil might not have taken over his body, but the seeds of its words remained.

    All of a sudden, a bright thick bolt of yellow lightning struck the shore of the small pond, causing yellow lightning to arc into the surrounding ground and trees, completely blinding Rein as well as causing him to drop the dagger that was dangerously close to his throat.

    Once the blinding yellow-tinged white light vanished, a male form with two white slightly curved horns protruding out of a thick and long azure green mane of hair appeared.

    The male was supporting a pregnant female who appeared exhausted and pale. The female, too, had two white horns but they were more curled and twisted compared to the male. The pregnant female¡¯s hair was a silky and soft green.

    Both of the figures were dressed in travel-worn robes of an ocean blue color with white intricate dragon patterns conveying regality.

    At this moment, Rein had woken up from his dark trance, and in contradiction with his actions just a few breaths ago, took measures to survive. His instincts told him that these two were some type of demon beasts, and was probably bad news.

    He quickly formed a circle with his hands, attempting to activate his teleport skill. Observing the skill in the process of being activated, the white horned male¡¯s eyes displayed a surprised look, and in the short moment before the skill could fully activate, Rein suddenly found that his aurae flow become completely static.

 Ch17: Of The Dragons

    The white horned demon had moved right before him in the blink of an eye, with a finger touching the center of Rein¡¯s chest! Rein wasn¡¯t sure if this demon in human form was just quick beyond his imagination, or had some other heavenly ability¡­ But regardless, Rein knew that the finger touching his chest was the reason that his aurae flow had become completely static!

    In panic, Rein fell backward onto his bum. The finger was no longer touching the center of his chest, and Rein once again attempted to activate his skill to escape again¡­ only to barely see the white horned demon step forward in a flash of lightning imperceptible to Rein¡¯s sight. Now, a hand firmly gripped his shoulder and pressed his bum down against the ground, once again disrupting his aurae flow as well as forcing him to remain in a seated posture.

    Rein knew that the white horned demon did not teleport to accomplish this, because this time, he heard the sound of the demon¡¯s foot crunching the pondside pebbles in rapid steps. How alarming!

    This demon was able to physically move at a speed that was faster than Rein''s ability to activate the teleport skill! Rein was effectively unable to escape!

    If the demon had used some unique skill, perhaps Rein could figure out a certain weakness in that skill and use his origin skill to leave. But with the white horned demon¡¯s physical speed, no matter what Rein tried, he would not be able to leave because the white horned demon could disrupt his aurae flow before he could even activate the teleportation ability!

    Rein now froze, trapped like a rat. Part of him also wondered why he initially made such an effort to escape, seeing as just a moment ago, he was close to slicing his own throat to liberate himself from the miserable cards dealt to his life by the heavens.

    The white horned male demon then wrapped his palm in a yellow-tinged lightning aurae before softly placing it against Rein¡¯s abdomen. A red-tinged lightning burst out of Rein¡¯s abdomen and clashed into the demon¡¯s hand, causing the demon to slide back a few feet.

    This reaction only caused Rein¡¯s apprehension to rise. He would be an idiot to not realize that these white horned demons were here for the draconic metamorphose bead. His mind spun with guesses.

    Blacksmith Tiehr had claimed that no one should be able to locate it after he had hid for fifty years. These two demons must be dragons in human form, tracking the draconic metamorphose bead. Otherwise, they would not know how to cause a reaction from the bead that had become part of his core.

    Rein sighed as he realized that he had struck calamity. What did he expect? His family and hometown were gone. He had randomly activated an origin skill, and received a magical treasure that had transformed his body constitution. Now, that treasure would be the end of his pitiful existence.

    Rein bitterly laughed, disregarding the two demons in front of him. So, this was what Blacksmith Tiehr meant when he expressed the viewpoint of a god in the skies being struck and pinned onto the ground by a Spear of Heaven.

    He looked at the two white horned demons, accepted his fate, and calmly declared, ¡°What are you two demons waiting for? The world cares not for my life.¡±

    The pregnant female white horned demon seemed somewhat irked by Rein¡¯s words even though she looked drained. Before she could open her mouth, the male white horned demon raised an arm to stop her.

    ¡°We are dragons. Some of you humans regard anything capable of gaining spirituality ranging from beasts to insects to plants, as demons. But please. Our dragon race has historically been at odds with many other beasts, insects, and plants. Do not carelessly lump us together.¡±

    The white horned dragon¡¯s tone was dignified and polite. Rein could also sense that within that politeness laid an unyielding stance. Aside from the tone, the dragon¡¯s voice had a rumbling throaty quality to it that vibrated Rein¡¯s eardrums.

    ¡°Now,¡± the dragon continued. ¡°My name is Mystrygon. Of the Azure Dragon sub-faction. We dragons only earn a title when...¡±

    Out of the blue, Rein attempted to activate the teleport ability again. He did not expect the dragon to jump into conversation, and felt this was his best chance to catch the dragon off guard.

    This time, Mystrygon did not even bother to move. A dragon¡¯s roar emitted from his speaking mouth, and Rein felt his aurae flow severed for the blink of an eye. That was enough to disrupt the activation of the teleportation skill.

    Mystrygon looked at the young human sitting on the ground in front of him, and could not help but feel pity for this silly young man.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯ve introduced myself.¡± He continued in his dignified voice from where he left off ¡°Is it not common courtesy to share our names?¡±

    Rein finally gave up on trying to escape. He had initially thought that Mystrygon was being complacent and giving some silly speech before killing him, but the dragon¡¯s roar emitted clearly demonstrated that Mystrygon had abilities way beyond that of his understanding. Even if the dragon wanted to launch into a riveting speech, Rein would not be able to escape.

    He hooked his fingers together, the common greeting within the realm. It looked slightly awkwards and hilarious because he was on his bum.

    ¡°My name is Rein,¡± he simply stated.

    Mystrygon now looked at Rein firmly in the eye.

    ¡°How did you come into possession of the draconic metamorphose bead?¡± He directly broached the important subject. His tone had turned stiff.

    Rein felt surprised that Mystrygon had gone directly to the point. He had thought that the dragon would beat around the bush in order to test him.

    Rein did not wish to answer such a question though. The question itself brought back all the devastating scenes of Golden Desert Town that he did not wish to talk about. However, the dragon in front of him was dangerous.

    ¡°I received it from a blacksmith, who gave it to me with his dying breath.¡±

    Rein decided to give a simple answer while avoiding the details. Surprisingly, this was good enough an answer for Mystrygon, who nodded with a slight smile on his face, as if he could see through the words and perceive the whole picture. His words now returned to his initial tone that was calm and dignified.

    ¡°Interesting. Now, do not worry about your silly escape attempts. I have no intention of harming you. In fact, I need your help to leave this realm.¡±

    Hearing these words, Rein felt incredibly bewildered. Wasn¡¯t this dragon supposed to kill him in an attempt to retrieve the draconic metamorphose bead? Even if he had absorbed part of it, surely, the dragons would not want an outsider like him wielding the powers from the bead, right?

    Yet, now the dragon wanted his help? Also, he was only able to teleport as far as he could see. He was certain that he was of no use to Mystrygon, who needed to leave this realm. Rein felt Mystrygon¡¯s thoughts to be incomprehensible.

    Rein saw Mystrygon glance at his dirtied and bloodied merchant robes flung to the ground beside the pond.

    The dragon then turned back and took a deep look into Rein¡¯s eyes, before continuing stately, ¡°Look at my pregnant wife and my unborn child. We have been hunted by our enemies in this realm for the past month. They have been able to continuously locate us regardless of the gap we create, whether that be one, two or even three days'' travel gap.¡±

    ¡°A divination master once told me that in my time of need, if I find a small pond underneath a waterfall in a forest bereft of life, I would have a star-changing opportunity.¡±

    Rein had already previously noticed how the two dragons¡¯ clothing appeared travel-worn and the dragoness appeared especially weak and pale. Mystrygon¡¯s words caused further confusion in Rein¡¯s mind.

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Indeed, beside them was a small pond and a waterfall. Yet, the Black Wolf Forest still has low level demon beasts. Was it bare of life¡­? Additionally, many tales warned against trusting any kind of divination. Rein blamed this on his lack of knowledge again-- perhaps the advancer world does have divination worth one¡¯s belief.

    Mystrygon covered his hand in blue aurae and tapped a pouch hanging on his waist. The pouch glowed blue and a round smooth stone with a dancing dragon inscription flowed across the stone¡¯s surface.

    ¡°Normally, to travel between realms, we need an item to help anchor the teleportation location.¡± Mystrygon unexpectedly threw the stone at Rein, who barely managed to catch it as the stone landed with a loud smack into his palm.

    ¡°Now. As a mid-inner advancer, you lack too many requirements to connect the two realms. You do not have the required amount of aurae. Nor do you have the ability to reach outside of your body with your mind or your aurae in order to connect the realms. Luckily, you have a unique skill. ¡±

    ¡°I will act as your mind and your hands outside your body. You simply need to hold the stone and let it guide your perception while channeling that skill of yours. Deal, human?¡±

    Rein processed what he had just heard. It seemed to hold some of the advancer knowledge that he clearly lacked.

    He did not immediately agree to the deal. He was still suspicious about the draconic metamorphose bead. Perhaps, when this inter-realm portal is opened, the dragon would drop his act and immediately kill him to retrieve whatever is left of the bead.

    The dragon¡¯s words also gave Rein an idea of the direction toward which he could develop his teleportation skill-- the use of an anchor to direct the teleportation skill. If the dragon truly had no intention to take his life, then he would have a chance to pursue that knowledge.

    However, looking at the haggard dragoness standing beside the small pond, Rein decided to throw caution to the wind and agree to the deal. Part of him felt tired after taking so many lives earlier tonight. It¡¯s not as if he could escape from Mystrygon.

    Unbeknownst to Rein, every minute change in his expression was observed by Mystrygon.

    A restrained enigmatic smile plastered itself across Mystrygon¡¯s face when Rein nodded in agreement to the deal.

    Mystrygon lifted his chin and closed his eyes. The posture gave Rein an impression that Mystrygon was ¡®feeling¡¯ out the surroundings, though Rein did not understand how that would be done.

    After a single deep breath, Mystrygon¡¯s eyes opened again. ¡°Our pursuers will arrive here in the time of a thousand heartbeats.¡±

    ¡°Channel your unique skill immediately, ¡±Mystrygon ordered as he sat behind Rein and placed his palms on the temples of Rein¡¯s head.

    Rein nodded before activating the skill with his hands wrapped in a circle around the smooth stone. The stone seemed to devour his aurae like a bottomless well and Rein immediately knew that It would be impossible to satiate the stone¡¯s hunger for aurae with the amount within himself.

    Then, Rein felt a foreign aurae enter into his body from his head, using his flesh and bones as a conduit to flow into the smooth stone. The flow of aurae was so strong that Rein felt a burning sensation from a feeling of bloatedness in his veins. It was as if his body would explode with a pop!

    Eventually, the smooth stone stopped devouring any more aurae, but the portal had yet to be formed. Rein felt the stone pull the direction of his aurae toward some hidden target, but Rein could feel that his aurae would not leave his body, like a cat in a box. No matter how he tried, he simply could not bring his aurae outside his body.

    Once again, the dragon intervened. Rein suddenly found his vision transformed-- he was looking at the world through Mystrygon¡¯s eyes and it was an amazing sight.

    The world around was filled with a flow of aurae that danced and flickered. There were many different colors, each flowing from one into the other, before vanishing into thin air. It was like a rainbow haze that covered all yet obscured none. The energies cascaded and seemed particularly thick around the trees, plants and the dragoness in Rein¡¯s sight.

    His mind wandered as he contemplated whether aurae was omnipresent in all locations. Whether this was how gods saw the world.

    ¡°Focus!¡± a dragon¡¯s deep voice reverberated in Rein¡¯s mind.

    Rein¡¯s mind returned to following the smooth stone¡¯s guiding hand, and now, he saw a few wisps of blackish-purple aurae tendrils reach upwards from his body into the sky, all approaching a single point.

    Rein figured that these tendrils must be what an outer advancer would be able to use. Currently, the dragon assisted this task with his boundless power.

    As Rein focused on channeling his skill using the stone as a guidance tool, a black sphere gradually formed and expanded at the point in the sky where the blackish-purple tendrils met.

    Rein felt the dragon behind him continuously channel aurae through his temple into his body to supply the origin skill. The black sphere grew larger and larger, eventually stabilizing at a diameter of around ten feet.

    At this point, the stone in Rein¡¯s hands crumbled into dust, slipping through the gaps between his fingers onto the ground below. The black sphere in the sky started to slowly shrink at the same time.

    Rein¡¯s vision also returned to normal as Mystrygon¡¯s hands left his temple. For a moment, Rein felt somewhat nauseous from his vision rapidly changing forms, and glanced around at his surroundings in an attempt to readjust his perception.

    He suddenly noticed how incredibly close the dragoness was standing to him, and as he looked into the exhausted dragoness¡¯ eyes, he saw a glint of murderous intent.

    However, nothing came to pass as Mystrygon¡¯s hands suddenly appeared and gripped the dragoness¡¯ forearm, dragging her towards the shrinking black sphere in the sky.

    Mystrygon turned back towards Rein. He tapped his pouch with his blue tinged hand, and threw another item at Rein.

    Rein looked at the item in his hand. It was a sort of odd looking compass. It looked antique and metallic silver, and Rein could not tell what kind of metal it was crafted from. Flipping it over, there was a mysterious character engraved in soft strokes on the backside of the compass. Oddly enough, the symbol seemed like it was barely visible and could disappear at any moment.

    Rein threw it up in the air before catching it again. The compass was incredibly light even though it was made of a chunk of metal. There were no scratches on it, demonstrating that it was durable beyond measure. It must be made from some amazing material of the advancer world.

    The dragon Mystrygon had a mysterious smile on his face. ¡°Follow the compass and you may find some hope. Unfortunately, its maker did not allow me to use it. Perhaps it will work for you. Also, remember to look for the draconic magical arts. The draconic metamorphose bead will give you an internal disposition to many of those magics.¡±

    Mystrygon then closed his eyes again for a single breath before letting out a tense exhale. When he opened them, he quickly said, ¡°Our pursuers will arrive here in no time.¡± He flicked his finger, and a droplet of flame flew and caused Rein¡¯s discarded clothing to burst into flames.

    Mystrygon then opened his mouth wide, taking in a huge breath. When he breathed out, Rein could smell a horrible stench that permeated everything. The dragon had performed all these magical skills to prevent potential pursuers from tracking him or Rein. Luckily for Rein, the compass in his hand activated some type of defense as it vibrated and repelled the stench away from his body. As such, he wouldn¡¯t smell.

    ¡°Leave. My pursuers are not to be trifled with.¡±

    Rein opened his mouth in hesitation, unsure if he should thank this dragon who he still couldn''t determine as friend or foe.

    As if reading Rein¡¯s mind, Mystrygon responded with a wide grin, his sharp teeth giving an unintended menacing quality.

    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Mystrygon added. ¡°Before I forget¡­ the draconic metamorphose bead originates from us dragons, and we are considered as a type of demonic beast by you humans. This Fusion Realm is ruled by humans. Now that your core is gradually being changed by the draconic metamorphose bead¡­¡±

    Mystrygon paused at this point, and Rein himself could not help but do a double-take upon receiving this information.

    Alarms bells sounded in his mind. To his knowledge, humans and demon beasts have been at odds since time immemorial. If his body had been transformed by the draconic metamorphose bead, he might appear as a demon to an advancer¡¯s senses and testing!

    Rein wanted to slam his head into a rock in exasperation. Perhaps this was but the price for obtaining the strength within that metamorphose bead.

    Rein did not have much time to think before hearing Mystrygon¡¯s dignified rumbly voice again. ¡°Human. If you survive and reach the telekinetic realm¡­ then you can repay your debt to me one day. Just be aware... Many humans that develop with demon beast related materials and techniques often lose their sanity and become fallen devils.¡±

    ¡°Ah yes. The will within the bead has accepted you. The bead carried the will of one of my ancient ancestors. I hope you understand that¡­ That must mean something. Don¡¯t throw your life away. Farewell, my new friend!¡±

    With that said, Mystrygon threw up a blackish-purple bead that exploded above his head, wrapping both him and his wife in a blackish-purple aurae sphere. He then vanished into the shrinking inter-realm spherical portal, which slowly but gradually dwindled into nothingness.

    Rein grumbled inwardly. Debt? Technically, he had already repaid his debt when he saved the two dragon¡¯s lives by helping them escape this realm!

    Still, he felt satisfied. The dragon¡¯s information regarding the effects of the draconic metamorphose bead would be important to his own survival. That was worth any price.

    Rein placed the issue of debt to the corner of his mind. After all, even if he wanted to reject the dragon Mystrygon, that dragon¡¯s strength demonstrated who the rule-setter was.

    There were two key thoughts left inside Rein¡¯s mind. If his body is human, but his core is that of a demonic beast, will human advancer techniques work? There was also the question of why humans that advanced using demonic beast techniques would be at risk of becoming fallen devils.

    Anyhow, he needed to leave this place-- Mystrygon¡¯s pursuers would soon be here. Rein picked up his travel sack and stared into his reflection on the pond.

    For a moment, the shimmering surface showed a bandit¡¯s face, which returned to Rein¡¯s reflection under a slight night breeze. He bitterly laughed in realization.

    ¡°I see¡­ I, too, am but a monster.¡±

 Ch18: Interlude One

    Mystrygon had his wife lovingly in a princess carry hold. The pair had been chased across the human realm they had just left, commonly referred to as the Fusion Realm.

    His wife had the worst end of the deal. Firstly, his wife was a weaker advancer. Secondly, she was in the ¡®dangerous¡¯ outer advancer realm. Last of all, she was also pregnant with a child.

    Currently, the two were surrounded in a darkness wrapped by bright lines of light as if someone had drawn and scribbled with light itself. The two were traversing the tunnel between two realms, protected by a blackish-purple sphere of aurae. Without this, their bodies would be corrupted by the void aurae.

    The dragoness, Moonclypsae, looked up at her husband with a dark and dissatisfied expression.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you allow me to take his puny life and retrieve the bead? That bead was initially meant for you from the very start! All our trials and tribulations were because we recently received news of it in the Fusion Realm!¡±

    She felt incredibly irritated, on the edge of exploding. If it wasn¡¯t for her exhaustion, she would have leapt out of her husband''s arms immediately.

    Part of Mystrygon agreed with his wife. However, he did not follow those urges.

    ¡°The bead was already partially absorbed into that young human¡¯s body. Even if we retrieved it, the bead¡¯s efficacy would be minimal¡­And the human did end up helping us after all...¡±

    The dragoness looked down at her pregnant belly, confirming her child¡¯s safety.

    ¡°And yet,¡± Her voice cracked with increasing rage. ¡°Were it not the humans who schemed to obtain it, back when you needed it the most as a child? If not for that mysterious expert, you would have been crippled for life as a child! Yet you gave that token to this human?!¡±

    Mystrygon knew the conversation was about to take a turn for the worse. Justifying his choices to his wife, who was angry because of her concern for him definitely, would not be easy. In truth, Mystrygon had actually hidden a secret about his childhood from his wife. That secret certainly had an impact on his choice today.

    He eventually decided it was a better idea to share this secret. Otherwise, her fury would not be quelled.

    ¡°To tell you the truth, my childhood aurae-deficiency was caused by poison. Me and my father suspect someone within our dragon clan plotted it. My father suspects that the humans that attempted to steal the bead only did so halfheartedly in assistance with the traitors. Their goal was to make my father feed me the bead in fear of enemies attempting to steal the bead again.¡±

    These words made Moonclypsae silent. However, her eyes glowed sharply. No doubt, she did not appreciate having this information hidden from her.

    Mystrygon continued quickly, hoping to finish before the inevitable explosion.

    ¡°Luckily, an unexpected human stole the bead, and my father could not use the bead on me. Eventually, that mysterious expert appeared before my father and resolved the poison within me. Apparently, the poison was somehow placed inside my body before my birth, and due to a newborn¡¯s initiation with the world¡¯s aurae, the poison had a slightly different presentation-- that of a child with aurae deficiency. All this was told to me by my father.¡±

    ¡°And if the bead had been forcefully assimilated into my body, it might have rapidly killed me-- as you know, the bead has the function of reforming the body. That mysterious expert said that the poison could have spread and grown throughout my body during the reformation process. It was this mysterious expert who treated the poison in me and gave my father a compass token to be used in a time of need-- though that mysterious expert blocked the usage of the compass when I sensed the device usable in this Fusion Realm...¡±

    Mystrygon certainly found the compass resisting his aurae injection, odd. It was his sixth sense that influenced his choice of passing on the compass to the young human.

    Finishing his reiteration of his time as a baby, Mystrygon felt rather self-satisfied, his heart filled with a lofty sense of accomplishment. Even as a young babe, he had beaten the odds. Surely, his dignified admission would calm his wife¡¯s anger. He was wrong.

    ¡°And you GAVE that important token to the human?!¡± A frenzied dragoness roar deafened his ears, causing him to turn his head in pain. ¡°Even if it rejected your attempted usage during our escape, it might still be useful in the future!¡±

    Mystrygon swore inwardly at himself before wracking his brain to come up with a way to explain his sixth sense. This was not the first time he had acted relying on such intuition.

    ¡°The compass resisted my aurae at every turn. That mysterious expert likely didn¡¯t want us to find him-- what¡¯s the use of keeping the token? Said expert might have simply given that token to me, knowing that it would pass into the right hands. Aside from that, I also had a divination master who predicted that we would find an opportunity to escape at that pond, and was proven correct by this human¡¯s presence there.¡±

    ¡°And you KNOW divinations are vague. His key role might be killing us just like many humans have done over our history! Those that do are even given the title, ¡®dragonknight¡¯! Haven¡¯t you heard of all those idiots who had interpreted divinations inaccurately? Wasn¡¯t there that tale of that¡­ idiot who bought a garden of peaches based on a divination that doing so would make him rich? When he returned to ask the divination master years later why the land¡¯s worth did not increase, the divination master told him that he was now rich in peaches! We dragons do not even eat peaches!¡±

    Mystrygon remained silent. Frankly, even he did not fully know what guided his actions-- he had always simply referred to it as his sixth sense. He simply felt a kind of connection to the young human that made him want to give that token to the young human. He felt that the mysterious expert would surely have helped that young human-- the mysterious expert saved his own life as a stranger and wanderer in the dragon realm.

    And although the compass rejected his usage, he had sensed that it was active in the Fusion Realm-- meaning that the mysterious expert was in the Fusion Realm. All this made Mystrygon feel as if it was fate!

    As for why he couldn¡¯t use the compass? Mystrygon could only surmise that perhaps the treasure had conditions in order to be activated. Or perhaps it had a spiritual link to that mysterious expert, and as such that mysterious expert, through some godly power, prevented the compass from being used. That was why he was of the opinion that the mysterious expert did not want to be contacted by him.

    Moonclypsae¡¯s eyes grew blood red with Mystrygon¡¯s momentary silence.

    ¡°We were betrayed by so many of our contacts here in the Fusion Realm! They definitely assisted our pursuers in tracking us down repeatedly! We should return to remove their heads. That young human will surely betray us once he comes into contact with all these traitors! Only my bloodsworn sister who gave me this protection pendant and encouraged me to¡­¡±

    Moonclypsae¡¯s eyes suddenly grew wide in realization and with shock! She withdrew a beautiful jade pendant of a dragon who¡¯s form was of her own dragoness form before she gained the ability to transform into a humanoid.

    When Mystrygon saw this pendant, his instincts told him something was off. Yet, even though he used his telekinetic sense to repeatedly examine the pendant, he could not identify any issue with it.

    Mystrygon felt the aurae in his wife¡¯s body become progressively chaotic to the point where her advancer powers might deviate or potentially collapse. He quickly summoned his own yellow lightning aurae and tapped a finger against his wife¡¯s forehead.

    Moonclypsae, in her angry and muddled state, felt a sense of tranquil relief as an electric brightness suddenly shook and cleared her mind. Her husband¡¯s rousing and slightly stinging voice, ¡°Remember how you were before this journey!¡± echoed inside her mind.

    Her memories returned to how she lived before this horrendous journey through the Fusion Realm. She had always treated others with grace and kindness. She had never been one to needlessly harm others. Her aurae gradually returned to a stable state.

    Moonclypsae now calmly reflected on her most recent state-- she would not have normally wanted to kill a human that had assisted both herself and her husband. Only, she had felt at a dead end after being seemingly betrayed repeatedly by their allies in the Fusion Realm, only to realize the likely and potentially worse truth in the end-- It had to be the pendant given to her by her bloodsworn sister that allowed their enemies to track them to the ends of the earth.

    Additionally, most of their allies in the Fusion Realm will have been exposed, by now, to their enemies during their escape.

    Moonclypsae suddenly convulsed for a heartbeat before giving a hacking cough to the side. She expelled dark and black wisps of aurae out of her scaled-framed lips that floated up and disappeared into the side of the inter-realm light tunnel.

    Mystrygon breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the dark aurae being expelled, for both his wife and the child inside her belly. He too, had more than once experienced such a shock to his own advancer realm. Ironically, that shock had in the end, assisted him in climbing to his current realm, giving him a clearer mind than ever before.

    This was why the outer advancer stage was considered ¡®dangerous¡¯. An advancer in this power realm is in the process of developing a soul-- it was the birth of this soul that allowed an advancer to have the magical ability of interacting directly with phenomena with telekinesis and advancer arts related to such powers.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    A dastardly method to undermine an advancer in this advancer realm was to find ways to corrupt the process of the soul¡¯s birth.

    Anyhow, this initial expulsion was important, but Mystrygon knew that his wife would require further contemplation to overcome this experience. The earlier, the better-- allowing such dark aurae to remain in the heart, known to be borne from unresolved inner conflict or experiences, would increase the risk of ¡®turning¡¯, decrease future progress, and perhaps even a collapse of magical powers.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived safely back home. Don¡¯t destroy that pendant. It will be useful in the future.¡±

    Moonclypsae nodded, even more drained after this episode, but her expression had become much more serene and determined.

    Mystrygon maintained his silence for a while longer, trying to organize his thoughts. Eventually, he sighed and elaborated on his mind to his wife.

    ¡°Us dragons and a few others were once regarded as deity beasts worthy of worship during the Age of Gods¡­ but that age collapsed. The intelligence of our race was supposedly a blessing from those fallen gods, and in our fear, we sought to use humans as our source of intelligence. The Age of Beasts, too, came to pass as the humans grew ever stronger across the eons. You know all of this. It eventually reached an all-out war-- the Age of Chaos¡­And now, the Age of Humans.¡±

    ¡°That poison that the mysterious expert found in me when I was a baby. That poison was created by a group of humans. I¡¯ve long realized that within the dragon clan, some are definitely cooperating with certain human factions. They have a hand in everything.¡±

    ¡°Say, don¡¯t you think today was a risk worth taking?¡±

    Although Moonclypsae was still weak after having stabilized her condition, she immediately snorted in response. From her perspective, her husband¡¯s move was a bit of a hail mary. Then again, if their opposition within the dragon clan had hidden support from certain human factions¡­

    She mentally played out quite a few situations in mind. She had long developed a distrust toward the many human factions. The current age was regarded by most in the advancer world as the Age of Humanity-- was so named because of the slight but ever-growing dominance that human factions had across realms.

    The dark aurae she had expelled? That, too, was rumored to be sourced from humans. At least, the annals of the dragon clan claimed that it was a group of mountain folk that dug beneath the mountains, that brought the darkness into the dragons¡¯ hearts.

    ¡°My dear, don¡¯t you remember how back in the day, when I had some disadvantages during my growth thanks to my disastrous birth, that you took a risk and stuck by me? Luckily, our opposition failed to realize that the poison had long been purged and I was able to secretly develop a strength and stabilize our faction¡¯s situation at a critical moment.¡±

    Moonclypsae was filled to the brim with pride at this mention, though she hid her emotions, not willing to give way to Mystrygon. Mystrygon had appeared weak back then, but her intuition always told her that he was much more-- in both mind and body. Having her perception proven right over the years felt incredibly satisfying, particularly in the face of hidden mockery that she knew once existed among her peers.

    ¡°Just as you took a leap of faith then. It is this¡­ sixth sense that guided me to make my choice regarding that human.¡±

    Thus, Mystrygon successfully calmed the storm.

    Eventually, in front of the pair was a sphere with a distorted and curved image of their destination-- their clan, a place where it would be incredibly reckless for their enemies to act in any meaningful capacity.

    Mystrygon could not help but put on a mysterious smile, before sticking his chin up in the air with renewed confidence, stating with dignity, ¡°And so returns the dragon prince Mystrygon. A miracle beyond the understanding of his foes. An escape out of the net through mystifying methods¡­¡±

    Only to receive a soft slap from his wife. However, the dragoness proceeded to wrap her arms around Mystrygon¡¯s neck. Moonclypsae had fully readjusted her state of mind. She still looked a bit exhausted, but in her eyes was a newfound energy. Her hand tightly gripped that suspicious pendant given to her by her supposedly beloved bloodsworn sister.

    Perhaps her bloodsworn sister was truly at fault. Or perhaps it was the craftsman. Regardless, she would be ready-- she fully understood what Mystrygon meant regarding the usefulness of this pendant.

    There was one thing she knew about her husband that others were less aware of. Her husband had indeed created miracles beyond the understanding of his foes, to the point where sometimes, the opposition even wasted resources trying to find Mystrygon¡¯s ¡®hidden helper¡¯ even when none existed.

    Was it just luck¡­? Not even Moonclypsae knew. Mystrygon simply had a knack for playing a hand at critical moments that always flipped situations on their heads.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    At the Black Wolf Forest, under the rain, at a small pond below a waterfall, a group of black cloaked and hooded humanoids appeared. The group examined every blade of grass and every pebble on the side of the pond.

    A sniffing sound could be heard coming from one of the humanoids, only for that individual to instantly vomit all over the ground.

    Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, the individual informed the other.

    ¡°They¡¯ve used that disgusting trick again to put off my tracking scent ability!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for relying on the aurae-imbued nose of yours.¡± Another individual chortled before placing a hand against his chin in contemplation. ¡°But this is truly odd. Why would they use that random skill again when it¡¯s obvious we are likely relying on something else to find them?¡±

    That second individual took out a small jade bead and held it between his thumb and index finger. He then stared into the small jade bead. He soon had an incredulous look on his face as he dropped the bead in shock.

    ¡°Impossible! He would have needed someone here preparing a portal for over a day in order to leave this realm!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± another hooded individual mocked. However, the scorn on his face was soon wiped off his face once he picked up and stared into the small jade bead-- the bead had indicated that the target had already returned to the dragon realm!

    ¡°Is it possible that Mystrygon knew someone in this Fusion Realm that could have opened the portal in a shorter time? For example, an advancer with a strong spatial affinity?¡±

    ¡°Even a telekinetic advancer with strong spatial affinity, would barely have enough aurae to open an inter-realm portal, and not to mention, it would still take at least half a day even with said strong affinity.¡±

    ¡°How about a deity with strong spatial affinity?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! We would have known if there was such an existence here¡­?¡±

    The group was considering the most likely possibilities. They had a superior to report to, and Mystrygon¡¯s escape would not be well received if it came with a near impossible ¡®birdcrap¡¯ explanation.

    They had prepared the current plan for many years to trap and kill the dragon.

    ¡°Perhaps it was a hidden advancer that came down to this realm to mess around with mortals. Or a unique treasure that the dragon might secretly possess?¡±

    The black hooded individuals nodded their heads. This seemed most likely. An incredible advancer expert of the god realms-- a stage above the telekinetic realm-- with spatial affinity might have been here to fool around in the mortal world, to the benefit of Mystrygon.

    Such a being might be able to open an inter-realm portal within a few thousand heartbeats. And such a type of behavior from these godly advancer was not uncommon. Across the ages, there have been numerous tales of these advancer playing jokes on the weaker ones that resided in mortal realms...

    ¡°Damn it! We¡¯ve made so many preparations across the years! We¡¯ve waited patiently to release the information of the draconic metamorphose bead at the right time so they would fall for the trap! Our superiors will definitely punish us!¡±

    ¡°But what about the draconic metamorphose bead? Do we know where it is?¡± One of the hooded figures that had been silent from the start slowly asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in thinking of this any further,¡± a hooded individual that was likely the leader of the group ordered. ¡°We were only able to discover that the man who obtained the draconic metamorphose bead might be hiding in this realm through tracing his path through the multiple realm portals across decades. We could find the initial activity of that man in this realm, but he then completely disappeared from detection.That was the incomplete information we used to lure that dragon.¡±

    ¡°Will Mystrygon return to find the draconic metamorphose bead? Unless¡­ he already found the bead?! It¡¯s hard to imagine that they would give up on such an important treasure of their clan¡­¡±

    ¡°Our higher ups will have their own considerations and hand down orders. If you step out of line and cause a failure, your head will be first to drop. Stay in line,¡± the leader threatened, ¡°and at the very worst, we might get temporarily demoted and receive a few lashings. At least we¡¯ll still be alive.¡±

    He then signaled with his arm and the group of black-hooded individuals vanished into the darkness of the forest.

    ________________________________________________________________________

    Rein had naturally followed the dragon¡¯s advice and immediately left the vicinity of the pond below the waterfall once the dragon pair had entered the black sphere.

    He further understood from the blackish-purple bead that the dragon used before entering, that normally, traveling through spatial technique required a kind of protection-- though it seems that he himself did not require it.

    That must have been why the scarred right cheek mercenary had his body corrupted by the blackish-purple aurae.

    Anyhow, Rein had already traveled at least a few hundred kilofeet westward following the hand of the compass. Taking out the dagger, he reflected and thought of the two dragons he met at that pond. An indescribable feeling rose in his heart.

    Although he did not know the exact details of their plight, he found himself refreshed when he thought of the whelp in the dragoness¡¯ belly having a chance at life.

    He then felt sorrowful as he remembered Blacksmith Tiehr having a soft spot for him and the kidnapped Jein. Perhaps, he shared a commonality with Blacksmith Tiehr, weak to children and newborns. If he didn¡¯t have this weakness, he would not have to feel conflicted with killing the scarred right cheek mercenary and leaving his son an orphan.

    Rein returned the dagger to the side of his hips. He looked eastward from where he had come, seeing a faint crack of light reflecting off the cloudy sky. The rain had ceased quite a while ago. The light danced, sending a purple hull shimmering across the underside of these white clouds as well as what little of the sky that could be seen in the occasional gaps between the clouds.

    Rein suddenly took a knee as he felt his body heavy and a dark anger that threatened to consume him. He knew in his heart that the rage would give him the strength he needed, as it did during his killing spree in the Wolf Syrup Town. He instinctively struggled within himself to resist and control it-- the part of him that regretted orphaning that young boy who was the same age as Jein.

    To his surprise, he felt an electrifying energy radiate from his abdomen to the rest of his body, completely removing the feeling of heaviness for the time being.

    For a moment, Rein felt as if he couldn¡¯t breathe, but then he coughed out wisps of black aurae. There seemed to be weak red lightning arcs that jumped within the black aurae as if attempting to burn it all away. He coughed again, but could not seem to get rid of a dispiriting sensation stuck inside his own throat.

    Rein frowned as he took a long deep breath, before shrugging his shoulders. He looked down at the light yet durable compass in his hand again, which continued to point westward.

    Even if he felt guilty about that young boy... How could he tolerate the evildoers just on the condition that they might have a relationship with someone innocent?

    He brushed off part of his regret and confirmed his resolve, then formed a circle with his hands, and transversed westward.

 Ch19: An Interrogation

    It was high noon, and nothing could hide from the bright sun high in the sky. A young man dressed in a frontally-knotted black outfit appeared a short distance away from a city with high walls and towers. This was none other than Rein.

    Travelers who saw the figure rubbed their eyes in confusion-- the young man had seemingly flashed into existence from nothing. However, the number who saw the sight were few and all of them simply discarded it as a trick of the eyes.

    Rein looked down at the odd compass in his hands. To his dismay, the needle did not point towards the city, but instead pointed towards a location to southwest of him-- likely somewhere south of the city, an area occupied by a rather ominous-looking range of mountains.

    The reason for his dismay was simple. Rein had long grown up used to a rather luxurious bed, and going into a city would definitely give him a higher chance of that. His pouch of bronze and copper medallions that he had rescued from that fallen devil beauty would allow him to afford a mediocre level of comfort, for a time.

    He coalesced with the other travelers on the path that led towards the city. Quite obviously, he did not wish to attract any sort of attention with his origin skill-- especially not with the potential risk of linking him with the incident at Wolf Syrup Town in addition to his fear of becoming a target of advancers unknown to him.

    Looking around, Rein wanted to find a source of information. Although the compass pointed towards a location southwest of him, he still wanted to locate himself-- he had followed the compass¡¯ hand, and had lost track of his exact position despite his geographical knowledge of the Minhr Nation.

    The surrounding travelers consisted of people from all walks of life. Some were well-dressed in gaudy fashion, others in rags. A few rode horses, some even rich enough to travel in luxurious caravans.

    Regardless of their circumstances, all these travelers were coming to the city in search of something.

    He sidled over to a young man amongst the travelers. The young man was robust and covered under a red cloak, with a thick shortsword hanging by his side. Moving closer, Rein could also see a slightly worn leather armor peeking out from under the red cloak. Combined with a tanned skin, Rein could tell that this young man, slightly older than himself, was a kind of martial artist.

    Rein hooked the fingers of his two hands together in greeting. The red cloaked young man appeared surprised, being brought out of his own reverie. But, he too, quickly responded with a greeting and a smile after noticing Rein was of similar age to himself.

    ¡°Fellow traveler. My name is Rein. May I know the name of the city ahead of us?¡±

    The red-cloaked young man, as well as a few in the vicinity that heard Rein¡¯s question, looked rather bemused. Many had traveled far and wide to enter a city and someone did not even know the name of this city?

    The red-cloaked young man, although confused, appeared quite happy to so quickly find someone the same age as him.

    ¡°Seeker Rein. My name is Chirh, from the family of Jirn. This is the Green Trout City.¡± Chirh hesitated for a heartbeat before adding, ¡°so named because it started off as a prime location to fish for the green trout delicacy from the Green Gilded River.¡±

    Rein exclaimed in surprise, further drawing funny looks from those around. By following the compass, he had traveled past quite a few towns. He had only acquired his origin skill, and did not have an accurate assessment of how much distance he could travel in a single night.

    He recalled his knowledge of this area. The Green Gilded River¡¯s source was situated in a set of mountain ranges in the wilderness to the Minhr Nation¡¯s west. Although the Green Trout City was not all that close to that wilderness area, it was the largest settlement in the western area of the Minhr Nation. It could be said to be the last civilized region to the western edge of the nation.

    Chirh looked up and down Rein¡¯s body shape, noticing that Rein likely practiced martial arts as well. There was also the big hammer tied to Rein¡¯s back. Luckily, the rain had washed off the blood stains off the hammerhead, otherwise Rein would have been immediately reported to authorities.

    ¡°Seeker Rein. I came here to join the Hall of Heroes!¡± Chirh proudly declared. ¡°Is that what you¡¯re here for as well? We are all advancers, seekers of truth, no?¡±

    The Hall of Heroes recruited many advancers to represent them in completing missions that the leaders of each branch regarded as righteous and just. It was said that the Hall of Heroes existed in all major cities of multiple countries in all important realms. Even mortals like Rein had some knowledge of the organization.

    That was the limit to his knowledge. Rein had never gone further in his studies of the matter, particularly because he never imagined himself entering the advancer world.

    ¡°I am just searching for someone. Unfortunately, I believe he or she is not in this city.¡± Rein shook his head in reply to Chirh as he gripped tighter onto the magical compass.

    Chirh¡¯s initial excitement slightly dimmed. He had hoped to find a few buddies before joining the Hall of Heroes. The Hall of Heroes had many different missions, and it was always best to have teammates that one could trust.

    There were many tales of backstabbing on missions, sometimes for riches, fame or more.

    Chirh had immediately felt camaraderie with Rein. The slightly confused Rein who did not even know the name of this city could be quite trustworthy.

    Of course, this stemmed from a misconception. Rein only did not recognize the city in front of them because he had been following a random compass he had received...

    Rein thanked Chirh and bid him farewell. Rein had no intention of entering Green Trout City. Firstly, the compass did not point towards it. Secondly, if the draconic metamorphose bead could be detected.

    He fully understood the issue with this bead after the dragon Mystrygon informed him of the possibility of him being identified as a demon beast, due to the bead¡¯s energies having transformed his body¡¯s elemental affinity.

    As he left the pack of travelers and veered southwest, he was shocked to discover in a backward glance that a sudden needle-like solid white aurae stabbed into the crowd at the speed of light.

    A traveler in the crowd let loose a squeal of pain, transforming into a demon with a fish head. The demon then tried to leap upwards toward the city wall.

    An austere female advancer dressed in white robes on the top of the city wall raised her arm and stabbed forward with a finger again, releasing another condensed looking point of silver aurae that struck the fish head demon midair.

    The fish head demon fell back into the crowd, and the next moment, the surrounding travelers immediately reacted and stabbed weapons into the demon, ending its life, though its limbs still twitched ever so slightly.

    Humans had always seen demons as enemies due to historical incidents of demons consuming humans for their both intelligence and sustenance. Humans brains, especially, had long been considered a delicacy to the demon beasts. It was a common practice to immediately attack these transforming demons that attempted to infiltrate human society.

    ¡°Well done!¡± The austere female on the wall praised as she barely cracked a smile. The city would do well to have citizens that responded quickly to resist any demons-- particularly since many of these travelers might become permanent citizens.

    Rein was visibly relieved to have escaped a similar fate to the fish demon, until his heart spasmed on the appearance of a male figure who blocked his path. The male was also dressed in a white robe similar to that austere woman.

    Rein could only lament in despair. He wasn¡¯t even interested in entering the city! Were these white-robed figures busybodies that stuck their noses into all affairs?

    ¡°Elder has ordered me to test you.¡± The white robed male then gripped Rein¡¯s wrist with a finger against his pulse. ¡°I will be monitoring your aurae flow. Deceive me and you will die.¡±

    The white robed male said all this in a matter-of-fact manner--this was a daily standard procedure.

    ¡°Are you a demon beast?¡±

    When Rein heard this question, he could not help but roll his own eyes at his own nervousness. His mind calmed as he realized that he had already been examined, and only triggered minor suspicion. His truth would stand.

    ¡°I am clearly a human,¡± he confidently replied.

    ¡°Are you now?¡± A silvery voice then interjected. At an unknown time, the austere white-robed female had appeared close by.

    Up close, Rein could see that although the male had called her an elder, appearance wise, she looked to be in her thirties with a rosy mature oval face. Of course, as an advancer, she was likely much older, probably in the hundreds. His impression of her as ¡®austere¡¯ was formed from the permanent slight frown on her face that iced any that dared to look into her eyes, as well as the controlled and decisive manner in which she acted from the wall.

    ¡°I can detect a hint of demon beast aurae from you,¡± the silvery voice said pointedly.

    ¡°He is telling the truth, elder.¡± The white robed male informed his superior.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± The white robed female contemplated for a few heartbeats before then gripping Rein¡¯s wrist herself. ¡°Tell me, why do you have a hint of a demon beast aurae?¡±

    Rein controlled his expression, though internally, his mind raced with nervous abandon. So, his transformation had led to a hint of a demon beast aurae, which was rather likely to increase after full assimilation of the bead. Still, the fact that he hadn¡¯t been promptly executed meant that the austere female could sense his humanity as well. He must be giving off mixed signals.

    There was no way Rein could actually escape from these two experienced advancers without causing an uproar. The white-robed lady might be just as strong as the dragon Mystrygon.

    ¡°I traveled the Black Wolf Forest not too long ago, and came upon an extremely powerful demon that had changed form into a human. Is there a possibility that that powerful demon is related to its aurae on me?¡± Rein posited in response.

    This was all true. There is a relation between the draconic bead and the dragon Mystrygon.

    The white robed lady squinted her eyes. A demon beast powerful enough such that its aurae might affect the youth in front of her? At least, that was how she interpreted Rein¡¯s words.

    ¡°And somehow, you, an inner realm mortal, escaped this incredibly powerful demonic beast?¡± She narrowed her eyes as she pushed for answers.

    Rein had fully calmed his mind now, though his heart still beat slightly rapidly. But a rapid heartbeat meant nothing-- who wouldn¡¯t have a faster heartbeat due to slight nervousness in an interrogation?

    ¡°To be frank, the demon beast was in a hurry to leave. I saw him jump into a black sphere floating in the sky! He then vanished!¡±

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Once again, this was a true statement. Though, of course, Rein had played a part in it. Mystrygon had used some sort of magical art-- that disgusting breath, to wipe away any residue clues in the area. Rein believed that the austere white-robed lady would discover nothing even if she were to visit the location.

    The white-robed lady squinted her eyes. Her finger had been monitoring Rein¡¯s aurae flow, and this told her that Rein had told the truth. There was no way for Rein, an inner advancer, to obscure his flow of aurae and trick her into believing lies as truth, ludicrous as his tale was.

    ¡°Investigate this new information!¡± She ordered the accompanying white-robed male.

    The white-robed male hooked his fingers then immediately left to accomplish his task. Although his steps were rapid and his movement swift, he gracefully and weightlessly floated away.

    At this very moment, the white robed lady noticed the compass in Rein¡¯s hand.

    Rein¡¯s heart skipped a beat, worried that the lady would notice something suspicious from the compass.

    He berated himself for being careless. He should have hidden the compass.

    However, when he handed over the compass to the lady, oddly, the compass was now heavier as if it was made of mortal iron instead of its original unique weightless property.

    When the lady examined the back of the compass, the original mysterious symbol was no longer there. And when the lady rotated the compass, the needle simply pointed northwards, as all compass needles should.

    ¡°Be careful out there, young man.¡± She handed back the compass. She leapt into the sky, and with a simple extension of a leg, created an eardrum-bursting sonic boom followed by raging gusts that threatened to topple the trees surrounding Rein.

    Rein had to close his eyes in response to the sharp wind, and by the time the trees had calmed and Rein could open his eyes safely again, the lady had vanished into the city.

    Rein breathed a sigh of relief once he had traveled farther in the southwest direction.

    His back was drenched in cold sweat from the interrogation. In that respect, Rein was truly lucky. Even though he had skillfully told the ¡®truth¡¯, if that elder advancer was just a tad bit more suspicious¡­ Perhaps Rein was simply too weak and the austere woman believed him to be not much of a threat.

    You could say that Rein had successfully flown under the spiritual sense of advancers, harmless to the point of being ignored-- that was Rein¡¯s best method to avoid drawing attention.

    On another note, the mysterious compass was truly magical. It was as if the compass knew when to disguise itself through some magical means.

    The compass, now back in his hand, had returned to its normal appearance. The needle, too, no longer pointed north, but southwest, regardless of how Rein shook and turned it.

    Rein then sighed. His only path forward is to find the mysterious expert that supposedly created this magical compass. Otherwise, it would be impossible to find those responsible for his family, hometown¡¯s massacre, or to even have a chance at saving his younger brother. He needed help in obscuring the hint of demon aurae in his body.

    He continued following the needle point while snacking on a crunchy advancer bun that he had pulled out from his travel sack. The stressful interrogation had made his belly ache from nervous hunger, and the hard and chewy texture of this odd advancer type bun helped calm his nerves.

    After a quarter of a day, he entered thick woods, at which point, he returned to forming a circle with his two palms and popping across the top of tree branches.

    These woods were part of a vast uninhabited mountainous area. In Rein¡¯s memories, this area was called the Bleak Mountains, located a good distance south of the Green Trout City. West of these Bleak Mountains ran the Green Gilded River, but it was currently obscured by the mountain peaks.

    The reason for the name of this mountain range was simple. While the current area that Rein was traveling through had sky-piercing trees with trunks as wide as an elephant¡¯s length, the closer one traveled to the mountain peaks, the more desolate the scenery would become.

    The woods he was currently traveling through were thick to the point where Rein would have to walk at a snail¡¯s pace and twist his body like a snake through the trees, unless he traveled on top of the tree branches.

    As the jagged peaks of the Bleak Mountains grew larger and larger in Rein¡¯s sight, the vegetation became increasingly thin and lifeless, with leaves and grass turning yellow and brown.

    This transition might have occurred quite quickly, but that was because of Rein¡¯s heavenly travel speed with his origin skill.

    As for the cause? Many advancer sects were located in ¡®paradises¡¯  in the mountainous regions to the west, between the Green Gilded River and the Wilderness. Those areas had abundant aurae and were highly beneficial for advancers trying to improve their advancers'' realm.

    Some of these sects had surveyed the Bleak Mountains. No one could find the cause of the area¡¯s desolation. The scholars in Rein¡¯s readings could only conclude that something inherently wrong in the Bleak Mountains that made it lifeless.

    This was why there were no advancer sects in this area. Instead, it was inhabited by a number of bandit gangs. All of this made Rein rather uncomfortable-- bandits participated in the Golden Desert Town massacre.

    Looking around, Rein could see that the woods had become increasingly thin, revealing the  jagged and uneven ground that was coated in an ominous black soil.

    As for the rocky areas not covered with soil, the ominous black color instead displayed itself as a messy zigzagging pattern across the surface of the ground.

    The sky was now dim and not even the edge of the setting sun could be seen on the horizon to the west anymore.

    The odd compass in Rein¡¯s hands started spinning, and Rein sucked in a breath of cold air before looking around with bated breath.

    A shadow of a masked man appeared from behind a thin and gray tree trunk. Then a second, and a third shadow appeared.

    The three figures appeared blurry to Rein¡¯s vision, and Rein could not help but rub his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.

    Before he could even ascertain the situation fully, the three masked figures dashed toward Rein in a triangular attack formation.

    His initial thought was that the demonic dragon had used the compass to bait him into a location of death. Where was that mysterious expert?

    Dragons were seen as noble in the more ancient folktales, but ever since the human race had grown and exerted their will across the numerous realms, the increasing conflict had relegated some of the originally more respected legendary beasts to the ¡®normal¡¯ view across demon beasts.

    Rein wanted to yell out and get the three figures to cease their aggression, ¡°I¡¯m just trying t--¡± only to hear a derisive snort right next to his ears that cut off his words.

    Rein turns his head left and right, thinking for a second that a bandit had sneaked up behind him. However, there was no sign of a shadow beside him. This action costed Rein precious time, and by the time he switched his sight back onto the three figures, they were too close for comfort.

    Although Rein had taken the lives of the group of mercenaries in Black Wolf Town, he had done so through sneak attacks while abusing the teleport skill. Not to mention, many of those mercenaries had been dead drunk. At this juncture, he found himself unsure of how to fight against three at the same time with his measly skills.

    Rein''s only real combat experience had been when he was one-on-one against that bandit back in Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s forge-- which he would have lost his precious little life in if not for a last moment rescue by Blacksmith Tiehr.

    Although the guards hired by House Hehr had taught Rein some martial arts and body advancer techniques, they were basic punches and simple weapons skills.

    Rein barely maintained his wits and desperately used his teleport skill to create more time to plan his actions. He couldn¡¯t avoid using the origin skill under such a dangerous situation.

    Rein reappeared a few kilofeet away with a swirl, before reassessing the situation.

    ¡°Disappointing¡­¡± The gruff voice whispered in Rein¡¯s ears again. Rein chose to ignore this bothersome voice. He had judged that the voice was likely there to distract him from the movements of the three bandits in front of him. Nothing but a bandit¡¯s dastardly trick!

    Facing the current situation, Rein realized the limitation of the current state of his origin skill. He could not wield both his weapon and activate the skill at the same time! He needed to form a circle with his hands in order to activate his origin skill. However, the three bandits¡¯ coordination with each other made it impossible for him to sneakily take them out one-by-one through teleporting then swapping to his weapon.

    He understood that the only way he could get out of this dire situation would be to separate the three to diminish their cooperation.

    Rein formed his hand circle and teleported another kilofoot, back to a part of the woods where there was more greenery and obstacles to hide behind. He shifted his body behind a trunk barely wide enough to obscure the vision of the three bandits and paused for a single breath, to calm his heart and grip the heavy hammer off of his back. He then quickly switched positions to another trunk.

    His choice of action was to create the situation of the bandits breaking formation to search for him. If that were to happen, then he might be able to use the origin skill and crush their skull with the hammer.

    As Rein glanced out from behind the tree trunk corroded by black soot, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the bandits had indeed split up and were moving towards his direction at slightly different angles.

    Rein had a slight advantage in that his area had slightly thicker vegetation, which covered his location much better than the bleaker area that the three bandits were approaching from.

    Seeing as one of the bandits was casually walking towards his direction, Rein remained hidden behind a tree trunk and lifted his hammer in preparation for a surprise attack. His multiple teleportations should prevent the bandit from knowing his exact hidden location.

    He kept his ears open to ascertain the closeness of the bandit through the sound of footfall, not daring to peek even a hair out and potentially give away his position.

    The footsteps gradually grew louder, and then there was a loud thump accompanied by the sound of snapping branches right next to the trunk that Rein was hiding behind.

    Rein immediately jumped out, ready to swing his heavy hammer at a bandit.

    Yet¡­ the bandit was actually a few feet away with a mocking grin on his hazy and blurry face.

    On the ground was instead a fist-sized stone that rested upon a few dry branches. No doubt, the bandit had used a stone to bait Rein into preemptively striking!

    Rein lambasted his own foolishness. On reflection, the sound of the falling stone was slightly off from a normal footstep. If he was more meticulous, he might have noticed that detail.

    It was too late for Rein to hide again. Seeing as the bandit was separated from the other two, and this bandit appeared unarmed, Rein immediately charged the remaining few feet forward and swung his heavy hammer.

    The bandit turned incorporeal as the hammerhead struck his waist and passed through with minimal resistance. A rainbow cloud of aurae was swept out in the direction of the hammerblow, leaving the bandit¡¯s top half body detached from his legs. Rein felt like he had hit nothing but air, nearly losing his balance in the process.

    This wasn¡¯t a bandit! It was abundantly clear that these ¡®bandits¡¯ were just objects formed from a manipulation of aurae-- some form of advancer magic!

    The aurae bandit now formed a fist with its hovering top body and threw a punch right at Rein¡¯s head.

    Rein judged that the aurae fist was nothing much-- his hammer had easily swept through the aurae bandit¡¯s waist. He raised a palm just to block the weak aurae fist as he tried to identify the location of the other two bandits. If he were to get surrounded, that would be the end for him.

    Out of the corner of his eye, Rein noticed the aurae fist go through his palm, yet he felt no sensation. Rein blinked his eyes and suddenly, the top body of the bandit appeared to slightly shift to the side as if it had always been in that position originally. In Rein¡¯s eyes, It appeared as if this aurae bandit had teleported sideways by half a foot.

    The top body of the aurae bandit then became nearly incorporeal as its aurae density traveled up the body to strengthen the now incoming aurae fist, which became rock solid in the blink of an eye..

    It was too late for Rein to correct his erroneous judgment.

    The aurae fist felt hard as iron as it connected with Rein¡¯s head, sending him flying while side-rolling through the air.

    As Rein flew, his mind attempted to piece together what he had seen. Was it some kind of illusion that created his wrong impression of the aurae bandit¡¯s position? Or, was the aurae bandit capable of instantaneously shifting position mid-punch?

    By the time Rein got back his bearings from the ground, and picked up his hammer, he had become surrounded by the three aurae bandits. The one that had his top body separated from his legs was now back in one piece.

    Oddly enough, the three bandits were not positioned equally from three directions. They were advancing toward Rein directly in front, and forty-five degrees diagonally to the left and the right.

    Rein stepped backwards toward the empty direction as he nervously kept an eye on the three aurae bandits. They all had their heads cocked with a sort of funny expression on their face. Rein could tell that something was off-- it made no sense for the three aurae bandits to leave an opening for him to escape.

    Rein took another step back, only to have his vision turn white as a stinging sensation arced through his whole body.

    When his vision cleared, Rein¡¯s found himself on all fours with his whole body numb. Looking around, he saw a group of sticks with inscriptions on them surrounding him in a circle.

    A chortle sounded right next to his left ear.

    So. This was the expert. That was the conclusion Rein eventually reached. He had already fallen for quite a few tricks and yet, somehow he was alive. He felt stupid for not realizing earlier, but no doubt, these weren¡¯t real bandits. It was probably the so-called advancer expert that was messing with him!

    Feeling humiliated, he threw his hammer to his side as he leapt upwards onto a tree branch. If this expert advancer was going to set some kind of trap on the ground, he was not going to play along!

    Rein landed on a sturdy-looking tree branch¡­ then the tree branch in Rein¡¯s vision became a thin, sickly grayish branch, and naturally snapped under his weight. Rein tumbled back onto the ground before he could even form a circle with his hand to activate his teleportation skill.

    With a groan, Rein sat back up. In front of him now stood a man in a brownish murky green robe. He looked up to try to see the face, only to see a bamboo stick strike toward the dead center of his forehead.

    Bonk!

    He was knocked out.

 Ch20: A Demonstration of the Realms

    Inside a pagoda, an austere white-robed lady exclaimed in surprise.

    ¡°Elder?¡± Her underling wondered if his elder had some kind of epiphany.

    ¡°Go forth to investigate the remnant powerful demonic aurae in the Black Wolf Forest.¡±

    After her underling left, she muttered, ¡°My tracking marker on that young man vanished on the edge of the Bleak Mountains zone¡­ Who would travel there? Do the bandits loitering in that area have some nefarious plans?¡±

    She furrowed her eyebrows again in deep contemplation, wondering whether she should have apprehended that young man. However, she affirmed her decision-- the young man was still in the inner realm-- a mortal.

    Even if she captured him, it was impossible for him to have knowledge of any truly valuable information. If he was truly allied with dark forces, it would be better to follow his trail. She closed her eyes. Simply because the result went wayward did not mean it was the wrong choice.

    ___________________________________________________________________________

    Rein was drowning in his dreams, flailing in freezing cold water. As a child, he had once fallen into the pond in the center of the Hehr Mansion courtyard. That was a rather old nightmare of his, particularly since he had since learned how to swim.

    Sputtering, Rein suddenly opened his eyes a smidge.

    ¡°Awake¡­?¡±, a grumpy voice growled.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it at all, Master Yirn.¡±

    Rein suddenly felt a huge wave of ice cold water blasting into his face that completely cleared his mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m awake, damn it, I¡¯m--¡± he gargled and spitted out some water, ¡° awake!¡±

    He tried to move his arms but found himself tied to a chair, with his arms roped behind the back. He was confused-- that mysterious expert had powers beyond his imagination. Was there a need to tie him up?

    As for attempting to use the teleportation skill, Rein did not even dare to try. As he looked up, he found himself inside a dim room with a few lanterns positioned in the corners to illuminate the interior. He would only be able to teleport to a location in sight-- a position inside this very room.

    If he did so, he would automatically free himself from the chair he was currently tied to. He had discovered he had a degree of control of whether objects close to himself would be brought along through the black hole formed by his hands. Thus, he would be able to free himself if he did not bring the chair along with him on activating the teleportation magic. It was just that there was no point doing so with this ¡®Master Yirn¡¯ in front of him.

    Rein took a more careful look around the room. It was rather simplistic. The furniture and the windows were all the same type of dark brown color, no doubt, made from the same type of wood, likely from the outer edges of the Bleak Mountains where the vegetation could grow.

    The walls were light brown, likely made with some kind of mud bricks and rammed earth.

    Sitting right in front of Rein was the man who had knocked him out. The man was in a slight crouch on a short stool. He looked to be in his thirties, but really, most advancers looked to be somewhere in this age due to their long, if not immortal lifespan. The behavior of this man showed that he was clearly an ancient being.

    The man¡¯s square face with a stubbled chin had a scowl that seemed to be permanent, as if complaining about all the troubles he has had to deal with throughout his long life.

    His dark brown, murky green robes just further cemented the overall impression of the man as a bit of a grumpy old man.

    ¡°News?¡± The murky green man grumbled as he chewed on a blade of grass while playing with the odd compass that was originally in Rein¡¯s possession.

    A measured voice coming from behind Rein replied, ¡°No signs so far of anyone who has physically tracked this young man, Master.¡±

    ¡°His possessions?¡±

    ¡°Master, just some random aurae buns, armament refinement tools, inscription tools, a Black Crow Sect token, and some random advancer books on fire related fist arts.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­Leave us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Rein heard the sound of a door opening then closing.

    The man abruptly looked upwards from his low stool directly into Rein¡¯s eyes.

    Rein was surprised by the brightness within the grumpy man¡¯s eyes. It was as if he was looking into an everlasting spark through an ancient history of time.

    The grouchy man then looked down again, breaking apart this ¡®spell¡¯.

    He placed his hands together, and the odd compass was crushed into dust between his palms.

    ¡°That damn dragon. He nearly dragged attention onto me! Good thing I disabled this tracking treasure. What did he say to you? Troublesome!¡±

    Rein was partially curious as to who this master in front of him needed to hide from. But that''s none of his business really, though he felt a slight concern on whether this ¡®master¡¯ had the strength to truly be of help to him.

    He sighed in his heart. At this point in time, Rein¡¯s body fully slumped on the chair. He was absolutely exhausted. Frankly, he felt defeated.

    His voice, though youthful, was weary. ¡°...Master, the dragon called Mystrygon gave it to me after I assisted in their¡­ escape. To my knowledge, they were being hunted in some form or fashion for reasons unknown to me.¡±

    Master Yirn remained silent as he crouched on the short stool, with his knee supporting his right elbow and his right fist propping up his chin, lost in thought.

    After the time that it took for a cup of tea to turn cold, Master Yirn finally spoke again, his originally gruff voice now deep, awe-inspiring, and menacing at the same time.

    ¡°Master?!¡±

    Master Yirn seemed to generally avoid speaking too many words. However, this single word echoed inside Rein¡¯s very soul, and his limbs began trembling in fear. If not for the chair, he would have immediately crumpled onto the ground with limbs like noodles.

    Perhaps he should not have defaulted to calling this man his ¡®Master¡¯, but in the depths of his heart, he saw this expert as his only hope.

    He tried to ascertain this expert¡¯s intentions, but when he looked up, he saw Master Yirn¡¯s face inhumane, aloof. He then gazed into Master Yirn¡¯s eyes, and found the whole surrounding room crumbling into mist.

    Rein found himself back in the Hehr Mansion in the Golden Desert Town. Although he knew this was just an illusion, one caused by Master Yirn, he could not help but find his emotions in turmoil upon seeing this scene.

    It was quite odd though, in that the Hehr Mansion looked more vibrant and polished-- perhaps effects of the illusion.

    His parents and his brother Jein that he so dearly missed leisurely wandered toward Rein, and Rein, in his emotional state, ran forward in hopes of feeling their warm embrace again.

    As he leapt forward to embrace his family, he suddenly felt pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw that his father and Jein illusion had each stabbed a dagger into his belly.

    In confusion, he looked at his mother, who¡¯s face now looked wooden and grayed like a corpse, as if indifferent to his existence.

    Then the illusion shattered like glass, and Master Yirn appeared in front of him again inside the mudbrick room, one eyebrow raised with a mocking smile on his face.

    Master Yirn¡¯s provocative attitude was of a total another face to his previous grumpy then majestic presentation. The rapid transition between the different faces would shame any stage performer.

    Rein was in disbelief. To think that this Master Yirn, by all accounts an ancient expert, would create an illusion in which his loved ones that he had recently lost would be used to attack him?!

    He had thought that these ancient advancers, with their high standing, would be honorable. He clenched his fists, half-wishing he could punch this expert in front of him, but could only restrain himself because he knew this erratic figure definitely had powers beyond his imagination.

    This action allowed Rein to discover that the ropes around his arms and ankles were loose, and he was no longer bound to the chair.

    Displeased with Master Yirn, he immediately stood up and stepped toward the door of the mudbrick house, wanting to leave.

    However, when he reached the door, he could not bring himself to step out of the mudbrick house.

    Rein heard Master Yirn¡¯s derisive voice from behind him.

    ¡°Leaving?¡±

    Rein did his best to control and suppress his rising displeasure toward Master Yirn. He had realized something very important!

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Master Yirn was clearly a provocative person. The ancient expert had sent those three aurae bandits at him, waterfalled him with cold water to awaken him, then intentionally used an illusion to attack his mind.

    He had to endure. He could not just leave! He needed learn of advancer magics and the world! Enduring the man¡¯s dastardly acts and gaining knowledge would still be better than the eternal regret of not being able to avenge his parents and potentially rescue Jein!

    Rein steeled his weary mind.

    With that conviction, Rein turned around, kneeled down and gave Master Yirn banged his forehead against the ground, declaring, ¡°Disciple greets Master!¡±

    Throughout the whole sequence, he suppressed his dissatisfaction with the expert¡¯s provocations and forced himself to pay Master Yirn respect.

    A lengthy silence engulfed the mudbrick house, and the buzzing of a fly could be heard far across the room.

    Eventually, Master Yirn¡¯s voice sounded out again. His voice had returned to a grumpy and gruffy state.

    ¡°Talent is not uncommon. Background, a dime a dozen.¡±

    Rein, with his forehead against the ground, now craned his neck as he peered up towards Master Yirn, who continued.

    ¡°To survive the advancer world? The answer¡¯s here.¡± Master Yirn loudly tapped the side of his head. ¡°Mentality.¡±

    Then he clenched his fist and raised it up high. ¡°And an enduring might.¡±

    Master Yirn then stood up, not directly addressing whether Rein had become his disciple or not. Or perhaps it was of no importance to him.

    The master reached forward with a clawed hand toward Rein¡¯s abdomen, and he twisted his wrist mid-air as if opening an invisible door. A queasy feeling suffused Rein¡¯s body, but he could not break free. Streams of a lustrous deep green, a sizzling red lightning, and a blackish-purple haze was sucked away from Rein¡¯s gut.

    ¡°How curious¡­ The draconic metamorphose bead you absorbed only gave you affinity with wood and lighting. How curious indeed¡­Dragons should at least have an affinity with the five common elements¡­ unless¡­?¡± Master Yirn¡¯s expression turned strange and he released Rein from his magical grip, lost in thought for a good ten heartbeats. He then began laughing uproariously, to the point where a tear even rolled down a corner of his right eye.

    Rein froze in confusion, his ears booming with the expert¡¯s deep laughter, unsure what to make of the expert¡¯s reaction.

    Mystrygon would know if it was not a draconic metamorphose bead. The dragon had confirmed that it was such a bead.

    ¡°So. This is fate.¡± Master Yirn calmed down and returned to a low squat stance. Master Yirn did not provide any explanation for his thoughts, and immediately began a demonstration.

    ¡°The inner realm--the human mortal:

    Endless potential in mind,

    Yet weak in body and spirit.

    Calm one¡¯s heart and emotions,

    Stabilize the flow of the world¡¯s aurae,

    Uniformly remold the body without disrupting the balance.¡±

    The color of Master Yirn¡¯s muscles slightly bulged as his veins, visible to the naked eye, gained a silvery sheen of aurae.

    ¡°Fully transformed,

    Body one with the aurae of the world,

    Shake off the shackles of mortality!¡±

    Master Yirn¡¯s body increasingly emitted more silvery aurae, before finally, his whole body became completely suffused in a mist of this silver, and his skin wholly covered in a thin silvery layer.

    He then walked up to a side of the room, and threw a single punch at the mudbrick wall. The silvery aurae flowed around Master Yirn¡¯s fist as one, and as the fist moved towards the wall, Rein felt his face buffeted by gusts and his ears filled with the scream of compressed air.

    Boom!

    A complete hole was blasted through the mudbrick wall, and shattered mud pieces ricocheted off the ground, walls and ceiling as a hint of light leaked in through the gap.

    Master Yirn turned around to face Rein again, back in a low squat stance while maintaining the silvery sheen across his whole body. The light flowing in from the hole in the wall casted Master Yirn, who now stood in front of the hole, in a domineering fashion.

    ¡°The shell of the demi-god:

    Lacking mortal ties,

    Lost in cause,

    Find the creed within oneself,

    Birth one¡¯s path through the aurae of the world.¡±

    Master Yirn¡¯s aura grew, but the silvery layer covering his body became thinner. However, Rein could see that although the layer was thinner, it had also become more concentrated.

    Furthermore,the silvery aurae around Master Yirn¡¯s abdominal area began swirling like a whirlpool as if there was a central core gathering the aurae of the world.

    ¡°Concentrate your creed,

    The center of the being.

    A core true to oneself,

    Burst forward and be a beacon to all beings in existence!¡±

    Master Yirn then stepped forth and threw a punch into empty air. A concentrated silvery aurae fist projection burst forth and although it grew slightly dispersed as it flew, when it crashed into the opposite wall, the aurae fist still made another hole.

    Boom!

    Dust flew everywhere as the whole mudbrick building swayed and creaked.

    This hole, compared to the one behind where Master Yirn was standing, was only slightly wider. It did, however, additionally create far-reaching cracks lining the exterior of the hole.

    Rein swung his head back and forth comparing the two holes. He did not fully understand the mechanics behind either, but he was processing the display and comparing it to his past experiences.

    That devilish beauty that kidnapped Jein was likely only in the shell advancer level of the demi-god realms, so she could not perform the ¡®aurae projection¡¯ type of attack.

    On the other hand, Blacksmith Tiehr was an outer advancer, and could focus his aurae and throw out aurae projection fists, likely a common advancer art. His aurae was fiery red, whereas Master Yirn¡¯s was silvery.

    Master Yirn continued.

    ¡°The outer stage of the demi-god realms:

    Strong and sure in one¡¯s creed,

    Yet ignorant of the external.

    Reach out with the core,

    Grasp nature.¡±

    Master Yirn now hooked his fingers together while still maintaining the silvery sheen over his skin.

    The chair that Rein was tied to suddenly flew into the air, and as it was dropping, an invisible arm caught the chair and flung it up again.

    Rein reasoned that these must be the tendrils that he saw guiding the formation of that cross-realm teleportation portal for that dragon Mystrygon to escape through. He had managed to do that with the dragon¡¯s assistance.

    Without a powerful advancer¡¯s assistance, Rein currently could not see the tendrils that were swinging the chair to and fro with his naked eyes.

    A point of confusion was that Blacksmith Tiehr did not display this skill. Giving it a bit of thought, Rein realized that this was reasonable.

    Blacksmith Tiehr had just reached the outer realm before being poisoned in the Dragon Realm. It was likely he never had the chance to gain experience within the outer realm and develop this skill.

    Master Yirn resumed his majestic display. He was fully aware that Rein was putting two and two together inside his head.

    "Master the self,

    Comprehend the external,

    Break free of the physical realm!¡±

    Master Yirn now went into a cross-sitting posture with his palms placed together. However, he was not sitting on the ground, but rather sitting on air-- no-- floating in air.

    On top of his head now sat a silvery shape that looked like a tiny newborn.

    Rein had yet to interact with any advancer that had displayed this kind of power level. But based on small bits of information he had gleaned, he believed that silvery shape to be a formed soul that telekinetic advancers could use to control objects far and wide with a single thought.

    ¡°Telekinetic realm. One¡¯s physical body, even if destroyed, can be reshaped with the soul that has imprinted the physical form.¡±

    ¡°Telekinetic realm of the demi-god realm:

    The gatekeeper of godhood.

    Though the soul perceives its creed,

    And grasps the internal and external,

    It lies lost in cause and effect.

    Strengthen one¡¯s will,

    Transcend the realm.¡±

    Rein patiently waited for Master Yirn to continue, but no sooner after he had the thought, he found his eyelids drooping.

    He shook his head furiously while pinching the skin on the back of his hand as he berated himself for falling asleep during such an important demonstration.

    But when he looked back up, he saw Master Yirn¡¯s mocking smile again.

    Master Yirn raised his right eyebrow. ¡°You must be feeling down after your journey... so tired and fatigued in body and mind. Another day perhaps?¡±

    Rein found himself agreeing. Yes, he thought. Of course, he needed a good rest¡­

    He then tried to lie onto the ground, wanting to take a short rest. It would be fine to learn the rest tomorrow.

    However, when he closed his eyes, he didn¡¯t feel tired at all, and instead a burning impatience.

    ¡°Exhausted?¡± Master Yirn¡¯s gruff voice sounded out again. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to be so easily exhausted with an important goal in mind. Do not give your enemies too much rest and time. They, too, will grow stronger with time.¡±

    Rein found himself agreeing again. He inwardly berated himself. Yes, how could he just lie down? He needed to make as much progress as possible immediately!

    It was then that Rein found it odd that Master Yirn was directly conversing with him using many words. He was sure that Master Yirn normally avoided too many words. Yet Master Yirn¡¯s words were all true. He was truly exhausted and needed a bit of rest, yet he also wanted to¡­

    Rein¡¯s face turned white as a realization suddenly hit him. The telekinetic realm likely contained psychic abilities!

    Master Yirn¡¯s phrase echoed in Rein¡¯s mind. ¡®Grasp nature¡¯. Did that also include grasping the nature of humans? For humans, like beasts, plants and all other beings are all part of nature?

    It had to be. His current contradictory feelings had been grasped by Master Yirn who had taken hold of it and gained control of his mind.

    Rein realized this was more or less a form of mental manipulation, a rather scary thing to face. It was to influence an individual without the individual realizing they were being influenced...

    The baby soul on top of Master Yirn¡¯s head gradually increased in size in its silvery aurae splendor.

    ¡°Rein. Golden Desert Town has been abandoned by the Minhr Nation.¡±

    Rein narrowed his eyes as he thought of the meaning behind the words. He now understood that Master Yirn¡¯s every word and action indirectly communicated some knowledge.

    He noticed Master Yirn¡¯s eyes seem to have a slight glow. This must mean that a telekinetic advancer is able to sense events far into the distance.

    Master Yirn then raised his arm with the index and middle finger pointed forward. Out of nowhere, a longstaff flew forth and began spinning mid-air. Master Yirn had no need to move his hand to control the longstaff. He remained motionless as simply with his mind, he controlled the longstaff to repeatedly change its angle of spin and position in the air, before launching forth to puncture a hole in a third wall with a blunt crushing noise. The only remaining wall of this mudbrick hut unaffected was the one with the exit door.

    Rein half-expected this building to collapse on itself sooner or later. However, he was too enthralled with Master Yirn¡¯s display to put any serious thought into it.

    No sooner had he thought that, the longstaff flew back into mid-air. The rapidly spinning longstaff made whipping noises and crushed the wooden beam supporting the roof.

    At this point in time, the door creaked open and a middle-aged man peered his head in. His measured voice sounded out.

    ¡°Master! The¡­¡±

    He caught sight of the spinning longstaff heading for the central beams as well as the large holes in three of the walls, and his tone immediately turned urgent.

    ¡°Master! The building won¡¯t hold!¡±

    He then leaped beside Rein, and immediately dragged Rein by the collar of his frontally knotted black outfit out through the doorway as the spinning longstaff thoroughly rammed through the central beams supporting the roof.

 Ch21: Third Disciple, Origin Advancer

    The very next moment, Rein found himself sprawled on a grassy field as he felt the tremors of a building collapsing through the earth.

    When he turned back in the direction of the tremors, he saw the wooden roof of the house cave in amidst swirling dust.

    The mudbrick walls, on the whole, still stood strong, except for the areas where the holes were carved by Master Yirn¡¯s display of skill. Those specific sections of the walls had completely shattered like pottery.

    In the middle of the fallen roof stood an unruffled Master Yirn in a murky green and brown robe.

    ¡°Master, your strength is too much for these poor mortal houses,¡± the middle-aged man complained monotonously.

    Master Yirn poker face suddenly transformed as he beamed at the middle-aged man, ¡°Precisely. That is why you will be teaching Rein now.¡±

    Master Yirn then vanished into air, and immediately, the image of the mudbrick house shifted back into its original perfect condition! The previous damage was nothing but an illusion.

    Rein was still recalling Master Yirn¡¯s recent display of strength. Thus, he asked the only person beside him-- the middle-aged man-- his question.

    ¡°Master Yirn¡¯s flying longstaff¡­ What is the main difference between the outer and the telekinetic realm on remotely controlling flying objects?¡±

    The middle-aged man looked at Rein with distaste, though did not voice out the reason for this distaste.

    ¡°That¡¯s a telekinetic realm skill.,¡± The middle-aged man answered his question curtly. ¡°When you reach the telekinetic realm, you can siphon off a part of your soul, and directly insert it into a few items. It allows an advancer to control a weapon as just another limb. It¡¯s completely superior to the outer realm, where you might be competing with another advancer over the control of a single object. Imagine¡­ a tendril you have reached out wrestling for control over an object against another advancer¡¯s tendril. That is the weakness of the outer realm against the telekinetic.¡±

    The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before drawling derisively, ¡°And the other telekinetic skill is divine sense. It allows advancers to use their souls to directly communicate with the surroundings and sense events, objects and other advancers. Before reaching the telekinetic realm, it is nigh on impossible to accurately ascertain another advancer¡¯s strength.¡±

    Rein sighed. This middle-aged man probably only bothered explaining those skills to him because of his loyalty to Master Yirn.

    Rein did not care about the middle-aged man¡¯s attitude toward him. He had decided that as long as he received the knowledge and training he needed, he could put up with anything. A demeaning comment here and there? Nothing compared to his goals.

    He stood on his feet, and gave the middle-aged man the traditional hooked-fingers greeting.

    ¡°Rein,¡± he introduced himself.

    ¡°Chenhr.¡± The middle aged man paused for a moment before replying in a slow and dragged out voice. ¡°I am the third disciple of Master Yirn. And you? If you have truly been accepted by Master Yirn as a disciple¡­ you will be the eighth. You won¡¯t be.¡±

    Rein felt relieved. Although he was prepared to deal with Chenhr¡¯s attitude, it would definitely be preferable to rely on the other disciples. Hopefully, they would be more welcoming. His hope was immediately dashed.

    ¡°The first, second, and fourth through seventh disciples have long left though. It¡¯s only ME here with you.¡± Chenhr¡¯s generally measured voice, for a single word, was filled with anger.

    Rein shuddered at Chenhr¡¯s sudden leak of anger. Perhaps it was this middle-aged man that had chased away all those other disciples.

    He looked up at the spotless clear blue sky, wondering what the future might hold.

    This action made him notice an odd detail. When he was knocked out by Master Yirn, it was already the afternoon.Yet currently, the sky remained bright as if it was midday! Did he sleep for a whole day? If he did so, he would be extremely hungry with a growling belly-- not so!

    He could not help but examine Chenhr standing to his side. Chenhr robotically turned his head and looked into Rein¡¯s eyes with mirth.

    Then Chenhr¡¯s face transformed into Master Yirn¡¯s before the whole scenery shattered like glass¡­ again.

    The scenery was replaced by the interior of the mudbrick house. Rein did not have a mirror, but he knew that as of right now, his eyes were flat slits and his expression deadpan.

    At the same time, he could not help but turn his head left and right, attempting to see if it was all just an illusion¡­ again. Perhaps if he noticed something off about his surroundings, the illusion would break again¡­

    Frankly, his heart was gripped by a deep sense of terror. He had been completely unaware that his previous experience was an illusion. That only showed that Master Yirn could eternally trap Rein within a false world if the expert so desired.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, you fool.¡± The monotonous voice of Chenhr mocked Rein again. ¡°If the Master truly wanted to trap you in an illusion forever, you would be none-the-wiser regardless of how closely you observe the surroundings.¡±

    Instead of Master Yirn, Chenhr now stood in front of Rein. Assuming that this ¡®Chenhr¡¯ was not just an illusion. Speaking of which, does Chenhr even exist? Or was he just a fictional figure created by Master Yirn¡¯s illusion?

    Rein wanted to smash his head against a wall. Perhaps that might break any illusion and give clarity to his mind.

    He had gained the understanding that in certain scenarios, his origin skill would be useless-- he would not be able to escape if he ended up trapped in an illusion.

    ¡°Now. Unfortunately for me, Master Yirn has already ordered me to guide you. Although I personally would prefer not to, it is not my place to disagree with his command.¡±

    Master Yirn was definitely mysterious and powerful. As for the Chenhr in front of him, who might not even be real?

    ¡°How strong are you really?¡± Rein squinted his eyes while scanning the middle-aged man before him.

    Chenhr opened a bamboo folding fan with complex inscriptions across each strip. He casually fanned himself as he half-turned his body, his tone innocent. ¡°I¡¯m just a peak inner advancer.¡±

    Rein furrowed his brows. He had come seeking knowledge of the advancer world. Will Chenhr, just an inner advancer, be able to teach him much? He had thought Master Yirn would guide him.

    He glanced at the huge hammer and his possessions that stood against the wall behind him. He had noticed their presence ever since the illusion had ended.

    Chenhr continued to leisurely fan himself, pretending to be ignorant of the tension in the air.

    With that, Rein leaped backwards and gripped the heavy hammer, wishing to compare himself to Chenhr. He then formed a circle with his two hands and swirled into a small black sphere.

    Chenhr glanced around the room, attempting to decipher where Rein had teleported to. Perhaps, hiding behind one of the beams supporting the roof?

    He then chuckled and then tilted his head backwards as he stared directly above his head to see Rein swinging the heavy hammer down with the help of gravity.

    Rein had teleported a few feet above Chenhr! Taking advantage of the short time required to descend, he had gripped the heavy hammer and swung downwards!

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    However, to Chenhr, this was but an age-old trick. Any competent fighter would know the common blindspots a prey would have: above and below.

    Chenhr leisurely waved his arm that held the bamboo folding fan to meet the heavy hammer blow.

    By all rights, anyone with common sense, upon seeing the sight, would believe that the bamboo folding fan would shatter into a million splinters and Chenhr crushed by the hammerhead.

    Instead, the folding fan glowed with a brownish aurae as it met the hammer head, causing the tool to crack in various places.

    And when Chenhr followed through with his arm in a sweeping motion, a burst of brown aurae emitted from the fan, and like a dust storm, blasted Rein across the room like a kite with its strings cut. The heavy hammer head received a huge dent as it tumbled out of Rein¡¯s grasp. Combined with the cracks, it was a wonder how the hammerhead had yet to shatter into pieces.

    Rein then landed onto the ground in his original position, winded as he struggled to sit up in confusion.

    All this occurred in a single breath.

    Rein was naturally confused. As an inner advancer, Chenhr should not have been able to emit his aurae to attack him. A shell advancer could only at best cover their whole body with their aurae for either attack or defense. Only an outer advancer would be able to project aurae in different forms.

    Chenhr had clearly emitted an incredibly powerful burst of brownish aurae through the folding fan, vigorous enough to thoroughly throw Rein¡¯s body across the room!

    ¡°You lied!¡± His first reaction was to accuse Chenhr of obscuring his advancer realm.

    ¡°Child. You are more of a fool than I imagined.¡± Chenhr¡¯s foot stamped onto his chest, completely expelling any air out of Rein¡¯s lungs, making it impossible for him to recover his position.

    ¡°I, too, am an origin advancer. But even if I was as you said, an advancer who obscured my power realm¡­ That is but common trickery in the world of advancers,¡± scoffed Chenhr in disbelief. ¡°Remember. There is no true justice. Or fairness. Only your will. Against mine and others! And if your will is strong enough, then perhaps you will be like my master, an expert worshiped by some. Yet though I share my master¡¯s will, it is nothing but dust to my fellow disciples who have abandoned our path!¡±

    Denied of air, Rein gradually weakened, his lips struggling for air like a goldfish. Right when his vision grew hazy, Chenhr finally took off his foot, and Rein gasped vigorously as his head cleared.

    ¡°Although not commonly seen, there are a significant number of advancers that have such an origin skill, enough to create the norm of assuming the enemy to have such a potential source of strength!¡±

    ¡°My origin skill is, frankly, basic. I am but a power crystal, able to store immense volumes of aurae in my body that allows me to execute endless advancer magics, not to mention expel that aurae outwards for different uses. There are origin skills far more unique and threatening.¡±

    Chenhr closed his bamboo folding fan with a smack against his other hand.

    ¡°And only a fool would use an origin skill off the bat! Do you not know of the many organizations that would love to kidnap a target like you for experimentation?¡±

    He then continued pacing back and forth, his simple and rough navy blue half-robe flowing behind him as he stepped and turned.

    ¡°The reason origin skills are rarely seen and used is simple. It attracts too many eyes, that is, unless the user has a huge backer. Did you know, most of today¡¯s advancer skills are sourced from experiments done on the ancient users of these origin skills?¡±

    Rein had just caught his breath, but this revelation immediately emptied his lungs again. He was fully aware of not displaying the skill easily to attract attention. Yet, pnly now did he truly understand the full scope and importance of avoiding the use of said origin skill.

    Cold sweat rolled down his back as Rein mentally thought back to the Wolf Syrup Town, quickly realizing that the young son of the scarred right cheek bandit was a much more dangerous loose end than he originally thought.

    He could only hope that the young boy was unable to accurately recall any of his features. That night, his hair was a mess, his face covered with soot and sweat. After a few more years, his full maturation should then make it near impossible for that young boy to recognize him, Rein reasoned.

    He was thankful to Chenhr for this reminder, but of course, he would never say it to this middle-aged man that had so far treated him with distaste.

    Chenhr waved his arm again, and the bamboo folding fan sweeped open.

    ¡°Open your eyes, child.¡±

    Rein, still shocked by the new information as well as his swift defeat, subconsciously obeyed.

    ¡°Do you see these inscriptions? Surely, since you have the inscription tools, you should understand what this means, right?¡±

    Rein nodded, and tried his best to speak respectfully even though he did not like this middle-aged man.

    ¡°Yes. The tale of the Spear of Heaven.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Chenhr could not resist laughing with his other hand on his belly.

    When he finally calmed down, he looked at Rein with pity. ¡°That is just a tale. No one can even tell if the tale is true or not. The reality is simple! Xune, the Progenitor of Heroes--at least, that is how he is known historically-- invented inscriptions and carved them onto weapons!¡±

    ¡°These inscriptions could be done to either strengthen the weapon itself, or release a skill passed down by much more powerful advancers, though, of course, the stronger the skill, the more difficult it would be for the weaker user to activate it.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps there is some truth to the fact that he used his invention to upend the social order in his time. But nowaday, that tale is more symbolic than realistic.¡±

    ¡°You could say that it¡¯s just a way for the rich and established to maintain an advantage over other advancers-- even those of a stronger realm. For, the better the inscriptions on a weapon, the more expensive it will be! Be careful of those with access to a multitude of these armaments!¡±

    Suddenly, that magical tale didn¡¯t feel as impressive in Rein¡¯s eyes anymore...

    Chenhr looked lovingly at his fan, which shocked Rein, mainly because Rein had only so far been presented with the monotonous and derisive Chenhr. This loving expression simply did not fit Chenhr¡¯s face.

    ¡°This beautiful fan was gifted to me by the Master. Its uses are perfect for me. Its magical powers, sublime!¡±

    Rein remained silent, not knowing what to say.

    After a few awkward heartbeats, Chenhr snapped his oh-so-beautiful-golden-incomparable treasure bamboo folding fan shut again.

    He gave a few awkward coughs, and when he spoke, his voice had returned to that measured and monotonous tone again.

    ¡°Follow me to your quarters. Your meal has already been prepared, though it is undoubtedly cold by now.¡±

    He stepped out of the mudbrick house, and Rein quickly picked up his travel sack before following. As for the heavy hammer...the head was cracked and dented, looking like it was about to break apart any moment. There would not be much point in keeping it around any longer.

    Rein stepped out of the mudbrick house, to find that it was indeed nighttime already.

    As this was in the wilds, supposedly somewhere in the Bleak Mountains, there were obviously no lamps illuminating the surroundings. It was pitch black, for the moon was obscured by clouds tonight. Naturally, the clouds also prevented Rein from seeing any starlight.

    Chenhr took out a metallic orb, and when he gripped the orb within the palm of his left hand while raising the orb high. The orb¡¯s inscription pattern lit up and soon, the orb was emitting a comfortable soft yellow glow, that although was not all that bright, was enough to illuminate an area ten feet around the two figures.

    ¡°Another long-established little treasure. It has an inscription from a high tier light-based advancer. Simple but helpful, even in the face of devils. If you train yourself to force a hint of aurae to the tips of your fingers, you should be able to barely use these light orbs.¡±

    Chenhr then started treading forward, and Rein followed. Ever since the short fight inside the mudbrick house, Rein had subconsciously grown a hint of respect for the middle-aged man.

    Although the contemptuous ¡®bastard¡¯ seemed to have a talent at goading, there was no doubt that he was unique and knowledgeable.

    As Rein followed Chenhr, he began wondering where Master Yirn and Chenhr had come from. Why were they occupying the Bleak Mountains?

    He wanted to ask, but knew that he did not have any right to know. It was good enough that they had taken him in.

    Soon, they arrived in front of a small wooden house with a thatched roof. On the surface, it looked incredibly simple, but Rein, now armed with a bit more knowledge, recognized that the wooden structure had indecipherable inscriptions snaking and winding its way across the walls.

    When he entered the wooden hut, he immediately felt a sense of warmth and serenity, loosening the tension in his mind, and he realized he would very much like to have a very long rest.

    He suddenly had an urge to break out in tears, but worried about being mocked by Chenhr, he suppressed that feeling and pretended nothing was wrong.

    Chenhr turned to leave, in the process curling his lips and shaking his head.

    That instantly helped Rein restrain his urge to cry and instead ignited a bit of the rage that he had relied on during his rampage in the Wolf Syrup Town.

    Once Chenhr left, he ate the simple cold meat rice porridge that rested on a simple wooden table in the middle of the hut.

    Then, he picked up a simple willow twig to clean his teeth, and wiped himself down with a cloth and a bucket of water that had long been prepared.

    To his surprise, the water was warm. Once again, he noticed the bucket had some kind of inscription etched on its exterior and interior. No doubt, these inscriptions were the source of the water¡¯s warmth.

    Soon, Rein laid down on a bamboo mattress in preparation to sleep. In his hand was the elegant dagger that had a large ring-shaped crossguard. The circular ring in place of the crossguard had inscriptions winding around like a string trying to completely cover the surface of the ring.

    The more he analyzed this dagger, the more he felt it was something special. The man must have stumbled onto the unique dagger during a plunder. Perhaps Master Yirn would know of its function.

    Finally in a safe haven, his exhausted mind soon sunk into deep rest.

 Ch22: Your Weapon, Chosen.

    He soared through the cloudy night sky. Though without moonlight or starlight, it should have been impossible to see much of anything, yet all that entered his sight and his smell remained distinct.

    He could smell the warm blood of his enemies in the town below. Although the colors lacked any vibrancy, he could see the blurry details of the human-built structures under a slight light gray tinge.

    He lunged downward and tucked his wings into his body as he spun and burrowed through a window, and with a lunge of the neck swallowed a scarred right cheek human¡¯s head whole, before proceeding to swallow the rest of the body while chewing on it as if it was a delicacy.

    He was hungry, and meat was meat. He saw an appetizing young human. The young of all beings were always soft in their flesh. But as he lunged forward for this special meal, the young human that had a tanned oval birthmark on his right forehead transformed into someone he recognized as Jein!

    Rein was once again shocked awake by his dreams-- no, it was more accurate to call it a nightmare.

    What a crazy nightmare. The words of the dragon Mystrygon echoed through his head: ¡°Many humans that climb the advancer ladder with demon beast related materials and techniques often lose their sanity and become fallen devils.¡±

    Rein figured that the nightmare must be his psyche fearing the loss of his own sense of self.

    He momentarily closed his eyes. At the end of the day¡­ dreams are just dreams. He got up from bed and got dressed and glanced out of his wooden hut. It was early daybreak, and the clouds had been blown away overnight.

    With the sun rising, Rein finally had a chance to observe his current location. As he spun his head around taking in the sights, he struggled to fully comprehend what he saw.

    Far to both his left and right rose cliff walls that stretched upward. The lower parts of the cliff walls were a healthy whitish light brown, but the higher parts became increasingly covered in a blackish soot, the signature appearance of the Bleak Mountains.

    Far into his front and behind, he saw narrow winding paths that rose into the distance. The lower sections of these paths were obstructed from sight by healthy green shrubs, but following the path upwards, it too became covered in black soot.

    Rein was clearly inside a hidden cleft or valley of sorts. Although there had been many exploration parties into the Bleak Mountains, this surprisingly healthy cleft filled with vegetation had clearly avoided discovery.

    Upon sweeping his sights across this healthy gap, he could not help but frown. This was not because of curiosity about how the area avoided discovery, but rather the fact that he noticed a substantial village of sorts around him.

    When he saw the inhabitants, they gave him a bit of a banditry vibe with their bodywear. At the same time, there were children mixed in here and there, which confused him to no end.

    These people, hiding in the mountains away from the eyes of the king, seemed to be bandits. The only way of supplying this small village here in the Bleak Mountains was to steal.

    With the children around¡­ this must be a bandit village! Post-revelation, Rein¡¯s first thought was to wonder if these bandits participated in the Golden Desert Town massacre!

    At this thought, a hint of bloodlust flickered through his eyes. He barely managed to restrain it. If not for the fact that he required Master Yirn¡¯s guidance, he might have immediately acted on his impulse. However, seeing as Master Yirn resided here, this village may have a role.

    ¡°What a nice view of a blossoming bandit village, right?¡±

    Chenhr¡¯s voice from behind startled Rein out of his contemplation. Rein turned around to be met with Chenhr¡¯s innocent smile. It was clear to Rein that Chenhr had intentionally called it a bandit village-- was it to rile him up?

    Chenhr continued on, completely ignoring Rein¡¯s glaring eyes.

    ¡°I had thought that I would need to wake you up with another bucket of cold water. A pity I do not have the chance to do that today.¡±

    Chenhr threw an item at Rein, and Rein caught the item in his palm. It was a sticky rice roll.

    ¡°Your breakfast. Finish it while we go meet the Master.¡± Chenhr beckoned with his hand and started treading deeper down into the cleft, with Rein following while rapidly consuming the sticky rice roll.

    Along the way, the village bandits gave Rein glances of curiosity. Rein himself did not dare to meet any of their gazes. He was worried that he would end up wanting to chop their heads off.

    As they traveled deeper, the shrubs turned into sprouting trees and tall grass as high as Rein¡¯s waist. Eventually, the two figures entered a cave entrance at the bottom of the cleft.

    After twisting and turning through a few convoluted tunnels accompanied by a whistling breeze, Rein finally entered a wondrous underground cavern that stretched into the distance for at least a few hundred kilofeet.

    As he bent his neck back to look at the ceiling of the cavern, he saw glowing stalactites that illuminated the looming dark green forest below. He could also hear the noise of an underground waterfall and stream, as well as the sound of chirping birds.

    ¡°Those stalactites release the energy of the sun into this cavern¡­ Master never explained the origin of this cavern, but I am sure he is the one who created this paradise in this desolate place. Master is both amazing and humble.¡±

    A few rabbits hopped a few circles around a beaming Chenhr¡¯s feet as he heaped praise onto Master Yirn, before they bounced back into a tall grass field.

    As for Rein, he was simply mind-blown into silence as he followed Chenhr down a path marked with a continuous number of gray stone slabs across the grassy plains that entered a forest.

    He was awed by the godly power of this place. The ability to carve life in a place of death¡­ If Master Yirn created this cavern, then it must be some power Rein had yet to encounter. None of the powers Master Yirn displayed to him could possibly accomplish this feat.

    Or perhaps, this was but an extension of an origin skill. Perhaps Master Yirn was an origin advancer as well. Or a godly treasure? Rein had heard of the existence of unique treasures in the advancer world. His draconic metamorphose bead was such a treasure..

    Before long, within the serene atmosphere of the paradise, Rein found himself ascending stone steps into a nine-floored reddish brown octahedral tower. Every floor of this tower had overhanging roofs projecting outwards, and provided cover for each floor¡¯s extending balconies.

    Similar to all the buildings Rein had seen within the crevice, this structure, too, was covered with inscriptions. However, these inscriptions had a golden hue to them that signified an additional level of power. No doubt, the reddish brown wooden material had been strengthened well beyond mortal limits.

    Aside from the inscriptions, there were no other cosmetic decorations on the tower. Upon entering, Rein discovered that internally, this was the same.

    Funnily enough, this only served to increase Rein¡¯s impression of Master Yirn. That¡¯s right. He needed power and strength. It is the power of inscriptions that strengthens treasures. Decorations? Both Master Yirn and Rein have no use for it. An absolute waste of resources.

    This was followed by a slightly uncomfortable thought. Why was he starting to praise Master Yirn like Chenhr just one day in? He did not wish for himself to become similar to Chenhr in any shape or form.

    Master Yirn phased in at the center of the first floor of the tower. His body looked incorporeal at first, but gradually became solid. Rein did not even bother to think about whether Master Yirn was truly here in body or if it was just an illusion. Master Yirn was already an unfathomable expert within Rein¡¯s mind.

    Both Rein and Chenhr immediately hooked their fingers as they paid their respects. ¡°Master.¡±

    Master Yirn¡¯s dark eyes stared into Rein¡¯s as he rejected the youngster in his gruff voice.

    ¡°You will not be one of my disciples. However, if you agree to assist us on a mission, I will consider you a half-disciple in advance. Another requirement is that you will not be allowed to use psychedelics to accelerate your growth. If you accept, you will still show respect to Chenhr as he is the third disciple.¡±

    Perhaps some would have been absolutely crestfallen at this turn of events, but Rein himself was ecstatic. He had only wished to gain knowledge of the advancer world and its magics. Being a half-disciple was enough to gain such knowledge.

    He was more apprehensive about being banned from using psychedelics, which to his knowledge was rather useful. Then again, his elemental affinity had been transformed with the metamorphose bead, so perhaps that clause, too, was acceptable.

    ¡°The mission?¡± He wished for clarification.

    ¡°You will have to enter the Hall of Heroes. I need eyes and ears within their outpost in the Green Trout City.¡±

    ¡°I accept!¡± Rein turned to pay respects to his now official senior disciple Chenhr, only to be met with an outburst.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Master, this is a mistake! Do you not remember the betrayals of the other disciples?! At best, he should only be allowed to join the villagers here! He should not be even allowed to be a half-disciple!¡±

    ¡°That is precisely why I requested your junior disciple Rein to pay respects to only you.¡± A glare from Master Yirn quietened Chenhr¡¯s complaints. Master Yirn¡¯s firm tone indicated that there was no room for discussion. ¡°And as mentioned previously, you will play the role of instructor for Rein.¡±

    Chenhr hardened his face at this statement, clearly dissatisfied with this arrangement. However, he no longer protested, clearly a loyal follower of Master Yirn.

    ¡°Rein.¡± Master Yirn stared deep into Rein¡¯s eyes. ¡°You can still reject the task once you have learned more of the Hall of Heroes and the risk such a task might entail.¡±

    Master Yirn then raised his arm forward, and a simple wooden longstaff materialized out of nowhere.

    Master Yirn then threw it directly at Rein, who barely managed to catch the weapon, half expecting it to be just an illusory item.

    ¡°Your weapon will be a longstaff.¡± Master Yirn¡¯s words were firm.

    It was Rein¡¯s turn to protest. He needed a sharp weapon to better kill his enemies swiftly. A staff?

    ¡°Master, Half-Master? I¡­ I was thinking of using something sharp, like perhaps a chopper or a sword, or maybe an axe. I mean--¡±

    Master Yirn only raised an eyebrow and denied him.

    ¡°You will only use the longstaff in my presence. Otherwise you can leave. If so desired, you are free to seek learning elsewhere. But Chenhr will only teach you the longstaff and the human adaptation of the dragon style.¡±

    He threw a vial full of a dark liquid at Chenhr. ¡°Guide him.¡± His silhouette then began to fade into the breeze that blew through the tower.

    ¡°Half-Master! Wait! I have this interesting dagger!¡± Rein had taken out that elegant dagger with the intricate ringed crossguard.

    The fading figure of Master Yirn glanced at the dagger, and his haunting laughter resounded deeply through the tower.

    ¡°That dagger remains a mortal weapon unless you can find a dragon¡¯s eye. Or augment it with blacksmithing skills.¡± With that, his figure fully faded into nothingness.

    Both Chenhr and Rein sighed at the very same time, both dissatisfied with the arrangements. On realizing the similar yet odd situation they were both in, an awkward silence ensued.

    The silence was finally broken by the sound of running feet coming toward the tower. A bulky brown skinned ¡®bandit¡¯ appeared in front of the two.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Xeeran?¡± Chenhr inquisitively questioned the ¡®bandit¡¯.

    Noticing Rein, the newcomer, Xeeran could not resist scanning him up and down. Rein increasingly found this ¡®bandit¡¯ somewhat familiar¡­ as if he had seen a shadow of this man somewhere before.

    ¡°We are ready to act. The target has set off.¡± He looked at Rein. ¡°This is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Just another abandoned by the gods.¡± Chenhr monotonously replied.

    Xeeran sighed. ¡°Indeed. The Golden Desert Town task is just the beginning for those of this village.¡±

    This bandit was at the Golden Desert Town massacre! Rein tightened his grip around the wooden staff in his hand as his eyes grew crimson.

    Rein had never had much weapons training. However, supported by his mid-inner advancer level that he had advanced to at the moment of discovering his origin skill, as he swung the longstaff in his hand at Xeeran head, the sound of wood whipping air could be heard.

    If Xeeran was a significantly stronger advancer, he might have been able to react quickly. However, if he was a proper advancer, would he be dressed like a bandit in the first place?

    Xeeran saw his life flash before his eyes. It might just be a wooden longstaff, but his skull would still crack and his brains bleed to death. That might be even worse than a quick death from a knife to the neck...

    Clack!

    A folded bamboo fan held by Chenhr blocked the longstaff a finger away from Xeeran¡¯s head, diverting the wooden pole diagonally upwards.

    ¡°Go and complete the mission, Xeeran,¡± Chenhr ordered. ¡°And do be careful that the target may have surprise backup defenses. Don¡¯t get counter-ambushed.¡±

    Xeeran hooked his fingers toward Chenhr, before turning towards Rein, and opening his mouth as if wanting to say something. However, he hesitated then chose to keep his mouth shut, before quickly turning to leave the tower.

    For a moment, Rein wanted to swing the longstaff at Chenhr, but he quickly remembered who was in charge of his advancer lessons. Not to mention, Chenhr had already displayed his prowess the previous night¡­

    Rationality won out in the end, and Rein suppressed his rage.

    Chenhr was fanning himself with his treasured armament again. ¡°I truly wonder why the Master bothered accepting you as a half-disciple. You are worse than the other traitors. However strong could your advancer base truly become with such a weak mind?¡±

    ¡°But I suppose it¡¯s not like you really know what being an advancer is about¡­ so as your instructor, I suppose I must educate you properly, as the Master has ordered.¡± Chenhr smirked.

    ¡°The inner realm is all about controlling your heart, your emotions. You see¡­ the path of an advancer is about discovering the wisdom within all beings in the world. If one¡¯s judgment is clouded by their emotions, how could one truly discover the way of the world?¡±

    ¡°However, that is only one part of it. Because there is also wisdom within emotions as well. Thus, one must be fully aware and understand their emotions, while not letting it cloud their judgment.¡±

    ¡°Master Yirn referred to it as such: Heed, control, employ, suppress, but never repress or become its thrall.¡±

    ¡°When one truly gains mastery of the emotional aspect of the self, their aurae will be stable and balanced, therefore thoroughly transforming the body equally. If there is a lack of mastery, the body¡¯s balance will be tilted in various areas, creating an unstable base.¡±

    ¡°An unstable base will impede the advancer from reaching the shell realm-- that is unless they cheat by using a psychedelic drug. However, the psychedelic drug is costly and only provides a momentary enlightenment that allows one to break through. Regardless, you are not allowed to consume any if you wish to retain Master Yirn¡¯s support.¡±

    ¡°In the long run, it is a cheat. For the unstable element may eventually rear its head and completely devilize the advancer if the inner base is lacking. The exception is if the advancer is eventually able to recall that momentary enlightenment without the use of psychedelics, and integrate that back into his base. Now, you¡­ you clearly lack anything that would make a strong reliable base.¡±

    Chenhr shook his head disappointingly. Rein¡¯s brain was bursting with information, so he did not react to the additional insult. Frankly, he expected it from this half-senior of his, who had shown disapproval of him since his arrival.

    Perhaps other disciples abandoned Master Yirn since they weren¡¯t allowed to use psychedelics. Supposedly, Chenhr himself was stuck at the peak of the inner advancer realm.

    Rein felt like a mountain had been placed in front of him. If Chenhr, a middle-aged mortal, had yet to reach the shell realm, then without these ¡®psychedelics¡¯, how long would it take himself to grow?

    His desperation was etched on his face, and Chenhr seemed to revel at the sight of this. However, Chenhr eventually sighed.

    ¡°However, you are¡­ a little different. Master has already informed me of your circumstances. Somehow, you are in some ways, something of a beastkin.¡±

    Rein patiently waited for further information. To him, this information was of utmost importance. Most humans did not refer to demons as beastkin.

    ¡°Historically, humans that have advanced with beastkin items, or techniques designed specifically for beastkin have a huge risk of losing their sanity.¡±

    ¡°The reason is simple. Humans start off with high intelligence but a weak body. Beastkin is the opposite, a strong body but low intelligence. Thus, early beastkin advance by consuming other beings.¡±

    ¡°This act itself, when overly indulged in, is the reason why some are called demons by the humans. Ultimately, that is the source of devilization.¡±

    ¡°A beastkin, at least early in its growth, lacks the intelligence to understand the gravity of their actions. Thus, they may remain sound of mind after they gain their intelligence. Humans, who already have the intelligence to understand¡­ if they participate in such an early beastkin advancing method, the mind is highly likely to become warped.¡±

    ¡°That is your situation.¡± Chenhr now stared at Rein coldly with a squint in his eyes.

    ¡°This means that you may be able to grow rapidly by consuming the flesh and magical cores of all beings across the realms. However, that also increases the risk of you overindulging in certain emotions and eventually becoming a fallen devil, your sanity trapped in a haze.¡±

    Chenhr¡¯s eyes had a hint of sorrow. ¡°And the fallen? They are just twisted beings of their former selves. They forget their memories, eventually being driven by a primal urge, losing their humanity¡­¡±

    ¡°But worry not, my dear junior.¡± Chenhr had returned to smirking. ¡°That is precisely why you are unlikely to do any better than the other disciples.¡±

    His smirk disappeared as his face grew expressionless and he whispered. ¡°And this time, I will definitely strike down the devil that forms in your heart. For although Master Yirn might be willing to take a chance again, I have my doubts. I will keep a close eye on you at all times. On second thought, Master Yirn must have made me your teacher because he believes that only I will keep a close enough eye on you!¡±

    Rein stayed silent--again. He was feeling increasingly apprehensive about the whole idea of becoming an advancer.

    However, he did not waver. If he avoided becoming an advancer, he would never have the chance to take revenge for his parents or find his younger brother?

    ¡°Now, let us begin.¡± Chenhr threw a scroll at Rein. ¡°This scroll records the elementary longstaff technique of Master Yirn¡¯s creation.¡± Rein caught another scroll. ¡°This one is the human adaptation of the dragon style. It is popular and easily accessible in most sects in this nation.¡±

    ¡°This is just a weapon technique and a hand-to-hand combat technique. Open the scrolls and imitate the forms. The scroll itself has magical abilities that will guide the flow of your aurae as you practice.¡±

    ¡°This first floor of the tower can be used for your own practice for now. You are expected to be here for the morning. Afternoons will be focused on meditation and training of the mind.¡±

    Rein felt compelled to speak up for himself. ¡°I¡¯ve always been able to think calculatingly as taught by my father. You may be be my half-senior, but to claim I unable to truly advance--¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Rein¡¯s protest was quickly cut off by Chenhr¡¯s resounding outburst of demeaning laughter.

    ¡°You? Calm and calculating? Let me ask you this: What do you believe is the best way to find out who your enemies are?¡±

    Rein had a desire to prove himself, thus he took a moment to think before answering. ¡°Infiltrate the enemy of course.¡±

    ¡°And how would you do that?¡± Chenhr asked with a raised eyebrow while holding a mocking grin.

    ¡°Hmph, naturally, I simply need to hunt these mercenaries and bandits down to find out who hired them!¡± Rein wished to wipe that damnable grin off of the increasingly contemptuous Chenhr¡¯s face.

    Rein did not bother with trying to prevent the details of his own tragedy from being known to Chenhr. With his power, Master Yirn was definitely aware of it already. Naturally, Chenhr would be aware of it to some degree as well-- probably.

    ¡°And¡­ What if these bandits and mercenaries do not know the identity of those that hired them? Would you care about the identity of someone if they paid you a handsome fee? And what of their likely disguise?¡±

    Rein reconsidered. ¡°Then I simply need to pretend to be a mercenary or bandit so that I can come in contact with these people. Perhaps, I can find the identity of their backers or¡­¡±

    Chenhr reached out and gave Rein a few ¡®friendly¡¯ pats on the back. His tone was that of victory.

    ¡°Well done, dear half-junior. You¡¯ve finally realized that you very nearly smashed Xeeran into pulp. He is our infiltrator into a wider network.¡±

 Ch23: A Beginning to Learning

    Rein froze for a moment, but felt that he was being unfairly treated.

    ¡°That Xeeran had offhandedly mentioned the Golden Desert Town massacre. Am I not reasonable in reacting negatively?!¡±

    Chenhr was impassive. ¡°And that is why you are not calm or calculating. How was Xeeran to know of your origins? Do you want me to tell the whole village of your origins? You are guided by your rage, which will eventually lead to your downfall into the path of the devil. If Xeeran had died, we would have needed to start from square one.¡±

    Rein wanted to retort, but he could only remain speechless.

    ¡°I truly do not understand why Master Yirn opted to bless you with this,¡± Chenhr continued as he handed the vial of dark liquid along with an ancient scroll to Rein while shaking his head. ¡°This is a unique and rare advancer art available to inner advancers, almost impossible to find. I hope, at the very least, that you now realize how limiting it is to have aurae locked inside your body during the inner advancer stage.¡±

    Rein unfurled the scroll to find instructions on an advancer art, ¡®Aura Restraint¡¯. It was a unique method of circulating aurae within the body that led to the effect of reducing one¡¯s presence to others. Indeed, it was an advancer magic that functioned fully within one¡¯s body.

    ¡°Granted. You have already agreed to infiltrating the Hall of Heroes, so this will only increase our overall success. Now perform the skill and drink the vial of dark liquid! This dark liquid is concocted with the heartblood of a user practiced in this advancer art. Thus, you will gain a small portion of the mastery said user had when he or she was alive.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes¡­¡± Chenhr raved as he relished Rein¡¯s look of disbelief. ¡°In the advancer world, you can, of course, simply train yourself in your magical arts and slowly strengthen yourself.¡±

    ¡°But! You can also find some being that has mastered certain types of magics relevant to yours¡­ you can carve out their heart and concoct a potion and upon consumption, you will gain a better understanding of said advancer art. It is said that one¡¯s own understanding of certain magics equates to an understanding of the universe, and that itself is etched into the heartblood.¡±

    With a flick of the sleeve, Chenhr left the tower, leaving Rein to his own devices and to wrestle with this horrifying revelation.

    He recalled that those with origin skills are hunted by certain advancers in the world. He also recalled that many modern magics were sourced from origin skills. It was then that he realized-- his heartblood would be a prime target if he were to carelessly reveal his origin skill.

    Rein closed his eyes, doing his best to calm his inner fear and turmoil. He eventually decided it was best to simply strengthen himself. He would accomplish nothing wallowing in terror of an unknown future.

    He tipped the vial of dark liquid past his lips, and began performing the advancer art on the ancient scroll. The dark liquid spread with rising heat within his throat then chest, and he instantly felt that the advancer art had become easier to execute. It was as if a hole in a dam had been opened.

    He soon gained an understanding of this advancer art-- by no means was it some kind of earth-shattering magic. It did not make him invisible. However, it did have the effect of making him less noticeable.

    If he was alone in an empty room, an enemy pursuing him into said room would quickly notice him. If an enemy had already seen his form and chased him into a room full of people, said enemy would still identify him rather speedily. But if said enemy did not know his form and entered said room full of others¡­ the enemy¡¯s eyes would be drawn everywhere but him.

    In effect, the advancer art relied heavily on the user not drawing attention to oneself, and the reliance on the hunter not knowing what he was looking for.

    Rein sighed. Master Yirn had said that he could reject the mission to infiltrate the Hall of Heroes. After drinking this precious potion, he doubted that was true. Inner advancer magics were rare as finding a four-leaf clover.

    He opened the other two scrolls, the ink figures on the scroll danced within his eyes, and he felt the aurae in his body attempting to guide his movements. This must be how advancers passed down techniques.

    Rein tried his best to focus on imitating the forms while allowing the flow of aurae to guide his movements.

    This guidance was constantly interrupted by his own mind. He could feel his mind struggling to resolve Chenhr words, at times feeling rage at Chenhr, at times anger at himself¡­ Thus, his morning practice of the longstaff and the human-adapted dragon style made minimal progress.

    It was only thanks to the potion that he could perform the minimum of the ¡®aura restraint¡¯.

    Frustrated, Rein sat down cross-legged and he examined the human-adapted dragon style scroll in more detail. As he unfurled more of the scroll, he suddenly discovered that at some point, the color of the material changed and the handwriting was of a different person¡¯s.

    The words further inside the scroll seemed to be describing a type of draconic art that dragons would execute to temper their bodies with their own energies. This included bathing oneself in a fiery cauldron, dancing amongst stormy seas, or using lightning to torture one¡¯s body.

    Rein was quite aware that supposedly, humans that practiced these skills designed for ¡®demon¡¯ bodies had a history of losing their sanity.

    But¡­ he had already been remade after absorbing the draconic metamorphose bead. Was this why Master Yirn had given him this scroll without warning? Did the Master specifically create the human-adapted dragon form since Rein lacked a dragon¡¯s body himself? That would certainly explain the different handwriting of the human-adapted dragon form section.

    For reasons unknown to himself, this revelation helped Rein harden his resolve. Perhaps Master Yirn was only using him to infiltrate the Hall of Heroes. But to redesign a draconic skill for his human body¡­ Some might not trust Master Yirn¡¯s skill, but Rein himself was fully convinced.

    Midday soon arrived, and large drops of salty sweat rolled down Rein¡¯s forehead to his chin before dripping off like the sundew off a stalactite within the underground cave that the red tower was built within.

    He had thought that simply imitating the forms would not be much of a physical strain. However, to accurately guide the flow of aurae through the scroll¡¯s instructions required an immensely fine control over his own body, over the contraction of every muscle and vein.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Rein discovered something rather surprising though. The human adaptation of the dragon style that led into the draconic body tempering art felt significantly easier, and after steeling his mind, he had made substantially more progress in that area when compared to Master Yirn¡¯s longstaff technique.

    He could only surmise that this may have something to do with the draconic metamorphose bead within him. That seemed the most reasonable conclusion in Rein¡¯s mind.

    A rattling sound echoed throughout the tower as the large arch door opened. Chenhr had returned, with a dark gray wooden box in his hands.

    Rein looked at this wooden box with curiosity,

    Chenhr carelessly chucked the box over. ¡°This, dear half-junior, is your lunch.¡±

    With a groan, Rein caught the dark gray box. He was inwardly lambasting Chenhr. There was no need for the man to throw and shake up the contents of his meal. He understood Chenhr did not have much of an opinion regarding him, but surely, there¡¯s no need to resort to meal destruction.

    He then opened the box, hoping that the meal itself would still look edible. The ¡®meal¡¯ made him speechless, mouth wide open.

    There was only a crystalline sphere inside the box that seemed to emit some kind of demonic aura.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Chenhr burst out laughing. ¡°A good meal, eh? Why so surprised? Did I not tell you this morning that your body is more akin to that of a beastkin? Beastkins mainly advance through consumption at lower advancer levels! This is a beastkin core, formed from the residue energies of a dead beastkin!¡±

    Rein''s face darkened. Was he going to end up eating¡­ crystalline-like beads everyday?

    ¡°Try it. It is one among many that Master and I collected in another realm.¡± Chenhr stared at Rein, as if wanting to watch every single detail of this ¡®experience¡¯.

    ¡°Oh yes.¡± Chenhr handed over a stone mortar and pestle that had inscriptions carved on its surface. A power gem was embedded onto the end of the pestle. ¡°Beastkin cores are extremely strong and difficult to break down. It is important for it to be in small pieces such that energies within can contribute to your own.¡±

    Chenhr flicked a finger and the inscriptions on the pestle lit up, powered by the embedded gem. Rein furrowed his brows as he grinded the beastkin core into fine sand with the pestle and mortar.

    He truly did not wish to eat this, but he was already late to the party. Most semi-talented advancers, by adulthood would already be a shell advancer. The extremely talented ones might be even somewhat close to advancing to the outer realm. Most of these talents began their advancer journey as young as the age of eight to ten years old.

    Rein realized that he may very well end up a middle-aged man like this bastard Chenhr and be stuck as an inner advancer if he avoided taking advantage of his half-human half-beast body. Now, that would be stupid...

    The beastkin core had now become a crystalline sand, reflecting a bit of rainbow sparkle. Rein gulped, increasingly apprehensive of the taste. It looked better when it was just a bead. At least he had swallowed a bead before¡­

    However, all this was necessary. Rein lifted up the mortar, and ¡®drank¡¯ the shattered core.

    Rein wanted to retch-- it tasted like the desert sand that frequently blew through Golden Desert Town during dust storms. He resisted his urge to vomit as he held back the tears in his eyes, forcing himself to swallow as quickly as possible in a bid to get over this horrible experience.

    Chenhr, on the side, was beaming, his mood gleeful in contrast to his usual monotonous self.

    Once Rein forced himself to swallow the sand, he could finally give into his urges as he coughed and retched. After taking a few deep breaths, he finally calmed down, before an all-consuming heat started rising from the center of his belly.

    Chenhr tightened his grip on his folded bamboo fan, a serious glint in his eyes, his gleeful attitude from a moment ago completely gone.

    The very next moment, Rein realized why Chenhr¡¯s attitude had so abruptly changed. His vision rapidly turned blood-red as he suddenly had an urge to attack and consume Chenhr, who was the only living being in the vicinity.

    Screams and roars then echoed in his mind, drowning out his own thoughts as his body now went into a crouching all-fours posture, ready to pounce upon Chenhr.

    The whole experience felt like a daze, and he was just a passenger in his body.

    Right before his body pounced forward, a red burst of lightning exploded out from his belly, winding itself in arcs across his whole body.

    Rein found himself in control of his body again, his vision and mind clear, feeling incredibly awkward and embarrassed as he was still in a beastly crouching all-fours posture.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ interesting.¡±

    At some point in time, Master Yirn had entered the tower to observe Rein¡¯s ¡®lunch¡¯ moment. His murky green robed figure then faded away. He had left as quickly as he had come.

    Chenhr smacked his folded fan against the palm of his other hand.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± He copied his Master¡¯s words. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve had a case where a human transformed by a beastkin inheritance bead consumed a normally corrosive beastkin core.¡±

    Rein wanted to smash his head on the ground. Was he nothing but an experiment? Shouldn¡¯t there have been similar cases in the past?! Deep down, he knew he was certainly a rare case. Supposedly, those who consumed these demonic inheritance beads in the past all eventually went mad, infiltrated by the will that laid within those beads

    As for the core that he had just eaten? That was no inheritance bead, but it still seemed to have a remnant will of sorts. Yet, the lightning element from the draconic metamorphose bead had quickly attacked the will within that remnant core.

    Chenhr pointed his folded fan at Rein and ordered monotonously, ¡°Throw a few punches.¡±

    Although Rein felt slightly uncomfortable after finding out he was a test subject, he too wondered if eating the ¡®sand¡¯ was worth it.

    He readied his stance, before attempting his best to perform the human adaptation of the dragon style.

    Without the guidance of the scroll, his form and flow of aurae was erratic. However, Rein acutely sensed that his body was at the very least, minutely stronger. Or¡­ maybe it was just his mind wanting to believe that consuming that rainbow crystalline sand was worth it?

    Chenhr yawned and shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Well, beastkins hunt and consume other beasts everyday, so it¡¯s unlikely to truly be able to physically observe any changes unless this beastkin core consumption is maintained for at least a month or two.¡±

    ¡°And there¡¯s no need to worry,¡± he added. ¡°Master Yirn and I have collected a plethora of beastkin cores during our journey across the many realms.¡±

    Rein closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Well. This must be the price of power. Sand for meals.

    ¡°You should be happy, half-junior,¡± Chenhr exaggeratedly admonished. ¡°Across the ages, humans had repeatedly attempted to consume beastkin cores. They would grind them into sand, attempt to purify the remnant beast residual will and urge, and form advancer medicines. But however they tried, consuming too many of these always led these silly humans to end up devilizing and killing those close to them. Only well-treated advancer medicines circumvented this pitfall.¡±

    ¡°Thus, more often than not, the flesh, significantly less beneficial than the core, was the best humans could consume from a beastkin¡¯s body to aid their own advancement.¡±

    ¡°Well, enough on this topic. Afternoon is here, and Master Yirn has ordered me to increase your knowledge of the advancer world. After all, knowledge is power. I can¡¯t have you embarrassing Master Yirn or me in public, even if you¡¯re only half his disciple and half my junior!¡±

    He glared for a heartbeat, then beckoned to Rein, and they marched up the wine-red staircase, ascending up to the second floor of the tower.

    When Rein reached the top of the stairs, he saw the whole floor filled with rows of shelves full of books. He groaned to himself. This was an absolute nightmare¡­

    Granted, he had done a lot of reading under his father, but that did not mean he loved it. It was just a necessity.

 Ch24: The State of the Fusion Realm

    ¡°All these books are recorded knowledge that Master Yirn had requested me to collect throughout our journeys. Master Yirn himself did not own any when I first met him, but obviously, I had to collect these for juniors, and¡­¡±

    Chenhr trailed off at this point, reminiscing on the fact that the other disciples were no longer with them.

    ¡°Regardless, there is too much information in this world to pass down through lips-- as advancers, our minds are sharpened beyond mortal comprehension.¡±

    ¡°It is your own responsibility to use this collection of knowledge for your own benefit. I will first provide you with some superficial understanding, such that you have direction in your own search.¡±

    ¡°Let us start with the state of this Fusion Realm. Since you want to play, you have to know the pieces on the board first, no?¡±

    Chenhr held the folded fan that he had used as a weapon previously. He now used it as a pointer instead.

    He took a scroll as tall as himself out of its resting spot inside a vase. As he unrolled the scroll on an empty space surrounded by the shelves, the musky scent of tanned beast pelt filled the second floor of the tower.

    With the assistance of two heavy stones that appeared as light as feather under Chenhr¡¯s strength, the scroll was prevented from returning to its original furled position.

    Chenhr pointed at the center left of the map with his folded fan. ¡°This is our location, Minhr Nation. The advancer sects in this nation do not like partaking in mortal affairs. Ironically, those without any backing are most likely to have an opportunity in the advancer world through inheritance schools and sects. These schools and sects were built by normal folk to contend against the noble clans.¡±

    ¡°The difference between these two? Rather arbitrary. Inheritance schools are more concerned with passing down a specific style of advancer magic. Sects are more focused on ideology and principles. The two sometimes intersect.¡±

    ¡°Now, in response to the formation of schools and sects, a significant number of advancer clans eventually grouped up together to maintain their position in society, and they govern the mortals to this day. The sects could not stop this. They already have their hands full, particularly because they attract the vast majority of the advancers, who do not have any significant background.¡±

    ¡°This is only natural. No matter how bright a mortal shines, they will still never stand at the top of an existing clan, for clans are inherited through bloodline. As previously mentioned, most sects are unwilling to waste advancer resources managing the mortals, but once a bright seed is found, the sects would undoubtedly step in. This situation has forced a tacit cooperation between the clans and sects.¡±

    Indeed, the Golden Desert Town, before its destruction, had many sects and schools that tested the aptitude of young children every single year.

    ¡°Thus, this is the state of the Minhr Nation.¡±

    The tip of Chenhr¡¯s folded fan moved to the center east of the map. ¡°East of the Minhr Nation is the Zoh Empire. Unlike those of the Minhr, the Zoh advancer world is more or less ruled by... a group of elites.¡±

    ¡°It may be hard for you to understand, as you grew up in Minhr, but in the Zoh Empire, the strongest seven advancer sects have long developed a united front. These seven sects have an agreement to cooperate and suppress any sect that may challenge any of these seven sects. The clans in these lands have a strong hand in these ¡®ruling¡¯ sects. In fact, multiple clans cooperate to rule each sect.¡±

    ¡°On the surface, the Zoh Empire has less conflict between the sects. However, the reality is that no sect would dare to challenge any of these seven sects. And any rising threat would be silently razed to the ground overnight.¡±

    ¡°The Zoh Empire has all its aspects controlled by these seven elite sects, who have pledged allegiance to the Hall of Heroes.¡±

    Chenhr¡¯s fan-tip now pointed to a location south of Minhr, which was also southwest of the Zoh Empire.

    ¡°This area is rather complicated. The sects in this region each completely rule their own area and the mortals within it. However, they also do not overly interfere with each other. In the past, both the Minhr Nation and Zoh Empire have tried to expand, only to discover that these sects in this region will cooperate when truly necessary, while maintaining their distance to each other in other times.¡±

    ¡°Thus, this area has a constant rate of change. Sects rise and fall, but regardless of the state of the region, any outsider involvement will lead to an alliance between all existing sects. Scholars in the advancer world refer to this region as the Shroud Alliance!¡±

    North of the Minhr Nation and Zoh Empire.

    ¡°This is the Golden Desert, ruled by the nomadic tribes that many in this Minhr Nation see as barbarians.¡±

    West of the Minhr Nation.

    ¡°These are the Evergreen Mountains bordering the west of this nation. Many of the sects that operate in the western half of the Minhr Nation have built their sect headquarters here.¡±

    ¡°These mountains are named as such due to the richness of aurae in the region.¡±

    ¡°I personally find the history of this area to be laughable.¡± Chenhr shook his head as he chuckled. ¡°Supposedly, centuries ago, the ruling clan of Minhr exiled certain troublemakers to the western wilderness. Those people survived and instead built the sects that now occupy these Evergreen Mountains, serving as a bulwark against the wilderness.¡±

    ¡°The sects in this area are truly independent and considered unruly in the ruling clan¡¯s eyes.On the other hand, the sects within the Minhr Nation are significantly pressured by the Minhr clans and very much have to play by the rules.

    Even farther west. ¡°This area is what you mortals call the wilderness. It has a few mountains here and there, but for the most part, the area is rather desolate. The fallen devil sects operate in this region. Quite obviously, their doctrine is wholly evil in most aspects.¡±

    ¡°Even farther west exists a mysterious and expansive jungle.¡± Chenhr frowned. ¡°No one has been able to explore this area properly, and nothing dangerous has had its source traced back to this neverending jungle in Minhr¡¯s history.¡±

    Rein snorted internally. His belief was that the rather ¡®arrogant¡¯ Chenhr must be clearly dissatisfied about the fact that he knew little of this area.

    Bottom right of the map. It was quite obvious to anyone that this area was the vast seas. Chenhr, not bothering to waste any breath, simply uttered a few descriptions.

    ¡°Vast, unexplored. Rogue advancers and small factions fighting over islands.¡±

    He then pointed at a large island that was just off the coast, equidistance to the Minhr Nation, Zoh Empire, and the Shroud Alliance.

    ¡°This large island is the Fusion Sect. The true ruler of this realm. Underneath their island is the core of the realm itself. Whoever controls this heart has an¡­ unseen power throughout the realm itself.¡±

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Rein, who¡¯s mind had started to dull due to boredom, instantly snapped to attention. This world has a heart, and whoever controls the heart, controls the realm?!

    His guess was immediately semi-rebuffed by Chenhr¡¯s next words. ¡°It does not amount to being able to destroy a realm, or killing anyone one might want to. However, the heart would give favors to its user during critical moments, within the realm. These will only appear as ¡®luck¡¯ to an outsider.¡±

    Still shocking. Rein silently contemplated and determined that the Fusion Sect must be powerful beyond imagination then, to be able to control such a treasure.

    ¡°The Fusion Sect¡¯s function is simple. It is in reality a recruitment center, to find and funnel talented individuals to a higher realm¡­¡±

    Rein nearly fell over, his knees weak. For the heart of this realm to be controlled by a recruitment center?! Then for whom is this Fusion Sect recruiting for¡­?

    He realized that there must be an even more powerful entity behind the Fusion Sect.

    ¡°The Fusion Sect¡¯s goal is simple. It has, historically, avoided interfering in conflicts unless necessary. It believes that a certain level of conflict is necessary to separate and discover the hidden talents. If anything, it tries to create some. However, it will interfere if it considers that the ¡®conflict¡¯ has grown to the point of impeding the growth of the ¡®seedlings¡¯, that in their very own words, ¡®have yet to sprout¡¯.¡±

    Rein greedily absorbed all this information. Was he previously aware of some of this information? Only a tiny fraction. As a mortal merchant group, the Hehr merchants really only had access to information that the ruling clans deigned important to mortals.

    Chenhr¡¯s tone turned solemn. ¡°Ah yes, you should have already met that elder from the Fusion Sect. The white-robed lady of the Green Trout City. She is Baejenh, an outer advancer dispatched by the Fusion Sect to keep an eye on the Green Trout City. Her tracking mark was unable to withstand the cleansing of the Bleak Mountains.¡±

    Rein recalled the interrogation-- he had no idea when the austere looking white-robed lady had placed a tracking mark on his body. Luckily, the odd conditions of the Bleak Mountains removed it...

    ¡°As for other information, it will be your own responsibility to learn. Master Yirn has always said that those who are unable to pursue that which would contribute to their own survival will not last long in the advancer world. I will, however, begrudgingly provide you some additional guidance as ordered by Master Yirn.¡±

    ¡°Origin skills aren¡¯t always just ¡®skills¡¯. They are an ancient true god¡¯s mastery of a certain aspect of the world. Somewhat inferior versions have been shown to live on through bloodlines. Some origin skills are also passive in nature, such as simply boosting certain aspects of a user¡¯s magic. Understanding the different types of origin skills will allow you to plan an appropriate response and approach enemies with care. Though rare, you are bound to come across other origin advancers sooner or later.¡±

    ¡°Some bloodline related inferior versions were created by a number of organisations that are all too happy to research origin skills, some through torture. There¡¯s a vast number of them, but at the very least, you must be aware of the House of Origin, Bloodline Genesis, and the Hominin Prime.¡±

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Chenhr grimaced in disgust. ¡°You better not attract these three organizations or ones even minimally affiliated with them! Not even Master Yirn could guarantee his ability enough to save you or me if such a situation came to be.¡±

    Rein irritatedly picked up a brush, dabbed it in ink to start noting down all these highly dangerous names.

    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s the vast number of realms, some controlled by hominins, some by beastkins, and a rare few by plantkin, specters, fallen devils, and various organizations.¡±

    ¡°There are some multi-realm organizations that control goods to both mortals and advancers. Their connections make them untouchable.¡±

    Chenhr yawned, seemingly tired of speaking so much. The amount of details in his words further decreased.

    ¡°Bounty organizations, resource organizations, anything you can think of¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah yes. The Hall of Heroes. A truly powerful organization that recruits across realms to execute what they determine as just. The one you¡¯re meant to infiltrate for us. I hope you understand the importance of understanding their nature.¡±

    ¡°Now, last of all, and I do believe this is of utmost importance. Inscriptions. Inscriptions function because it is the language of the way of the world. That is why it has the capacity to store and express advancer abilities. Any slight variation can guide the aurae of the world in a different manner and create a different effect.¡±

    ¡°You must learn its language. It is universal across the realms.¡±

    Chenhr then leisurely exitted the tower while fanning himself with his treasured weapon, relieved of his distasteful duty.

    Rein stayed within the second floor of the tower flipping through thick books bound by string, opening scrolls even taller than himself.

    He prioritized understanding the language of inscriptions and those three horrifying organizations named by Chenhr. He felt queasy after discovering the type of experiments that these three organizations had done. There was even a research journal of one who forcefully extracted blood and aurae from a subject and then forcefully injected it all into another subject.

    On the surface, this might not seem that gruesome. However, Rein soon discovered through the journal that each advancer¡¯s blood and aurae had its own uniqueness. In some ways, it can be seen as a type of individual signature, their unique aura.

    Thus, when two, three or even four different ones were mixed together in hopes of developing some type of bloodline that could bolster another¡¯s affinity in advancer magics¡­

    It was best not to remember too many details from that journal entry, and experimental report.

    Of course, Rein also tried to find further understandings of his own and Chenhr¡¯s origin skills. He found no information, and felt incredibly stupid for trying in the first place.

    After all, Chenhr had said that understanding an origin skill can give a combat advantage-- particularly since many advancers that have such skills will avoid using such skills unless at a critical juncture.

    Chenhr would not easily expose his own strength.

    ¡°Ahem¡­¡± The sound of a throat being cleared echoed through the tower.

    Rein jumped in fright, spinning around to find that Master Yirn¡¯s figure had appeared. Peering out of a window of the tower, he saw that the underground paradise had slightly dimmed, though the stalactites up high still had a soft glow that illuminated the whole area.

    Master Yirn, with a raised eyebrow, beckoned with an arm. WIth his other hand, he reached forward and twisted his wrist in midair, opening an invisible doorknob.

    Rein blinked, and in that single instant found himself in an unfamiliar room.

    Master Yirn pointed at the rows of scrolls on the dusty row of shelves that lined the room. ¡°Meditative arts. Gain your enlightenment through the memories of others¡¯ pasts.¡±

    Rein perked up. These meditative arts are of critical value. He recalled the exact background of these meditative arts.

    Guard Wein, when first introducing him to advancers, had said that each meditative art contained the chants that express the heart and mind of a unique advancer. If he can find one who might resonate with his own experiences, that would assist him in gaining insight into himself.

    In his current inner advancer level, that would assist him in gaining control over his own emotions, such that the aurae of the world flowing within him remains stable and uniformly transforms the state of his body.

    However, looking left, right ,up and down, all Rein could see were unending rows of scrolls. How was he to find the right one?

    Master Yirn snapped his fingers. Rein looked around, but nothing happened. He blinked his eyes in confusion.

    The moment he blinked his eyes, he found himself back in the second floor of the tower, with five scrolls now lying in front of him on the ground. Master Yirn had already chosen the scrolls for him.

    Worried that Master Yirn would leave soon, Rein desperately expressed his request that he had long considered.

    ¡°Master! I sincerely request assistance with saving my younger brother! I am willing to pay any price!¡±

    Rein had long thought to request Master Yirn¡¯s help. However, he wasn¡¯t sure how powerful Master Yirn was in the first place. Furthermore, he was only a half-disciple. Not to mention, Rein had just met Master Yirn yesterday-- they were more or less strangers. His desperation won out in the end, and thus came his plea.

    Master Yirn frowned for a moment, before looking out one of the tower windows, as if observing something far into the distance. Though, they were in an underground paradise, so it was impossible for Master Yirn to see particularly far with normal eyesight.

    ¡°Very well, half-disciple. I have yet to set sights on your younger brother, so I will need a strand of your hair.¡±

    Although Rein did not fully understand the nature of such magics, in his desperation, he was not about to question Master Yirn¡¯s methods. Rein plucked out a strand of his hair for use.

    Master Yirn crossed his legs as he levitated off the ground with the strand of hair floating in front of his chest.

    The strand of hair started spinning as Master Yirn closed his eyes. Rein found his hands sweaty with nervousness, especially with Master Yirn¡¯s furrowed brows.

    ¡°Half-disciple. His location cannot be found. Either blocked by a high power, or he¡¯s long left this world.¡±

 Ch25: Six Months Later

    ¡°Long left this world¡­?¡± Rein¡¯s heart was in turmoil.

    ¡°Either his body no longer breathes or he is no longer here in Fusion Realm¡­¡± Master Yirn directly and bluntly stated the obvious. ¡°The fallen devils reside in the twelve hells. Or the fallen heavens. Depending on your perspective.¡±

    Or perhaps some expert had used high ranked magics to hide Jein¡¯s presence. Ignoring the fact that with Master Yirn¡¯s skills in illusion, it is likely difficult to dupe Master Yirn¡­ Rein found this possibility much more comforting.

    He recomposed himself and steadied his heavy heart. There was no reason for the fallen devils to rapidly kill a young seed, he reasoned.

    After a moment of silence, Rein moved on to his second query, doing his best to banish and suppress his uncomfortable feeling of impending doom.

    ¡°Master. Yesterday, you stated that the advancer world is ruled by might. That seems wrong to me.¡±

    Rein himself, his family, and his town were destroyed by a higher power. Surely, there was some force that would right this sort of injustice!

    Master Yirn, without even a twitch of an eyelid, corrected Rein. ¡°Enduring might.¡±

    Does the additional description of ¡®enduring¡¯ change its meaning?

    ¡°A murderer may have the might to strike down many. Yet they will become hunted, such that even one weaker than the murderer, isolated in an unknown cave will outlive such a murderer. The murderer would only outlive those that he struck down.¡±

    Master Yirn then waited patiently, giving time for Rein to ponder the meaning within his words.

    Since Master Yirn has placed an emphasis on enduring, that can only mean one thing. In his eyes, the one isolated in the cave, though weaker in strength than the murderer, would be the mightier.

    For he has outlived the murderer, who would undoubtedly be eventually hunted down by those related to the ones the murderer had killed.

    But still, the murderer would have lasted longer in life than the ones he had killed¡­

    ¡°To have might, one must survive?¡± This was the conclusion Rein had derived in Master Yirn¡¯s words.

    Master Yirn nodded. Rein did not like the implications behind such an idea, but he also could not deny it. A dead man¡­ can pursue nothing.

    ¡°Would this not mean that one must tolerate injustices? Are there not things worth dying for?¡±

    Master Yirn shook his head, causing Rein to feel confusion. Master Yirn provided another example.

    ¡°A village where its elders would die for its young against another village where its elders would not. Which village will be more likely to survive?¡±

    Rein instantly knew the answer. Obviously the village where its elders would fight and even sacrifice their lives for their young. If the young died off, then where would the next generation come from?

    He quickly realized a difference between the two examples Master Yirn had brought forth. Master Yirn valued survival. Yet that survival was not solely isolated that of the individual, but potentially a group, a society.

    He had understood that Master Yirn¡¯s emphasis on ¡®enduring might¡¯ was about survival, not necessarily just that of the individual. Though he had yet to discern the specific deeper underlying meaning, his intuition told him that Master Yirn¡¯s words, at the very least, contained an unfortunate element of truth within.

    He had plenty to ponder about already, but an additional question then came to his mind.

    ¡°Master Yirn. Is this not true in the mortal world as well?¡±

    Master Yirn seemed a bit confused by the question, and his confusion caused Rein to believe that he might have very well asked a foolish question.

    ¡°A mortal murderer will eventually die even if he is never captured.¡± Master Yirn answered slowly in his gruff voice. ¡°An immortal murderer, on the other hand¡­¡±

    His question was indeed embarrassing. Rein berated himself. Advancers have much longer lives, and gain an essentially undying lifespan if they climb high enough. That was obviously a source of difference. Yet Rein quickly realized he had never thought of how that could make a difference.

    The only conclusion he could draw right now was a simple one. A mortal serial murderer would eventually stop spreading misery through the rotting of his mortal body. But an advancer, if not forever buried under the ground¡­ those of truly twisted minds, would they ever stop?

    Yet how does this connect and play a role within Master Yirn¡¯s ¡®enduring might¡¯ view in the advancer world?

    Rein silently contemplated as Master Yirn vanished into thin air yet again, leaving Rein to his own devices. He soon picked up his five additional meditative arts scrolls then traced his way back to his little hut.

    He held up a special metal orb that emitted light through its inscriptions, powered by an embedded gem. Rein had yet to develop his ability to bring his aurae to the surface of his body, and thus was unable to supply a normal light orb with his own source of aurae. Although the metal orb was bright, its body was as cool as the night.

    This gem-powered metal orb was given to him so that Chenhr did not have to take him everywhere in the dark. Rein felt great joy in this-- this granted him momentary reprieve from Chenhr¡¯s condescending speeches.

    He did not bump into any of those ¡®bandits¡¯ on the way back, as the stars were already out and the moon high in the sparkling sky.

    He returned to the hut to find another demonic--no-- beastkin core with a pestle and mortar set. Luckily, this time, it came along with a proper normal meal that could be used to obscure the taste of ¡®sand¡¯.

    Inside the little hut after the quick meal, Rein only heard silence around him. It felt eerie, as he had gotten used to the sounds of his parents and Jein¡¯s shouts back in the Hehr Mansion.

    Feeling small and lonely, Rein could not help but take out that dagger again. Though the inscriptions lining the hut walls lit up to warm the interior, Rein only felt a bone-seeping coldness as his hands started trembling.

    He tried to still his hand, yet the chilliness took hold, and the dagger slipped out of his grasp, making a small cut on the palm of his hand as it dropped onto the ground with a reverberating metallic ding.

    The tinge of pain cleared Rein¡¯s mind as he remembered Master Yirn¡¯s teachings just a while ago. He reached for the meditative scrolls to occupy his mind.

    He needed to keep active in my pursuit and survive¡­ There is still hope for Jein¡­ surely...

    He rolled open the scroll, and as he chanted the phrases within the scroll inside his mind, his tremblings gradually disappeared into the night.

    _________________________________________________________________________

    Six months later

    Autumn in the Minhr Nation had turned into a cloudy winter then a chirping spring. Rein had endlessly occupied himself with mastering the staff and the adapted-to-human dragon style created by Master Yirn, as well as additional knowledge of various areas of the advancer world.

    Surprisingly, he made rapid progress. The draconic metamorphose bead that had transformed his body allowed him to absorb the energies of the beastkin cores, while his body was being remodeled. The continuing absorption of what remained of the draconic metamorphose bead had further increased his elemental affinity to wood and lightning.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Master Yirn had most recently inspected his body to find that three quarters of the bead had already been assimilated. This went against Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s claim that Rein might feel intense pain during the remodeling of the body. Master Yirn explained that this was because Rein¡¯s original body had close to non-existent elemental affinities. Thus, he was nothing but an empty shell waiting to be filled.

    Regardless, his strength had risen to that of an upper inner advancer, thoroughly improving his ability to process information with his mind, as well as control his body. This had certainly contributed to the accelerated rate at which he had mastered the staff and the adapted-to-human dragon style.

    He had also gained much experience with the ¡®aura restraint¡¯ skill. His training consisted of attempting to hide himself from Chenhr within the forest in the underground cave paradise. He had gained further understanding of this skill. One such unique method contained within the advancer art was to imitate the aura of another being, which worked rather well in the forest.

    On top of that, he attempted to practice the aspect of the skill that diverted attention from himself. Unfortunately, that could not be practiced against Chenhr-- that aspect of the advancer art had little-to-no-effect on those who knew what they were looking for. Chenhr quite naturally had a very clear idea on Rein¡¯s appearance and his aura.

    Another skill that Rein was forced to train himself in was using the so-called ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. The tower had one of these weapons stored within. Supposedly, its manufacturing method was thoroughly monopolized by the Hall of Heroes, but Master Yirn had managed to obtain one of these weapons. The Hall of Heroes occasionally gifted these weapons to their allies, even if sparingly.

    After Rein had learned to force his aurae to the surface of his skin and gain some minor inroads into becoming a shell advancer, he had also gained the ability to inject his aurae into this ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ through touch. He was subsequently trained in the basics of manipulating such a weapon. Supposedly, the Hall of Heroes welcomed those trained in manipulating these weapons.

    Throughout this period of time, Rein had received an uncountable number of barbs from the third disciple Chenhr. However, Chenhr stopped short of any action. If anything, Rein had gradually started to feel somewhat sorry for Chenhr.

    He had quickly noticed that Chenhr¡¯s insults would more often than not contain some kind of reference to the other unnamed missing disciples.

    He only felt slightly sorry, mainly because he found out quickly that psychedelics are a mainstay in the human advancer world. Frankly, nearly all advancers used them to break through key advancer bottlenecks.

    To Rein¡¯s current best estimation, Master Yirn¡¯s no-psychedelic rule undoubtedly pushed these disciples all away.

    Chenhr promised him that it was worth it. Without the use of psychedelics, any breakthrough Rein accomplish in the future would provide a much stronger foundation, if he successfully gains an understanding of each realm and their relation to his own self. The price was that if he lacked that internal insight, he would never ascend the advancer ladder.

    Thwack Thwack!

    It was the sound of repeated contact between wood and bamboo. As of now, Rein was sparring with Chenhr. Well, it would be inaccurate to describe it as sparring. Rein was in fact, performing an absolute beatdown on Chenhr, making him feel extremely satisfied. He had long yearned to give his dear half-senior a good smack across the face, both figuratively and literally.

    However, there was a caveat here. The rule of this spar was that neither Rein or Chenhr could activate their aurae outside their physical bodies. Naturally, it was impossible for Chenhr, with his short bamboo folding fan, to do anything about Rein¡¯s long-reaching staff. Chenhr¡¯s best was making sure he at the very least blocked every staff strike.

    But Chenhr was completely unperturbed. Rein, though dominant with his range, had yet to truly get a clean strike. His black hair, which had grown to shoulder length across the winter months, was now combed back with a messy look that fitted his current struggle to get a final proper hit on Chenhr¡¯s body.

    Master Yirn, sitting on the side while chewing on a strand of grass, finally impatiently ordered the two to stop.

    ¡°You¡¯ve mastered the mortal arts.¡± Master Yirn then looked at Chenhr, indicating for Chenhr to take over the teaching.

    ¡°Master Yirn has indicated that it is necessary for us to progress to the next step. Mortal arts have a limit. Come. Let us have a proper spar!¡±

    Rein instinctively felt nervous. He had seen Chenhr wave his fan and expel a blast of aurae through the weapon on the first day he arrived into this hidden paradise within the Bleak Mountains.

    Rein sighed. Such a statement had, in fact, instantly made him feel rather defeated. It could best be described as a rude awakening. He was still a weak inner advancer despite his strengthening over the past six months.

    In his heart, he was already prepared for a total whooping from Chenhr, with the limiting rules on their spar removed. Chenhr¡¯s origin ability, to his understanding, allowed the man to have a bountiful amount of aurae, vast to the point where Chenhr could blast aurae out of his body repeatedly despite being only an inner advancer himself.

    ¡°Do we really need to do this?¡± He groaned. ¡°Half-senior, the result under such rules is obvious.¡±

    Chenhr frowned at such a statement. ¡°The previous time was six months ago. How can you admit defeat so quickly? Come!¡±

    Rein half-heartedly rushed toward Chenhr with his staff angled low to his side, before twisting his hips as he swung the staff.

    Chenhr opened his fan and with a flick of a wrist, the yellowish aurae that Rein had seen before burst forth. Unlike last time, this time, the yellowish aurae covered an even larger area, and its intensity considerably thicker. It was likely that Chenhr had yet to bring forth his full strength previously, nor now.

    Rein even found his own limbs turn sluggish midswing as the burst of aurae suppressed the flow of his own aurae that was key guiding his movements. He found himself skidding backwards in the face of Chenhr¡¯s yellow aurae blast.

    A burst of rancorous laughter rang out.

    ¡°I suppose you were right, Half-junior Rein.¡± It was clear that Chenhr always knew that there was no way Rein could do anything about his suppressive burst of aurae. Chenhr simply wanted to ¡®slap¡¯ Rein across the face.

    ¡°This is the limit of mortal arts. At the end of the day, swinging around a weapon won¡¯t do you much good if a higher realm advancer can completely negate your weapon with a protective layer of aurae, or have some advancer magic that you are unaware of or lacking an understanding of.¡±

    ¡°Tell me. Do you think these advancers that have been around for god-knows-how-many years wouldn¡¯t have had the time to master their crafts? Do you not think that they too, wouldn¡¯t have long sharpened their minds and honed their bodies?¡±

    Rein nodded his head. It was safe to assume that most advancers, with their long lives, would have mastery over their weapons as well as magics.

    ¡°Hmph. I¡¯m glad you at least are aware of that. Thus, there is only one conclusion. In the advancer world, it is about taking the enemy by surprise through ambush or an unknown skill. It is about elemental weaknesses. It is about strategy, and more often than not, psychological manipulation.¡±

    ¡°Mastery of an advancer art is just a starting point to eternal survival.¡±

    Rein heard a few coughs from Master Yirn to the side. He turned his head to find Master Yirn holding a new staff in his hand. That staff was chucked it over to Rein. Unlike the first day, this time, Rein easily caught it with no difficulty.

    He could hear Chenhr groan in protest to the side. This was no surprise. Chenhr had a habit of complaining whenever Master Yirn gave Rein a bit, in his opinion, too much assistance.

    The staff in his hand had only two inscriptions. This was on the low end quality. A large surface area was required to etch such inscriptions, and a staff, with such a long body, should in theory be able to hold four inscriptions if made by a skillful blacksmith. Five was a possibility with a top-end grandmaster.

    This was basic knowledge about inscriptions that Rein had absorbed in the last six months. Upon closer examination, he further recognised that one of the inscriptions was of the wood element, and the other of water element.

    Chenhr forcefully continued his teaching role. ¡°What quality are these inscriptions of?¡±

    With furrowed eyebrows, Rein tried his best to half-guess the nature of the inscriptions. This was an extremely challenging task, particularly because the difficulty of the inscriptions was based on the etcher themselves. Rein, an upper inner advancer, was in essence trying to understand the inscriptions made by likely higher ranked advancers.

    ¡°The wood element inscription...seems to contain some sort of quality of vitality¡­? It should be to strengthen the body of the staff itself and perhaps even the user¡­? It¡¯s probably at least a shell level skill since the magic mainly functions within the body¡­?¡±

    ¡°The water element inscription¡­¡± Rein was unable to discern anything about the water inscription on observation. He racked his brains for an answer. The sight of the many etched lines swam in his sight, and he could recognise a few symbols and patterns here and there, but not enough to gain any true understanding of it.

    He attempted to gain an understanding through indirect methods. Water-based skills have properties of either healing, a softness to absorb raw power, the ability to encourage and facilitate growth¡­ or unique abilities related to the natural phenomenon in nature such as whirlpools, rain, waves. What would work well with the vitality of the wood inscription¡­?

    He took his best guess. ¡°The water element inscription is probably that of softness and power absorption, to further ensure that the staff does not break. Any damage received can naturally be recovered through the wood inscription as long as the staff is intact.¡±

    Chenhr rolled his eyes as he snorted, before flicking his sleeves in disgust.

    ¡°Pathetic. The wood inscription is of vitality, and indeed, it is to both strengthen the body of the staff as well as the user. However, it is of specifically early outer advancer-ranked quality. It has the ability to reach into the environment, especially heavy wood aurae environments, to grant itself and the user increased strength and recovery.¡±

    ¡°The water inscription? Its combination is to counter fire based advancer skills. The wood element provides fuel to fire. As for the skill itself, the water inscription gathers the water aurae in the world, from the air and ground, to create a water blast in all directions. Naturally, that makes it an outer advancer magic ranked inscription as well.¡±

    Another cough attracted Rein¡¯s attention to Master Yirn again. The mysterious expert was still sitting there, observing the lesson. This was odd, because Master Yirn came as he pleased and more often than not, left with nary a word.

    Master Yirn only said one word with his gruff voice that echoed in the yard in front of the tower. ¡°Fight.¡±

 Ch26: Ambushing a Devils Caravan

    Rein grasped the newly given staff in his hand and activated his aurae in a bid to stimulate the two inscriptions. The wood inscription felt significantly easier to activate. Rein believed that this was due to the draconic metamorphose bead having given him strong affinity with wood and lightning.

    Perhaps in a day long past, this weapon would have been considered a ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. This was no more than an average armament in modern times. Modern ¡®Spears of Heaven¡¯ are vastly more intricate with an amalgamation of various interactive abilities.

    As the inscriptions activated, he felt an outrageous drain of his own aurae. That was of no surprise, particularly since these inscriptions were of early outer advancer level magics, and he was only an inner advancer at the bottom of the ladder.

    Rein restricted the flow of his aurae into the weapon. As he did so, a group of power gems inlaid into the middle section of the staff glowed.

    Power gems are used in the advancer world to store aurae. They can be mined from dense aurae areas, and once used, could have its aurae refilled again as long as an advancer was willing to gradually inject their aurae into the power gem. Different types of gems are more effective at storing different types of aurae.

    Anyhow, this mechanism allows lower realm advancers to activate higher realm advancer skills through the inscriptions crafted by said higher realmed advancer. This invention was supposedly created by the so-called ¡®Progenitor of Heroes¡¯.

    In Rein¡¯s readings from the second level of Master Yirn¡¯s tower, this Progenitor of Heroes, during the Chaos Era, supposedly took inspiration from the skill of systems-- a technique that through strategic placement of magical tools  to create magical defenses across large areas.

    The man miniaturized it into ¡®written form¡¯ such that a magical effect could be planted onto a weapon, to create a smaller scale effect, naming it ¡®inscriptions¡¯. This man¡¯s name was Xune!

    Rein first activated the water drop inscription. A water droplet formed above Rein¡¯s head, and in a single breath, expanded as large as an adult human. The humongous raindrop then fell down onto Rein, thoroughly drenching him, before the droplet swelled and cascaded outwards in all directions.

    A drenched Rein could only try to squeeze water out of his hair and sputter for air as he mused inwardly. The advancer who passed down this inscription probably created this advancer art by imitating a raindrop falling into a lake, thus creating water ripples outwards¡­

    Chenhr, who was about to be hit by the waves of water, opened his bamboo folding fan. With a flick of his wrist, power gems inlaid onto the skeleton of the bamboo fan lit up as a burst of light green aurae burst forth, causing a strong gust to contend against the rippling water wave.

    The gust of wind split the wave like a god parting an ocean, and Chenhr remained thoroughly dry as the split waves rolled past him to his two sides. It was rather obvious that Chenhr¡¯s folding fan also had certain magics scripted onto its body.

    Rein then activated the wood inscription.

    Before he could fully activate the inscription, Chenhr rolled his eyes. ¡°Plant it, you fool!¡±

    Rein immediately stuck the bottom of the staff onto the ground as he finished the activation.

    He suddenly felt his whole body filled with vitality, all fatigue from the earlier exertion gone. The surface of the staff itself glowed with gleaming splendor.

    However, unlike the staff and himself, the few closest trees in the surrounding environment seemed to wilt as their leaves turned a sickly yellow.

    Rein recoiled in shock as he lifted the staff off from its planted position.

    ¡°The wood skill is of vitality. It can draw on the aurae within the power gems, but that is of a limited amount. Its true use is to drain and destroy the earth below for its energies. Naturally, the surrounding nature will be impacted by such a use of the skill. Nature and wood-based skills both draw energies from the earth.¡±

    This skill was rather destructive¡­ Rein did not expect such an effect, but then again, it was inscribed by at the very least, an outer advancer. Outer advancers are able to express and control aurae outside their bodies, unlike inner-to-shell advancers.

    A ¡®silkpants¡¯ would undoubtedly have numerous amounts of these armaments and power gems to augment their combat ability. Rein very much understood why Chenhr had claimed that these weapons, supposedly meant to allow a weaker advancer to cast magics to stand up against a stronger advancer, very much benefited the influential class of the advancer world.

    Chenhr provocatively pointed his now-folded bamboo fan at Rein. ¡°Come!¡±

    Rein performed a few staff stances as he tested out this wood-based skill.

    His body had strengthened significantly these past six months to the point where he could punch through a brick wall, not to mention, easily lift and throw boulders taller than himself. Yet, this energy coursing through his body now was incomparable.

    This wood-based vitality skill augmented all his physical abilities. If it had a weakness, it would be the simple fact that it required earth-based aurae in the surroundings to use as fuel for the wood-based magic.

    The world¡¯s aurae flowed in a cycle of transformation, very much following the rules of nature. Advancers needed to understand this flow, imitate and manipulate it-- one might say bastardize it-- to accomplish their goals.

    Reni stomped on the ground, his foot causing a deep and cracked imprint on the ground as he leaped toward Chenhr, with a downward sweep right at Chenhr¡¯s head.

    For the first time, Chenhr''s face appeared serious. He was at the peak of the inner realm, close to the shell realm, and thus he could somewhat bring forth an incomplete form of aurae to the surface of his skin. His origin ability also allowed his body to hold vast amounts of aurae reserves.

    His whole body quickly became covered in an unstable and fluctuating layer of yellowish aurae that formed magical patterns to augment his own body with effects unidentifiable to Rein. He defended against the staff strike, causing a resounding boom as the two weapons came into contact.

    Chenhr had deflected the staff strike to the side of his body with a sweep of the folded bamboo fan.

    Chenhr then flicked forearm, instantly opening up his bamboo fan. Once again, he performed the skill that Rein had seen a few times by now. With a sweep of the fan, a blast of yellowish aurae burst forth.

    However, unlike the previous time, Rein did not feel his own aurae slowing to a complete crawl underneath this suppressive aurae burst. The vitality provided by the wood inscription negated some of that effect.

    This result emboldened Rein. He quickly started performing rapid thrusts, determined to give a good strong bruise to any part of half-senior Chenhr¡¯s body.

    Chenhr was however ready. Although the opened bamboo fan looked flimsy, Chenhr meticulously adjusted his wrist and elbow to angle the surface of the fan perfectly in order to deflect every single one of Rein¡¯s staff thrusts. The fan was in itself layered in a shell of magical augmentation.

    Rein soon noticed his fatigue building, as if this vitality of the wood inscription was failing. He immediately leaped backward, before plunging the staff into the ground in a bid to siphon more earth aurae to feed the advancer inscription on the staff.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Unfortunately, the result was disappointing.

    Chenhr¡¯s expression was no longer tense, and his demeanor had returned to his usual mocking attitude toward Rein.  ¡°My dear half-junior. You¡¯ve already thoroughly exploited the earthen aurae present in the skill¡¯s current radius of effect.¡±

    Rein quickly realized the underlying reason for the failure of this heavenly skill. He would need to change locations in order to plunder the earthen aurae as fuel again.

    As for why Rein had still yet to land a hit on Chenhr with the support of this skill? Rein simply assumed that Chenhr¡¯s treasured bamboo folding fan must have its unique strengths that he lacked the ability to discern, in combination with Chenhr¡¯s partial shell augmentation abilities.

    Master Yirn interjected at this point. ¡°Join the mission tonight.¡± With that, he vanished into thin air. He had only stayed to make sure that Rein knew how to use this new staff.

    Rein¡¯s excitement was obvious. In these six months, he had come to understand the nature of the work done by the members of this hidden village.

    It was quite simple on the surface. More or less, the members posed as bandits to rob certain targets. Sometimes, it would be for resources. Sometimes, it would be for information, which many merchants were more than willing to divulge at a blade¡¯s point.

    One thing was certain though. They would only rob targets that they had discovered to have done nefarious deeds. At the very least, that was the deal Master Yirn had made with the members of the hidden village when saving them from their varied circumstances.

    Chenhr snorted. It was obvious that he deemed Rein¡¯s inclusion unnecessary. But the Master is the Master. ¡°We move out at dusk. Today¡¯s target is a potential breakthrough. For you. Don¡¯t screw up. Otherwise, you may very well regret coming.¡±

    Later in the day.

    A band of figures dressed in light green cloaks crouched hidden behind trunks and bushes. With the camouflage, it was difficult to notice the figures, and certainly impossible to count their exact numbers.

    Quite a few months earlier, Rein had noticed the use of snow white cloaks instead, no doubt, to camouflage the band against winter snow. However, now, it is spring moving into summer.

    All the members surrounding Rein breathed both deeply and calmly while awaiting the arrival of the target.

    Rein felt that his own breath was, however, inexplicably loud. Perhaps it was his nervousness. Though, none of the other members complained about this.

    The current leader of the group raised a finger to his lips, indicating the band to be extra quiet and careful in preparation for the ambush.

    Normally, Xeeran led the bandits. Today¡¯s leader was different due to Xeeran being occupied with another mission. Rein himself had zero idea who the replacement was. As for Chenhr, he was hidden somewhere amongst the band.

    Rein strained his ears, and gradually, the dim clip-clop sound of hooves against ground could be heard.

    Rein closed his eyes as he went through the mission details to ensure that he would execute his role appropriately and avoid making any mistakes.

    Their target was a fake merchant. The man should be a member of the devil sects hidden far into the wilderness to the west of the Minhr Nation¡¯s Evergreen Mountains, and have no doubt infiltrated and caused a certain degree of havoc across the nation.

    Rein¡¯s role in this mission is quite limited. For one, he could not use the Soak Staff. Rein had decided to give the name ¡®Soak Staff¡¯ to the new weapon he received from Master Yirn. The reason behind the name was simple. The staff essentially soaked up the earthen aurae in the surroundings to strengthen the vitality of the wood. And the water inscription skill¡­ would always soak the user in a ball of water before cascading outward in waves.

    Master Yirn had said that the staff should not be used today, lest it become synonymous with Rein¡¯s own identity. It would definitely be disastrous if someone survived today¡¯s ambush and reported the details of Rein using the Soak Staff to officials. That would mean that Rein could no longer walk around with the Soak Staff or even use it without drawing attention to his involvement in the impending ambush.

    Both him and Chenhr¡¯s goal was to essentially respond to the appearance of the hidden advancer guards defending this fake merchant. The normal guards escorting the caravan are of the mortal realm, only having the inner advancer strength-- that of improved physicality.

    However, that is just a show. This fake merchant should be an important informat and thus have at the very least, one or two hidden guards-- predictably at shell advancer realm or thereabouts.

    Rein had wondered why Chenhr was certain that there would only be one or two hidden proper guards. Chenhr¡¯s reply was accompanied by a scoff: ¡°Too many hidden guards would attract attention. Then they would no longer be hidden guards anymore.¡±

    Regardless, their crew¡¯s goal was simply, with the combination of overwhelming force as well as the element of surprise, to completely obliterate the mortal guards. The hidden guards that should be on the verge of becoming true advancers should then appear.

    Chenhr should be able to handle one, while Rein was to provide some support to the bandit crew responding to the appearance of potentially a second hidden guard.

    Thinking of the whole plan, Rein felt that all-in-all, it was a pretty straightforward and sound approach. This calmed his nerves and the sound of his breathing significantly diminished as the sound of hooves grew ever heavier.

    Through the foliage, Rein saw a wooden caravan being pulled with four horses. The caravan itself looked nothing special, and was ¡®standard¡¯. The horses too looked like run-of-the-mill horses. Not too majestic, nor underfed. The caravan driver was also dressed as any other typical caravan driver, with a wide conal thatch hat that blocked the sun while conveniently hiding the face.

    No doubt, this ¡®merchant¡¯ aimed to fit in and look just as any other typical merchant would in the nation.

    Rein gripped his replacement weapon box for this mission. As this was his first mission, he was given more of a disruptive sort of role.

    The box carried numerous weighty bombs the size of a thumb. Most of them had the one singular effect of an air blast. When Rein observed the inscriptions on these, he could tell that the inscription contained qualities of wind within.

    The remaining bombs had varied types of effect. There was one that was a sand blast. Another was a flash blast. All-in-all, they were of a singular, pure elemental blast effect.

    Rein was instructed by Chenhr that all he had to do was to force a bit of his own aurae into the surface of a bomb before throwing it, and it should explode a few heartbeats later.

    These bombs were cheap, commonplace, and a disposable type of armament, and thus untrackable in all respects.

    At this moment, the fake merchant caravan was about to reach the ambush spot. In order to maximize the effect of the ambush, no signals were used, and instead, every single individual ¡®bandit¡¯ had to prime their very own selves to attack when the caravan crossed a specific geographical line on the forest path.

    The sound of hooves and feet grew louder and more varied as through the gap in between leaves and branches, Rein saw the caravan, escorted by a band of mercenaries, only a few feet from reaching the ambush spot.

    Thump thump thump

    Three heartbeats later, the slithering sound of rustling leaves signaled the start of the ¡®robbery¡¯. In a single breath, numerous arrows flew in from both sides of the road in a pincer formation, skewering the mercenaries surrounding the caravan. A green flash of aurae accompanying the flood of arrows simultaneously sliced through the harnesses of the horses pulling the caravan.

    Miserable yells and grunts filled the air as the whole band of roughly twenty mercenaries panicked and looked around wide-eyed in both surprise and fear. The horses bolted-- they had already been disconnected from the caravan by the flash of green aurae, no doubt the skill that Chenhr had used to split Rein¡¯s water-wave earlier in the day. The sight of the mess of their victims made Rein doubt if he himself even had a role to play.

    Nearly sixty percent of the band of mercenaries had been hit by the arrows, the unlucky-- or perhaps lucky-- ones dead from a vital strike, others wounded and bleeding to death on the ground. The caravan driver, in full view of both sides of the road, was of course a dead man slumped onto the ground.

    The leader of this band of mercenaries got lucky himself, and he immediately attempted to rally his comrades with a roar. ¡°Form a defensive formation you imbeciles, we--¡±

    His attempt to organize the remaining standing mercenaries was interrupted by the thundering charge of Master Yirn¡¯s ¡®bandits¡¯.

    Two groups rushed the remaining bandits with spears, as once again in pincer formation, they impaled bodies onto the two sides of the now-stationary caravan.

    Many of the mercenaries had barely even managed to get into a proper combat stance and draw their weapons before grunting with their breath knocked out, spiked through the gut against the caravan¡¯s walls.

    Victory was all but certain. It was almost too easy. Perhaps if this fake merchant, or this band of mercenaries were forewarned, it might have been a significantly harder fight. Yet, was any combat ever ¡®fair¡¯?

    Rein was slightly relieved. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how he himself might react with his life on-the-line, and seeing everything going so smoothly was reassuring.

    Yet he was also disappointed that he would not have to contribute at all.

    Well¡­ Rein would soon curse this line of thought.

    For at this very moment, the whole wooden structure of the caravan exploded into pieces. As the wooden splinters spun outwards they suddenly changed direction mid-air as if controlled by invisible hands, stabbing toward the vulnerable necks of Master Yirn¡¯s ¡®bandits¡¯.

    Rein gaped as he immediately realized that the hidden guard of this fake merchant was much mightier than Chenhr had predicted. For only outer advancers and above have the ability to fling objects around with aurae tendrils! Perhaps, this hidden guard might even be a telekinetic advancer!

 Ch27: Chenhrs Strength

    Rein froze for a single breath, and that was enough for a few of his comrades to die from a wooden splinter to the neck. Luckily enough, many of them had been trained by Master Yirn through Chenhr, and were able to either block or dodge the flying wood splinters.

    The wood splinters themselves were not just pieces of the shattered caravan. They were being flung around by ¡®invisible¡¯ aurae hands that also augmented the toughness of the material. The fake bandits had to clash with each individual wood splinter before accidentally slicing through the air to dissect the invisible aurae tendrils connecting these splinters to the controlling advancer.

    If Rein himself was an outer advancer, he might be able to see these tendrils directly. For now, they remained very much invisible to his eyes.

    Remaining splinters spun in the air and adjusted their aim before once again accelerating toward Rein¡¯s companions.

    Rein finally overcame his shock and with his only inner realm, barely forced a bit of his aurae to the surface of his fingers to activate an air bomb.

    The small metallic bomb with a glowing light green inscription flew forth, and exploded within a few heartbeats, breaking the control over the splinters from the hidden devil advancer.

    This proved that their opponent was an outer advancer. An air aurae blast would not have much impact on a telekinetic advancer¡¯s control. Against an outer advancer, though, the air aurae blast would disrupt the invisible aurae hands in the blast radius.

    The wooden splinters dropped harmlessly down onto the forest path with dull clunks. Rein¡¯s choice of action was no fluke. Early on in his training, Chenhr had ingrained in Rein the knowledge on how to combat higher-realmed advancers.

    Outer advancers use their aurae to influence the environment, but the aurae tendrils that an outer advancer use to control the magics they wish to apply to their environment could be interfered with. Weaker advancers effectively needed to cooperate to disrupt these types of magic if they wished to survive against an outer advancer.

    The hidden outer advancer was naturally ruffled after having his control broken.

    Hmph!

    An irked grunt echoed in the forest. The grunt, to Rein¡¯s ears, seemed to be an omnipresent three-sixty surround blare around the caravan.

    A tall black-hooded man stood up in the center of the shattered caravan, and with his elevated position casted a hulking presence.

    Yet this hulking presence was not due to a robust body, but rather his height and ghastly body. Although the hooded cloak covered a majority of his body, this outer advancer¡¯s lower face could still be seen.

    And what Rein could perceive made him queasy with a sense of unease in his stomach. The black hooded man¡¯s chin was white and pale, but Rein did not get the feeling that the man was malnourished. Instead, he was certain that the white and pale skin was tough as nails, like some kind of armored preserved corpse.

    At this moment, Rein¡¯s companions released a wave of arrows. The hooded man stood in front of the wave completely dauntless. These arrows were not worthy of his attention.

    The arrow shredded holes in his cloak, yet the only sound Rein heard was that of metal against rock, with no blood drawn. These arrows were less than a mosquito''s bite against the fallen devil¡¯s durable skin. Everyone instantly recognized that mortal steel would be useless against this powerful advancer, and thus ceased their actions.

    The forest was mostly silent for a few heartbeats, and only the occasional groans from a few speared mercenaries could be heard. The hooded corpse-like man finally spoke with his grating voice. ¡°Do you truly wish to become our enemy?¡±

    This hooded corpse of a man was no idiot. He had long concluded that these organized ¡®bandits¡¯ weren¡¯t normal. Thus, it made sense that Rein and their group knew--to some extent-- the stakeholders behind this fake merchant operation. His words were meant to serve as a warning.

    Chenhr stepped forth from behind the shadow of a thick tree, with his bamboo fan armament unfurled.

    There was no point hiding-- the others in the ¡®bandit¡¯ group were all mid-inner realm or lower. At that advancer stage, it was nigh impossible to force any aurae out of the body to use ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ armaments. Mortal weapons had already been shown to be useless against this foe.

    As Chenhr slowly stepped forward, as pre-arranged, Rein and the bandits started shifting their hidden position inside the trees and bushes. Although they originally planned for a shell advancer, the group had also prepared certain tactics should they encounter a more powerful being.

    The goal of this shifting of everyone¡¯s position was to simply obscure Rein¡¯s location, which had been temporarily revealed when he threw out the air blast bomb not long ago. This cacophony of movement would naturally counter an outer advancer¡¯s perception of the surrounding. An outer advancer¡¯s ability to interact with the environment through his aurae tendrils gave them a certain level of heightened awareness-- though, not to the same degree as a telekinetic advancer.

    The hooded corpse-like man frowned-- he was fully aware of what the ¡®bandits¡¯ were doing. However, he did not take any action, for his focus was currently wholly on Chenhr, especially Chenhr¡¯s armament.

    Naturally, he was attempting to unravel some of the unique inscriptions on the surface of the fan in a bid to prepare himself.

    Rein, in his new hidden position, keenly observed the confrontation. He was very much curious of Chenhr¡¯s real strength. He had been taught that origin skills had certain absolute qualities that ignored the different advancer power realms.

    For example, a fire-based origin skill would be unmatched in terms of the flame quality, and if a higher realm advancer were to attempt to use the quality of the flames in his own magics to contend against a lower realmed advancer with said origin skill¡­ he would find himself on the backfoot.

    It was for this reason that Rein was rather roused by Chenhr confidently stepping up to action.

    The hooded corpse-like man appeared cautious, constantly trying to look for clues as to what Chenhr¡¯s strength laid in, as well as assessing his options.

    Rein himself barely spotted a man¡¯s head peeking over the top of one of the shattered wooden walls of the caravan. That was the fake merchant, supposedly a man of some import from a devil sect.

    The hooded man suddenly leapt backwards and picked up this fake merchant like a slumped doll over his shoulder, and began running with some type of shadowy movement technique that made it seem as if he was blending into the environment. This outer advancer had chosen to retreat with the mission''s target!

    With Rein¡¯s advancement, he could barely track this outer advancer¡¯s movement. To his eyes, the fleeing devil advancer was but a flitting shadow. It would be impossible for him to react to it. He groaned inwardly at being denied a good show.

    These ¡®devilish¡¯ cultivators were supposed to be bloodthirsty. ¡°Twelve hells!¡± He swore under his breath. The original plan was for Chenhr to distract the hidden advancer, then kidnap the fake merchant in the ensuing chaos!

    Well¡­ that original plan was now completely moot.

    Surprisingly, Chenhr appeared completely unperturbed. He took a stride before sprinting in the direction where the hooded corpse-man¡¯s shadow was moving.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    With another step, the yellow aurae that Chenhr used to suppress Rein previously, started blasting out from the soles of his feet.

    Rein¡¯s eyes twitched upon seeing this other presentation of Chenhr¡¯s yellow aurae. This half-senior was propelling himself by heavily wasting his bountiful aurae!

    Chenhr was now blasting himself forward at increasing speed, catching up to the jumping shadow of the corpse man a yard every single heartbeat. Every step Chenhr took created the sound of shattered gravel, compressing then throwing the ground soil behind his heels.

    The moving shadow stopped in place, fully aware that he would not be able to escape so simply.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± His voice was raspy. ¡°An origin skill. How careless of you to reveal your hidden card so easily. Have you no fear that you will be hunted?¡±

    Chenhr paused for half-a-step, his gray hair flowing in the breeze. ¡°I am¡­ already hunted.¡± Then he opened his bamboo fan armament as he pressed forward yet again.

    The hooded man still had the ¡®royal¡¯ fake merchant slung over his shoulder. This fake merchant definitely had some important identity, otherwise he would have been abandoned early on. However, he was very much deadweight in this situation, creating a favorable situation for Chenhr.

    The hooded corpse-man could not put the deadweight down, for in doing so, Rein and bandits could ¡®kidnap¡¯ this fake merchant, who held valuable information.

    Yet holding onto the body would be an impedance to the corpse-man¡¯s impending conflict with Chenhr. The hooded corpse-man knew that Chenhr had an intimidating origin skill. He could also determine that the bamboo fan armament in Chenhr¡¯s hand would make Chenhr a tough opponent even if Chenhr was not an outer advancer like he was.

    Thus, he made, what was in his view, the only possible decision. He wrapped his pale and stone cold fingers around the fake merchant¡¯s neck, and crushed the man¡¯s throat so thoroughly that the fake merchant¡¯s head became completely separated from his body.

    Blood spurted everywhere as the fake merchant¡¯s body now flopped limply onto the ground as the head, with an expression of disbelief, continued to rest in the hooded corpse-man¡¯s hands.

    But this was not the end. The corpse-man then further placed the detached blood-gushing head between his two hands, and his lips contorted as he flattened the skull, splattering brain matter, eyeball and fluids across his own black robes.

    Rein grimaced. Luckily, he had seen such gruesome scenes before-- otherwise, he would probably have hunched over and vomited, completely revealing his hidden position.

    Chenhr flicked his bamboo fan through the air as a green flash of aurae whipped towards the hooded corpse-man. This was none other than the skill that Chenhr had used to split waves and cut loose the caravan¡¯s horses previously.

    The hooded corpse-man squinted his eyes in focus as a translucent grayish aurae covered his whole body. He then raised his arms wide, causing two aurae man-sized gray aurae hands to stretch outwards from his own shoulders. He had to concentrate his aurae to form this more complex ability, thus making his aurae visible even to weaker advancers such as Rein.

    As Chenhr¡¯s green flash sped closer, the corpse-man then clapped his hands together,using his large aurae hands as a means to pinch the green flash in place.

    The two aurae palms shook the firmament as they slammed together, and Rein barely kept his balance on the rumbling ground.

    That display of strength was, however, completely meaningless. A blunt knife of no substance. For Chenhr¡¯s green beam sped forward unhampered, striking the corpse-man¡¯s right abdomen with a penetrating screech.

    Under the black hood, the corpse-man¡¯s lips opened with complete bewilderment. Chenhr had displayed no telekinetic abilities, thus the corpse-man had long suspected that Chenhr was definitely below his level of strength.

    Sure, origin abilities are special, but there was one thing all advancers knew-- the biggest advantage of higher realm advancers is their incredibly large reserves of aurae compared to that of lower realm advancers¡¯!.

    And larger reserves of aurae inherently allowed an advancer to increase the aurae density of their magical abilities, decreasing the chance of another advancer¡¯s ability to ¡®interfere¡¯ with an ability.

    Other advantages of larger reserves of aurae included an advancer¡¯s capability to use stronger abilities, last significantly longer in combat, and naturally, the qualities limited to higher advancer realms such as shell¡¯s aurae-layered body magic, outer¡¯s range control, and then telekinesis.

    The devil advancer¡¯s choice of action was a common one that advancers used when dealing with weaker advancer that had unique ability-- overwhelm them with the superior aurae reserves and strength that a higher realmed advancer had.

    Yet Chenhr¡¯s green flash was significantly more aurae-dense, for the corpse-man was unable to stop or even deflect it even when he concentrated much of his strength in his two aurae hands.

    Chenhr¡¯s origin ability was to gather and concentrate aurae within himself to untold volumes!

    The corpse-man peeled back his robe through one of the holes created back when he took the mortal arrows, revealing that his grayish aurae skin-thick armor had a closing hole, out of which leaked blackish-red blood. He examined his injury in utter disbelief, having yet to comprehend the nature of Chenhr¡¯s origin skill.

    However, that was not the full extent of Chenhr¡¯s strike. The very next heartbeat, an air blast wrecked the corpse-man¡¯s right abdomen, similar yet much stronger than one of the bombs Rein had on him. It was none other than an after-effect of Chenhr¡¯s green flash attack, which ignited after the green flash entered the corpse-man¡¯s abdomen.

    The corpse-man grunted in pain as he wrapped his own right hand in an inch -thick grayish aurae and clutched at his right abdomen, dropping onto a knee.

    Another heartbeat and the corpse-man stood back up. Enveloped within his grayish aurae hand was a greenish gleam, no doubt, a remnant invasion he had to forcefully drag out from his body.

    With a wave of his hand, he threw this dangerous green remnant into the ground to his side.

    ¡°Ridiculous¡­!¡±

    His tone contained both anger and disbelief, that somehow, an advancer below outer realm could create such a dense and invasive attack-- even if it was done through an inscripted armament manipulated under the nature of an origin skill.

    With impatience, he formed a fist with his pale and stoney hand, and punched the ground. From the point of contact, strings of grayish aurae instantly reached out to the dead bodies of the mercenaries surrounding the shattered merchant caravan.

    Nearly all the bodies stood up in a jerky and clunky manner. However, a few of the bodies suddenly started coughing and spitting out grayish fluid.

    ¡°God damn it!¡± One of these gasping mercenaries complained. ¡°We were so fucking close to living through this!¡±

    Rein had an epiphany. The devilish corpse-man definitely tried to raise these corpses of dead mercenaries for combat. Some of these mercenaries were likely pretending to be dead to try to save themselves, but this ruse was revealed once the corpse-man¡¯s aurae spell failed on them.

    This matched some of Rein¡¯s accrued knowledge over the past six months. Raising corpses required interfering with the dead bodies in the environment and was thus a spell of an outer advancer.

    Anyhow, it is quite difficult to bypass a normal, alive person¡¯s own inherent body aurae protection, not to mention, corpses that have decayed too long are impossible to raise.

    Regardless, now was the time for Rein to take action. Chenhr, oddly, appeared to have the main advantage against the corpse-man. All Rein needed to do was to prevent these mindless wights that did not know pain, from bodying Chenhr.

    Boom!

    An air bomb blast ripped the skin off one of the wights, revealing the underlying muscles. The wight was blasted backwards and stunned to the ground. Yet after a few breathes, it crawled back up onto its feet, and dauntlessly charged towards Chenhr.

    Meanwhile, Chenhr had engaged the corpse-man in a melee combat. The corpse-man knew that as an outer advancer, his aurae tendrils would in theory, give him an advantage if he fought from range.

    But that was not possible. Chenhr¡¯s odd origin skill, when blasted out from the soles of his feet, gave him a speed surpassing that of the corpse-man''s.

    That yellowish aurae had transformed again. This time, Chenhr had his whole body wrapped in an enveloping yellow cloud. It was no simple skin thick aurae armor, but rather one that constantly radiated and spewed a yellowish drowning tide of aurae outwards in all directions.

    The core-staged corpse-man formed aurae blades with his pointed hands, repetitively attempting to pierce through Chenhr¡¯s thick yellow aurae cloud. Unfortunately for him, the cloud was dense beyond belief, a quality that to the corpse-man¡¯s knowledge, should not be produced by any advancer below the telekinetic realm.

    Each time his own grayish aurae blades entered the cloud, they would barely hold their form, dissipating into nothingness. Meanwhile, his own body was being repetitively pierced with dense green flashes that shot forth from every wave of Chenhr¡¯s fan.

    The corpse-man realized he had miscalculated-- Chenhr¡¯s ability must have the function of creating incredibly dense aurae forms. If he stuck to the age-old trick of relying on superior aurae reserves of a high-realmed advancer, he would fall quickly. Yet, he was unable to come up with a viable method. The aurae cloud surrounding Chenhr broke down all magics that he attempted to land on Chenhr! The corpses that could be used to pile on Chenhr were also being thrown around by elemental aurae bomb blasts.

    In desperation, he zigzagged his way towards the wights that Rein had been nonstop blasting backwards with the wind-inscripted bombs, while dodging numerous green flashes and baring through the pain of receiving an occasional hit.

    His eyes grew crazed upon seeing Rein slowly but surely wrecking the wights that he had raised as a better idea occurred to him. Rein instantly sensed that he was now in trouble upon seeing the glint in the corpse-man¡¯s eyes-- the corpse-man had decided to target him instead!

 Ch28: Devilish Methods

    The reason for the corpse-man choosing to target Rein is obvious. Rein had been throwing his elemental bombs, constantly disrupting the aurae tendrils the corpse-man relied upon to control the wights. Without tight control over the wights, the corpse-man would only continue to be suppressed by the density of Chenhr¡¯s aurae!

    Rein instantly stopped suppressing the wights and scurried away, hoping this would dissipate the heat of attraction. The devil advancer was not stupid-- the corpse-man very much understood that unless Rein was dealt with, this bomb-lobbing young man was bound to return and hamper his control over the wights.

    Part of Rein wanted to activate his teleportation origin ability to immediately move to safety, but he had been instructed to avoid using it unless truly necessary-- it would do well for him to be able to survive without over-relying on it.

    Chenhr¡¯s eerie words still echoed in Rein¡¯s mind. ¡°Do you wish to become hunted like me? Hiding in corners of every realm?¡± Rein had no wish to end up like Chenhr through recklessly revealing his origin ability.

    Rein repeatedly changed direction, as grayish aurae hands popped out of the ground to slam down and squish whatever ended up under its palms. An wandering rabbit was the unfortunate victim of such a palm, its eyeballs and internal organs spurting out along with its crimson blood, its body nothing but a popped balloon.

    At the same time, Rein gripped multiple bombs and chucked them backwards without even bothering to confirm the corpse-man¡¯s location. He was not even sure if most of these low grade bombs were even useful against the corpse-man¡¯s actual body.

    Judging by his still-beating heart, he knew at the very least that the explosive element of these bombs was enough to stave off the aurae hands.

    His hand then picked up a slightly larger bomb. The original bombs he had been throwing had the width of his finger. The one he now had in his hand was the size of his thumb. This larger bomb has the power crystal at its core, which provides a substantial amount of aurae to the blast.

    Well. Rein figured this was as good a time as any to use these more limited powerful bombs.

    He weaved between trees in a frenzy, before desperately chucking a large sand bomb and an air bomb backwards. This dual effect created a small sandstorm that blanketed the surroundings and blocked all vision.

    Rein was rewarded with a voice of anger and frustration.

    ¡°You little piece of shit!¡±

    The number of grayish aurae hands¡¯ movement grew increasingly chaotic as they swept across, knocked down countless trees and at the same time, attempted to clear the vision-obscuring sand blanket.

    These trees offered zero resistance to the gray aurae hands; they were common ¡®mortal¡¯ trees that became easily corroded  by the gray aurae hands, which Rein could tell emitted a deathly aura now that the corpse-man had gotten so close to him.

    Rein instinctively flattened himself onto the ground as a large grayish aurae hand hurtled right above his head.

    Suddenly, Chenhr appeared right beside Rein, his body still completely enveloped by his yellow aurae cloud.

    Chenhr lifted Rein into standing by the collar of his black jacket, and smirked while his gray hair billowed in the chaotic air flow in the zone. Then with an almighty sidekick, he blasted a yellow aurae block right into Rein''s chest from the sole of his right foot.

    Rein could only yell obscenities at Chenhr in his mind as he flew backwards like a kite with its string cut. Luckily, with nearly all the trees in the surrounding having been knocked down and corroded by the grayish aurae palms, he avoided the situation of colliding with a tough tree trunk.

    As he braced himself for impact against the ground, the sand blanket was finally cleared away, and the corpse-man, upon seeing Rein flying through the air, assumed one of his gray palms had found their mark.

    He also no longer saw the pursuing Chenhr, who had vanished once again after booting Rein under the veil of the sandstorm.

    ¡°The damned advancer with that odd skill.¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°No doubt with his weaker realm, he will surely have emptied his aurae reserves by now chasing after me.¡±

    That was his conclusion as to why he saw no sign of Chenhr.

    With glee, he transformed into a shadowy form, and leapt toward Rein to collect his prize-- he had killed that important fake merchant, and needed to bring back some sort of information to his devilish organization in order to alleviate his punishment.

    With this bomb-lobbing young lad dealt with, he would then be able manipulate the wights to body Chenhr.

    As Rein skidded to a halt, he saw two large gray aurae hands, and with his bum still stuck to the ground, reflexively activated and flung out a few of the last bombs from the box.

    With a frustrated cry from the corpse-man, the gray aurae hands once again lost form, and the corpse-man, now coated in layered gray aurae rushed in a straight line toward this weak, bomb-reliant Rein who, should not be able to do anything against his attacks from close-range.

    As an outer advancer, his aurae hands and tendrils became weaker the further away from his body they traveled. The closer the range, the stronger these aurae projections would be!

    Like a shadow, the corpse-man appeared right before Rein, and Rein, in his panicked state, still glued to the ground, did what he only could do.

    SSSkizzz

    His hands formed a circle and he fizzed out from a black sphere a few kilofeet away!

    The corpse-man opened his mouth wide in shock-- it was a second origin ability he had encountered today! He now regretted signing up to protect this fake merchant for the devilish organization-- in many ways, he felt that he was fated to fail! He raised his arms in preparation , his mind once again turning to escape, only to find that his movements had turned sluggish and slow.

    He forcefully managed to tilt his head downwards, only to see a large inscription system on the ground, formed from three naturally positioned rocks, the roots of a remaining tree stump, and a small sapling that somehow avoided all the damage of the chaotic environment.

    Luckily, Rein had teleported out of that area. Otherwise, he would also land inside that inscription system formed on the ground. He noticed Chenhr¡¯s form right behind a tree beside the trap system.

    What a fucking bastard! To him, it was obvious what Chenhr had done. Chenhr had used him as bait to lure the corpse-man to this hidden trap. After all, it was Chenhr¡¯s almighty sidekick that sent him into the trap area!

    What further enraged Rein was Chenhr¡¯s next words.

    ¡°Now, now, my dear half-junior. These outer realm advancers are in general, quite observant. I needed you to look convincingly shocked, angered, and pained, such that this devil would fall for it!¡± That was Chnehr¡¯s explanation as to why Rein was not informed of this plan.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Rein grumbled to himself in annoyance as he felt his chest to check if Chenhr had broken anything with that sidekick. At the very least, nothing''s been broken¡­ just some soreness that would remind him of this¡­ maddening affair.

    As he looked up, he saw Chenhr feed the formation by pouring out a yellow aurae from his left hand. The corpse-man¡¯s struggle gradually diminished, as if ropes were tightening themselves around his body.

    Then Chenhr raised a finger, and a pointy yellow aurae formed a needle, protruding from his index finger¡¯s tip. That yellow needle became more and more solid, its density ever-increasingly.

    Finally, Chenhr turned this yellow needle toward the frozen corpse-man¡¯s who did not even have the freedom to make a fearful expression. He leisurely paced toward the corpse-man, and with a single thrust, the concentrated yellow needle pierced the corpse-man¡¯s center forehead. So fell an outer devil advancer.

    The crew now examined the remnants of the merchant caravan, yet they found nothing out of the ordinary: there were boxes of your typical spices, sacks of various types of grains in the main storage compartment of the caravan.

    Rein himself was double checking the sacks, making sure that there was nothing buried underneath the appearance of grains. He felt rather spent. As an upper inner advancer, he could barely force enough aurae to the surface of his body to activate the mechanism of the bombs.

    It is truly amazing that Chenhr could fight for so long with a constant use of such concentrated aurae¡­ He wiped sweat from his brow as he gazed at the remnants of the battlefield, lost in contemplation regarding Chenhr¡¯s unique ability. How would he negate the strength of Chenhr¡¯s origin skill?

    Anyhow, the wights had gone limp once Chenhr had stuck that concentrated yellow aurae needle into the corpse-man¡¯s head. They had returned to being mercenary corpses.

    Naturally, they had also killed the mercenaries that had previously pretended to be dead in order to save their own lives. It would be a disaster if news of what occurred here were to get out.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Chenhr appeared behind Rein. ¡°Have you learnt a new trick?¡±

    Rein was bewildered. He had mostly been thinking on Chenhr¡¯s origin ability.

    ¡°Come one, half-junior,¡± sighed Chenhr. ¡°You aren¡¯t that incapable.¡±

    After a short moment, Rein understood Chenhr¡¯s question.

    ¡°My origin ability cannot be obstructed by any barrier or even most formations. So, if I position myself within one such formation, I can trap my opponents by drawing them into said formation.¡±

    ¡°Well done.¡± Chenhr firmly patted Rein¡¯s back. ¡°Not just that. You can even draw one enemy into another powerful advancer¡¯s formation trap. Oh, the kinds of misunderstandings you can cause between two parties¡­¡±

    The middle-aged man appeared whimsical, imagining what he would be able to do with Rein¡¯s origin ability.

    Chenhr¡¯ gaze soon refocused, and his stern voice sounded over the now peaceful forest that was once again filled with the chirpings of larps. ¡°Come! Leave no stone unturned! Destroy the whole caravan if you need to!¡±

    A bandit that Rein occasionally saw around the hidden village had an expression of grief on his face. ¡°If we chopped a few trees, we could repair the walls of this caravan and maybe¡­¡±

    Thukk!

    An axe had chopped into the remaining base-level of the caravan, and quite a few bandits looked at the broad-shouldered bandit that had done this.

    ¡°What? The man ordered us to destroy the caravan if needed, right?¡±

    Under the stares of the other bandits, he once again raised his axe and cleaved downwards at the remaining base of the caravan, yet this time, it was not the sound of wood breaking, but rather that of metal against flesh!

    ¡°Ugh¡± The broad-shouldered bandit stumbled backward as his eyes were wetted by a spray of blood.

    Rein strode forward in consternation and removed the axe, then he and the bandits, all wide-eyed stared into the gap. Squinting his eyes, Rein was shocked to discover a hidden compartment.

    He saw bodies in there! The compartment was so flat that a body would only be able to be placed in here if they were flat on their backs!

    ¡°Open it up!¡± Rein was not seen as a leader for this group, but all the bandits instantly moved-- all of them were curious as to what was inside this compartment.

    What happened with the broad-shouldered bandit ensured that the rest of the bandits opened this compartment with care.

    Axes chopped down on specific spots, such that the wooden boards could be removed to access the compartment.

    To this day, this would be one of the most disturbing scenes Rein would see. The removal of the boards revealed bodies of a number of children, each deathly still and barely breathing. All of them had a grayish dark devilish inscription plastered across their forehead.

    The dull broad-shouldered bandit was first to take action again. ¡°Wake up, kid!¡± He lightly slapped one of the kid¡¯s faces. However, there was no response, no expression.

    Upon finding the child that had been struck by the broad-shouldered bandit¡¯s careless axe-strike, an unrelenting storm consumed Rein¡¯s mind. The bleeding child did not even have an expression of pain.

    These children¡­ they have clearly been placed in a state of limbo, meant to be some kind of slave. Was thi also the unfortunate fate of his younger brother?

    He stormed off towards the location where the corpse-man was suppressed, his limbs quaking with unbridled rage.

    Upon seeing Chenhr peering into the corpse-man¡¯s frozen eyes, Rein could not help but yank the corpse-man¡¯s body onto the ground, and straddling chest, he rained fist upon fist onto the corpse-man¡¯s head.

    His fists bled with his hot blood, for the corpse-man had a significantly tougher body than he himself had. He was, unfortunately, hurting himself more than the corpse-man...

    The other bandits that had followed quickly dragged Rein off the corpse-man who continued lying deathly still on the ground. This was, no doubt, an effect of Chenhr¡¯s dense aurae needle.

    Chenhr was wholly unperturbed by this episode. He had always had the impression that Rein had, well, a streak of occasional rashness¡­

    He let out a dramatic big sigh. ¡°Half-junior Rein. Is there really a need for this? I have already pierced the man¡¯s brain in such a way, such that he would not be able to have any proper function over his body. All we need to do is calmly peer into his mind, before disposing of him properly.¡±

    The broad-shouldered bandit whispered into Chenhr ears, and Chenhr immediately turned serious. Chenhr immediately dragged Rein onto his feet, and slung the limp corpse-man over his shoulder, before stepping quickly back to the caravan.

    At the very instance his sight came across the pale and limp bodies of the children with the devilish inscriptions over their forehead, Chenhr already began shaking his head.

    ¡°These children are done¡­ they have been under that spell for too long¡­ Free them from their twisted fates!¡±

    Rein woke up from his daze, but though he struggled, Chenhr held strong onto him through his black jacket collar. Though, this time, his words contained no mockery.

    ¡°Calm yourself, you fool! Look at this devil advancer we have captured. I have done the same to him as they have done the same to these children! His mind will never awaken and control his body ever again!¡±

    Thus, Rein watched on, firmly in Chenhr¡¯s grip, as the other bandits pierced the hearts of all these expressionless and unresponsive children. Some of the bandits closed their eyes, hoping to not see the result of their actions. However, they certainly felt it through the spears that they used. There were those who flinched, but they followed through courageously with what was necessary.

    Rein watched in a stupor as the bandits set fire to wood and corpses, doing their best to erase as much evidence of this event as possible. No one blamed him for not contributing.

    Chenhr¡¯s voice temporarily alerted him on their meandering journey back to the hidden village in the Bleak Mountains.

    ¡°These devil advancers. One of their favorite methods is to advance through external means. Consume the energy of other beings. Enslave, then feed and cultivate ¡®livestock¡¯ before absorbing their aurae into their own. Be it humans, beastkins, plantkin or specters.¡±

    ¡°Those children, you know¡­ they would have mindlessly grown, before one day, having their aurae sucked dry by a devil advancer. A being of sound mind would, of course, be able to resist such magical arts. But that is precisely why these devil advancers mostly enslave extremely weak beings in whom they could easily dominate the mind, before reaping their rewards many years later¡­¡±

    Rein did not reply, and trudged along in his listless state. It was quite obvious to him that this was likely Jein¡¯s fate. He had tried to ignore reality, but now, he realized that the tragic truth was always in front of him.

    ¡°Not only that,¡± Chenhr continued. ¡°You remember that potion you drank for the aurae restraint skill? Children are undeveloped husks. The fallen devils also sometimes inject some advancer arts into these children¡¯s bodies. For example, taking the heartblood of a beastkin that might have mastered, let¡¯s say¡­ an art to do with the shadows.¡±

    ¡°Although the child might not be able to fully use said skill with their undeveloped bodies, a child is filled with the world¡¯s potential. The heartblood injected into their bodies might mutate into a unique variant of said shadow art through that potential hidden within their bodies. Then the child¡¯s heartblood would be harvested, the variant skill absorbed by the devil advancer to add to his own repertoire of magic.¡±

    ¡°Such is the fate of those captured by the fallen devils¡­¡±

 Ch29: A Final Supper

    An unknown amount of time passed, and Rein found himself sitting on the roof of his hut, staring at the clear night sky. The stars winked at him as they always did. The moon was bright and round, but its light was cold and uncaring.

    After today¡¯s events, he could not help but feel that the Gods in the heavens are truly heartless¡­

    His thoughts were surprisingly continued by Master Yirn, who had appeared on the roof beside Rein at this very time.

    ¡°For the heavens have long shattered, and its false Gods forevermore fallen.

    Afterall, what is a man¡¯s achievement if it is given?

    Thus, did we pay the price for freedom!¡±

    Rein closed his eyes in contemplation. Yes. Who knows for certain if these devilish advancers would definitely meet their end? Who knows if those the forces behind the Golden Desert Town massacre will ever be punished?

    He balled his fists. If Master Yirn is right¡­ then he himself has the freedom to exact that will. To craft a path of an enduring might and see his will through to the very end!

    Master Yirn moved on to convey his main message-- likely his primary goal for the visit. ¡°We trained you for a goal. Your role is simple-- enter the Hall of Heroes, and through their investigative forces, find that which instigated this chaos.¡±

    Rein bowed his head and accepted his role. In fact, his heart brimmed with determination-- the Hall of Heroes is an influential and powerful organization, having connections and resources that Rein himself could use for his own ends if he successfully establishes his position within the organization.

    Master Yirn raised his arm, and Rein¡¯s soak staff appeared in his grasp. ¡°Your blood, half-disciple.¡±

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure what this was about, but he went along with it, using the ring-hilted dagger to make a small cut on his index finger.

    A drop of blood seeped out, and Master Yirn, with a flick of his sleeve, controlled the drop of blood to float to him in the air.

    Master Yirn¡¯s eyes shone as the drop of blood extended into strings that twisted and bent, forming a three dimensional inscription similar to the shape of the soak staff.

    The two identical structures overlapped each other, before the bloody inscription glowed for a heartbeat, then was absorbed into the soak staff.

    ¡°Just a protection of sorts.¡±

    ¡°Here.¡± Master Yirn then reached forth and hung a necklace made of simple interlocked links around Rein¡¯s neck. Every single link had many intricate inscriptions etched carefully on both the inner and outer rings.

    ¡°This will obscure the presence of the tinge of beastkin aurae from the draconic metamorphose bead. As long as you do not come across a heavenly advancer.¡± Master Yirn¡¯s eyes glowed again, and the inscriptions on the necklace lit up. The necklace sunk into Rein¡¯s skin and completely disappeared from view.

    Rein was thankful, but also somewhat baffled.

    ¡°I am eternally grateful, Master Yirn¡­ but why do you only take my as a half-disciple?¡± To his knowledge, Master Yirn had specifically created a set of body arts that would allow him to use the draconic body tempering magics.

    Then there was the Soak Staff, now augmented with a sort of blood-related protection magic. And, the necklace. Would a Master do this much for just a half-disciple?

    ¡°Do you know of karmic magic?¡± Master Yirn, too, gazed at the stars as he sat down with his legs crossed. It was quite rare for Rein to actually talk to Master Yirn for any extended period of time-- in fact, it had never happened. ¡°When two beings interact, form too deep of a bond¡­ this karmic magic can be used to indirectly find you. Identify you. Track you.¡±

    Rein certainly had no desire to be found by whoever this Master of his had offended. He did not have the strength to bear such a burden.

    ¡°A simpler answer? We are not fated.¡± The ancient advancer beamed as his eyes twinkled like the stars in the sky, temporarily giving off the air of a joyous, living-in-the-moment youth.

    Again, with fate, Rein inwardly groaned. Did all advancers follow ¡®fate¡¯? He had a clear memory of Blacksmith Tiehr declaring it was fate for the draconic metamorphose bead to become a part of him. Then, there was that dragon-in-human-form who had opted to let him go.

    ¡°Rein. You¡¯ve mastered the human forms that I created for the draconic beastkin art, yes? Take it out.¡±

    Rein nodded. He climbed down from the roof of the hut, and returned to the top after retrieving the scroll from within.

    Master Yirn exhaled, and to Rein¡¯s consternation, flames ignited on the scroll. To Rein¡¯s relief, the flames only burned away the section that Master Yirn modified. Master Yirn was obviously concerned that some might grow suspicious if they were to find this scroll on Rein.

    ¡°The rest of the scroll is fine. You may not know this but¡­ during the Age of Chaos, the beastkin, fearful of the rise of humanity¡­ They intentionally released their beastkin arts into the human population hoping to lead them astray. These beastkin magical art manuals are littered across the realms. Many humans, in their desire for power, attempted to master these magical arts, only to find themselves losing control of their minds and bodies¡­¡±

    ¡°Fallen devils¡­?¡± whispered Rein.

    ¡°Yes. But the devils had long existed before this event. The beastkin simply figured that a human, whose body is different from a beastkin, would find their minds and bodies in dissonance when attempting to master a beastkin magical art. After all, that dissonance is the cause of devilization.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you reject psychedelics? And¡­a different kind of devil?¡± Rein had never thought that there were different kinds of fallen devils. But the information he had received certainly suggested that.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± A curt answer to both questions.

    Rein fell silent, wondering what else he didn¡¯t know. And what Master Yirn might know.

    At length, Rein decided to ask a question that he wasn¡¯t certain Master Yirn would answer. But, this Master of his was rather talkative today, so he thought it worth the shot.

    ¡°Master.  My origin ability. Do you know how it develops? Did you¡­ encounter a previous user?¡±

    Master Yirn remained silent, and Rein thought he had overreached with this question.

    ¡°Rein,¡± Master Yirn eventually replied after a few hundred heartbeats. ¡°Origin abilities are never completely the same. Advancer magics, too, are never the same. We, as individuals, do not manifest even identical advancer arts the same. A most elementary spell, a fireball, can have different paramters under a calm individual versus an aggressive user. That difference will further manifest when these two different individuals grow. It is for you to discover.¡±

    ¡°As for the previous user¡­ yes. I have met her. I never knew her on a personal level. She was a mountain-folk, or as some like to call them, the dwarves. Hunted to extinction by the dragons. I wish I could have gotten to know her. Eventually, the remnant dwarves could only survive by breeding with humans. I like to think we are part-dwarves.¡±

    ¡°She was¡­ killed by the dragons¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what happened to her,¡± sighed Master Yirn with a shake of his head. ¡°She was a famed dragonhunter in her time. But she vanished into the rivers of time, and never returned even when the dwarves were on the brink, screaming her name to the heavens. It was then that I became certain she was long gone¡­¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    A cloud in the sky temporarily blocked off the moon and the stars. After twenty heartbeats, the night breeze shifted the clouds again and Rein found himself blessed again by the silvery moonlight.

    ¡°Rein.¡± Master Yirn¡¯s voice turned serious with weight. ¡°Before you leave¡­ I need to give you a final warning. Origin abilities have weaknesses. Not in terms of combat. It¡¯s more to do with¡­ the nature and influence of said origin ability resulting from overdependence.¡±

    ¡°My origin skill¡­?¡± Rein perked up his ears, wishing to understand his own weakness.

    ¡°Your origin skill, for one, cannot directly attack another. But that is not its true weakness. It can be used to support devastating attacks. The weakness of your origin skill is its influence on you. Will you dive into unknown dangers, believing you could easily escape every single time? Will you run from your troubles, believing the skill could take you to a safe and new location every single time?¡±

    ¡°The previous user¡­ she vanished without a word. It is my belief that at a critical juncture¡­ she chose escape and found herself never able to return. There are some things that you cannot run from, Rein. Don¡¯t be led astray by the strength of your origin skill. Don¡¯t let it infect your mind.¡±

    ¡°How about half-senior Chenhr¡¯s origin ability?¡± Rein¡¯s curiosity was piqued. Perhaps if he understood more on these types of weaknesses, he would be able to overcome an enemy with an origin ability in the future.

    ¡°Chenhr¡¯s origin ability gathers and stores aurae to an extreme extent, thus depriving the body of transformation from the aurae. This is why Chenhr is still stuck as an inner advancer.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s more than that. Whenever Chenhr uses his origin skill in combat, the origin ability will need to regain that lost aurae, further delaying his advancement. Imagine entering combat, knowing that if you were to use your origin ability, your advancement would suffer. Combined with the decreased rate due to your aurae being absorbed by the origin skill¡­¡±

    ¡°I, too, knew the previous user of Chenhr¡¯s origin ability. He died in combat-- at a critical juncture, he opted not to use his origin ability, in fear of jeopardizing his own advancement. The nature of the origin skill had infected his mind with poor judgment.¡± Master Yirn sounded melancholic to Rein¡¯s ears. Perhaps Master Yirn had much closer ties to this other previous user.

    That was only for a moment, though. Master Yirn dispelled the mood in but a few heartbeats and stood onto his feet.

    ¡°Have your last supper with Chenhr¡¯s family.¡± He ordered as his image melded into the shadows.

    Rein took a deep breath, then exhaled, relieved to have finally spoken to Master Yirn at an extended length. As for a meal with Chenhr? He would have to suffer through it. Although he was thankful for Chenhr¡¯s teachings, he would never admit it openly. Chenhr had thrown one-too-many verbal jabs at him.

    Anyhow, Rein had long known the location of Chenhr¡¯s abode, but he had never been there. Chenhr naturally never invited him nor communicated any personal matters. Hence, he was extremely surprised when he was welcomed into Chenhr¡¯s hut by a woman that looked to be in her twenties, and a five year old child.

    ¡°I¡¯m Xeelsi, Chenhr¡¯s wife.¡± Her wide smile made Rein feel at home.

    The young boy had no fear or hesitation, raising his arms and demanding, ¡°New uncle! play!¡± Even though this was his first time meeting Rein.

    Chenhr¡¯s shadow appeared in the background, and his face was inscrutable to Rein.

    Chenhr was probably being forced to entertain him by Master Yirn¡­ Rein himself knew very well that Chenhr would never voluntarily invite him, ¡®a dangerous element¡¯, to his home.

    ¡°Have you met the other uncle and auntie? They haven¡¯t visited in a long time!¡± The young boy seemed rather sorrowful about this.

    With a shake of the head, Rein frowned at this boy¡¯s question. He had never met these other half-disciples of his.

    But he gleaned some information. This boy is only five or six years old. That can only mean that a few of the first, second, or fourth to seventh disciples were still around within the last three to four years¡­

    He glanced at Chenhr inquisitively, but Chenhr remained silent and unreadable. Chenhr had clearly avoided informing his son of the other disciples¡¯ exits, and Rein had only developed the vaguest of guesses regarding one-- probably, one of them had become devilish in nature in their desire to rise in the advancer world.

    The inside of Chenhr¡¯s home was minimalistic. That was to be expected in this hidden village. Mudbrick walls, combined with straws in targeted areas, and of course, inscriptions to strengthen the material.

    They sat around a table over dinner, an awkward silence in the air. This was quickly broken by the young boy¡¯s incessant questions.

    ¡°Uncle, where do you come from?¡± Rein did not wish to answer, thus he remained silent. The young boy continued unperturbed.

    ¡°Will you visit more often? There aren¡¯t many others I get to play with here!¡±

    The young boy held up a wooden block that had mechanisms and fake inscriptions across the surface. No doubt, if one matched the inscriptions, the block would probably get ¡®unlocked¡¯.

    He was rather endearing, his curiosity not unlike Jein in Rein¡¯s memory.

    As Rein brought the warm chicken and bone broth to his lips, he suddenly felt tearful, and his chest and throat quenched up, though he was unable to fully acknowledge his own heart. A tear rolled down his left cheek.

    ¡°Why are you crying, uncle? I do love mom¡¯s cooking!¡±

    ¡°Now, now, sit still and put down your toy, Dusen. Stop with the questions. Everyone can sometimes feel lonely!¡± Xeelsi had a warm smile as she rescued Rein from his predicament.

    Yes, he really was more or less alone¡­ Everything he had-- gone. Rein reigned in his emotions at this juncture, feeling rather embarrassed at his own loss of control.

    Dusen nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m lonely here too! At least I have a new uncle!¡± His smile was wide as he said this.

    ¡°Listen to your mom and finish your meal,¡± Chenhr monotonously interjected. ¡°Your new uncle will be busy and won¡¯t be able to come again for a long while.¡±

    Yes¡­ the mission to the Hall of Heroes in the Green Trout City.

    Rein spent a short time messing around with the wooden block toy under Dusen¡¯s gaze. The young boy had clearly spent too much time with this block, knowing exactly when Rein twisted a mechanism in the wrong order. Rein naturally cheated by observing Dusen¡¯s all-too-obvious expressions that hinted at the right twist of each mechanism.

    However, Dusen was soon dragged off to bed by Xeelsi, who left Rein and Chenhr with a kind smile.

    Chenhr then forced out a torrent of his signature yellow aurae onto the wooden floorboards, which lit up the inscription pattern lining the whole room, causing the windows and doors to snap close to completely insulate the half-disciples.

    Rein himself felt rather nervous, but not due to the mission at hand. Rather, it was that this whole time, Chenhr had yet to throw any barbs at Rein. It felt incredibly unnatural.

    ¡°Here.¡± Chenhr threw a thin booklet onto the table. The booklet had the phrase ¡®Aurae Blast¡¯ written in the language of inscription on the front cover.

    As Rein skimmed through it, he noticed that this was similar to the skill the Chenhr had used so many times. The skill was meant for an inner-to-shell stage advancer, but should certainly remain useful for an outer advancer as well. It taught one how to gather the aurae in one¡¯s body, before guiding and forcing the aurae outwards in a specific method through the channels within the body.

    The only downside to it was that it could only be used once before the user completely ran out of their own aurae, at least for an inner advancer. The only difference between this skill and Chenhr¡¯s was that Chenhr had the ability to do this endlessly thanks to the nature of his origin skill.

    ¡°Now. This is just a skill useful if you are at the end of your ropes. This unique skill could be the difference between surviving an errant magical skill from some powerful advancer and death.¡±

    He proceeded to inform Rein about his investigations.

    ¡°Now. Do not worry about your little secret origin skill. As I have mentioned before, that devil corpse advancer¡¯s mind was shattered when I used that aurae ¡®needle¡¯ on him. And as usual it falls to me to do the explanations for the Master.¡±

    Chenhr picked up a liquor pot, gave it a swill before pouring a clear liquid into two porcelain bowls. He gestured at Rein to take a sip, but well¡­ Rein felt completely befuddled by Chenhr¡¯s offer.

    He did not expect Chenhr to initiate such a moment. As Rein had grown up in a merchant family, he was somewhat aware of the meaning of sharing liquor-- more often than not, it was a sign of letting down your guard to build a sort of ¡®companionship¡¯, odd as that may sound particularly since merchants'' deals were made obviously, for profit.

    He even half-thought that Chenhr wanted to commemorate his death in the upcoming mission with a farewell drink.

    ¡°Drink!¡± demanded the normally cold and critical middle-aged man. ¡°Sometimes, we do need to release our sorrows!¡±

    Rein acquiesced. A sip was enough to burn his throat, yet with it came a heat that warmed his heart.

    ¡°Truly a unique copy of mortal alcohol,¡± mused Chenhr. ¡°For ages, advancers could not get drunk due to their inherent resilience against weak poisons. Though, soon enough, the advancer world discovered a method to create a similar effect for advancers as well.¡±

    He tilted his head backward, swallowing the entire volume of the white liquor in from the porcelain bowl.

    ¡°Now, onto the main objective, half-junior. You see¡­ we have been investigating the undercurrents in this nation for a short period of time since our arrival in this realm. Let me cut to the chase. We¡¯ve discovered that the current head of the ruling clan--the Dingien-- that leads the Minhr Nation is on his deathbed.¡±

    ¡°And as is typical, similar to the Houses format of the mortal realm, in the advancer world, these clans occasionally have conflict over inheritance.¡±

    ¡°You probably have realized by now, that due to the fact that this is the ruling clan in Minhr, many different factions and other lesser clans seek to put their weight behind one of the scions within the clan, for their own benefit.¡±

    At this point, Chenhr leaned forward as to punctuate his next words.

    ¡°That, my dear half-junior, is precisely the issue, and the source of your hometown¡¯s demise. One of the scions had no doubt in some form or fashion, sought help from the devil sects hiding within the empty wild expanse to the west of the Evergreen Mountains.¡±

 Ch30: Target Acquired

    Chenhr shook his head as he released an exasperated sigh, expressing his disappointment at the situation.

    ¡°And so history repeats itself. Let me remind you that this conflict will remain long unresolved. Advancers have long lives-- a hundred plus years is nothing but a short period of conflict to us.¡±

    Upon hearing the likely cause of his family and hometown¡¯s demise, Rein could not help but take a chug of the white liquor before demanding a refill, bitterly mocking himself inside. In the end, his suffering was just a side effect of conflict between higher powers.

    To his own surprise, he was unruffled by this knowledge. Rein did not know exactly why, but after letting out tears earlier on in the evening, now he felt in himself an unyielding resolve.

    Perhaps, it was the fact that he had found a target. Or during the past half a year, Master Yirn or Chenhr had placed a seed of sorts inside of him.

    His mind was already slowly adapting to the nature of the advancer world. It did not matter whether he might have to wait ten, twenty, fifty, or even hundreds of years. One single chance, and his targets will come to know of him-- in death!

    He gulped down another bowl of white liquor as his worldview shifted-- yes, to an advancer that could live for five hundred or even a thousand years, there is no need to be overly desperate!

    Chenhr¡¯s explanation also reminded Rein of his mission. He was to join the Hall of Heroes, an independent organization. This would give him the freedom to snoop on both the Dingien clan and the devil sects to the west.

    Yet he still had one question:

    ¡°Why do you and Master seek to interfere?¡± Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether their goals were truly aligned.

    Chenhr raised an eyebrow at the question and offered a minimal explanation. ¡°We simply travel the myriad of realms, keeping an eye on hegemonies and rescuing a few poor souls here and there . Rest assured, Master Yirn has always stated that no mission will ever be thoroughly completed if one¡¯s heart is not of one¡¯s own volition.¡±

    ¡°I, however, will tell you this much: There will always be those who seek to take advantage of chaos. And you, half-junior, simply need to alter the situation slightly. To give the equation a new variable and give the outcome,¡± Chenhr rotated his wrist as if loosening a cork of a liquor bottle, ¡°...a little twist. That will be enough, Master Yirn hopes, to create a different outcome!¡±

    How cryptic. But Rein was at least somewhat assured. He had thought that Chenhr would identify Master Yirn¡¯s enemies. Yet, if these ¡®forces¡¯ were explicitly pointed out to Rein, it was entirely possible that Rein would give them one glance too many, thereby warning these ¡®forces¡¯ of himself.

    As of now, he is but an ant in the advancer world. Thus, he would not attract much attention provided he didn¡¯t start sticking his nose into the wrong places in too pointedly a fashion. It was best for him to remain oblivious.

    It was unlikely that a group would instantly attack an ant associated with the Hall of Heroes, that accidentally wandered in, provided that the ant had yet to learn of anything truly dangerous. However, if there were any signs that the action was premeditated and not accidental, one would surely not be let off.

    Rein understood this concept, thus he did not pursue his curiosity of these ¡®forces¡¯.

    ¡°Hah, Master Yirn even allowed the other traitorous disciples to leave with their bodies intact!¡± Chenhr further assured Rein, though he seemed rather miffed about the master¡¯s actions.

    Rein could see that if he truly wanted to leave and pursue goals not aligned with that of Master Yirn¡¯s, he would not necessarily be stopped.

    ¡°Remember Xeeran, the man whose skull you nearly cracked? He¡¯s already within the city-- he will find you occasionally. You, on the other hand, only need to focus on being a good boy in the Hall of Heroes.¡±

    ¡°Now,¡± Chenhr continued. ¡°Let us discuss the outer advancer that I¡¯ve already thrown into the grave. What do you think of his strength?¡±

    Rein did not want to sound overconfident, thus he hesitated before expressing his honest impression of the corpse-man. ¡°He was¡­ he seemed pretty weak. Well. For an outer advancer.¡±

    ¡°Definitely a weak outer advancer,¡± nodded Chenhr in agreement. ¡°His skillset was narrow. His aurae hands lacked aurae density. Frankly, even his aurae skin lacked compactness. His only outer-body magical skill was raising the dead, yet the wights lacked coordination, though he was certainly somewhat disrupted by the bombs you threw half-haphazardly. Would have been even easier if your pathetic mind knew how to throw and combine those aurae bombs¡¯ effects properly.¡±

    ¡°As for why he was weak? I hope you recognize that this is a result of using psychedelics to break through to the higher advancer realms. It was obvious that the corpse-man had yet to comprehend and master proper use of his own aurae. He must have used psychedelics to fool his mind and body to enter a higher state on foundations of sand.¡±

    ¡°Truly competent outer advancers would have been able to at least match my aurae density, and thereby cause a problem for our mission. Then again, such a highly-rated advancer wouldn¡¯t be sent to guard a merchant pretender.¡±

    Rein, in all honesty, wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to think. He had assumed that the corpse-man to be weak, simply because they had defeated him. He would need to see a proper outer advancer in action to really gauge the difference.

    ¡°As for your use of your origin skill? Slightly early-- but at least you used it as a ¡®surprise¡¯ successfully. If you had panicked and teleported earlier in combat, we would not have so easily baited then incapacitated the devil with the formation magic.¡±

    Chenhr¡¯s next action opened Rein¡¯s eyes wide and his lips open like a starving goldfish. This half-senior placed a vial of gray liquid onto the dinner table.

    ¡°The corpse-man¡¯s heartblood concoction¡­?¡± Rein shook his head, having no interest in controlling corpses.

    ¡°You must have a misunderstanding of heartblood.¡± Chenhr rolled his eyes as his half-junior¡¯s continued half-understandings of the advancer world. ¡°It is the comprehension of the nature of the world that gets etched into the heartblood. Though weak for an outer advancer, the corpse-man had a tough physical body and certain understandings of controlling multiple objects at the same time. You should be overjoyed. You¡¯ll gain a tiny fraction of the corpse-man¡¯s understanding.¡±

    ¡°Then the children that the devils use for mutating heartblood¡­¡±

    ¡°Rein. Children are full of potential because their minds have yet to be trapped by the underpinnings of the world around them. A child occasionally can make some¡­ leap or connection using the comprehension within the heartblood injected in. That new understanding is what the devils harvest.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Rein replied. His single-word acknowledgement made Chenhr¡¯s scratch his scalp in frustration. Chenhr found himself unable to tell if this half-junior of his actually understood or not.

    Little did Chenhr know that Rein actually had begun intentionally giving him single syllable replies over the past few months to frustrate him. It was Rein¡¯s way of getting back at him for his verbal jabs.

    Chenhr watched Rein consume that gray liquid before issuing a final warning, one which he had repeatedly drilled into Rein¡¯s head over the last six months. ¡°Remember not to overly rely on your origin skill. Remember the existence of those mad origin skill organizations. Otherwise you¡¯ll end up glued to Master Yirn¡¯s side. Just a bird in a gilded cage.¡±

    Rein got back on his feet and moved towards the front door of the house. He could already feel that he would be able to progress the draconic tempering arts at a quicker pace.

    Anyhow, It would be a long time before he would come face-to-face with Chenhr again. He was to leave at sunrise the next day.

    It was now that he realized he no longer needed to silently take Chenhr¡¯s occasional verbal insults silently. Chenhr was no longer his teacher and Rein no longer needed to fear any form of reprisal even if he were to retaliate!

    ¡°Half-senior,¡± he spoke as his feet came to a halt right at the doorway. ¡°I hope your son does not grow up to be like you. Abandoned by your fellow disciples. Hiding in a hole in the mountains like a cornered rat.¡±

    It was Chenhr¡¯s turn to be a goldfish. This was the first time Rein had ever even suggestively poked him with a sharp knife.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    He suddenly began laughing uproariously like a madman.

    ¡°Yes! Our paths diverge. I am a hunter of those traitorous fellow disciples!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°And you. Rein. You are a half-disciple because you walk a whole different path! A fool¡¯s lonely path! I finally understand why Master Yirn made you a half-disciple!¡±

    Rein was incredulous. What sort of¡­ line of thought had Chenhr entered to spout such words? The man must have gone mad from Rein¡¯s first set of verbal jabs. But, at the very least, he certainly understood from the start that as a half-disciple, he would not be in the confidence of Master Yirn or remain close to him, if at all.

    As Rein left Chenhr¡¯s abode with the ¡®aura blast¡¯ booklet in his hands. Dusen, who was supposed to be in bed, was waving through one of the gaps in a window.

    His thoughts returned to the images of those deathly children whose consciousness had been robbed by the devil advancer.

    Yes. All he needed to do was to enter the Hall of Heroes, and hunt the devils out west and dig into the secrets of this Dingien Clan! Otherwise, nothing will change, no matter how much he dwelled on images of those long lost.

    ________________________________________________________

    Chenhr sat in front of an ancient wooden desk, the room illuminated by a glowing metallic orb placed in a cavity at the top of a metallic pillar.

    He opened his thick and heavy book bound with thick string, to an empty page. With a magical brush in hand, he proceeded to write. There was no need for the brush to be dipped in any ink; the brush itself generated the jet-black ink.

    ¡®Year 1402, Dingien Era of the Minhr Nation, Fusion Realm¡¯

    ¡®We had finally made headway into the elements of chaos in the nation. We had found a seed to plant within that chaos-- my junior half-disciple.¡¯

    ¡®I fear for him-- he has a beastkin element in him, the first case of a beastkin element not devouring the human body... For now at least.¡¯

    ¡®I still remember my sister disciple who couldn¡¯t resist the urges that came along with beastkin magical arts.¡¯

    ¡®I have been unable to advance to the shell realm for many years. I have long wondered why, but¡­ it must be fear. Master¡¯s other disciples. My disappointing senior and junior fellow disciples. They all eventually abandoned the Master''s teachings and sought to rise into the shell realm through whatever means possible.¡¯

    ¡®They all became odd. Like they had lost part of their humanity. I cannot lose mine. I have never felt much positivity towards Rein¡­ but what exactly do I dislike about him? The more I thought of it the more I noticed¡­ it was my own fear of what he could become.¡¯

    ¡®But I saw Rein¡¯s unbridled rage today. I knew that was humanity.¡¯

    Chenhr stopped writing as he looked upwards at a beam supporting the roof. Ever since the other disciples had left one-by-one, he had started writing his thoughts down into this diary. He found it an effective way of organizing his thoughts and reflecting on his own dilemma of being stuck in the inner realm as a result of his origin ability.

    _______________________________________________________________

    The austere white lady that had interrogated Rein at the east gate of the Green Trout City was examining the section of the forest that had been more or less wiped out by the corpse-man¡¯s corrosive aurae hands.

    This is Baejenh, the representative sent by the Fusion Sect that governs the Fusion Realm.

    Naturally, Master Yirn¡¯s bandits had long burnt anything that would give any clues as to what had happened here. All that this white-robed lady could sense was that the area had an aura of death and decay.

    ¡°Devils?¡± She muttered to herself. She raised her arms and clapped her hands together in a last effort to draw some reaction from the environment.

    When the two palms connected, a silvery aurae sphere expanded outwards accompanied by a shrill. As the surface of this sphere passed through the tree stumps and the remaining trees, for a single heartbeat, the branches seemed to freeze, as if slowing down to give time for the austere-looking white robed woman to observe all details.

    The silver aurae sphere slowly faded as it expanded farther and farther outwards, disappearing into nothingness.

    The lady frowned with frustration, before leaving through the sky, each step accompanied by an explosive gust of wind that could be heard kilofeets away.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    When Rein left the hidden village in the Bleak Mountains at sunrise, he was surprised to find Chenhr waiting to bid him farewell. Oddly, Chenhr once again seemed slightly more mellow compared to his usual self. The half-senior even gave some advice on when to use that ¡®aurae blast¡¯ skill-- which of course, can only be used in dire situations as the skill would completely deplete an inner realm advancer such as Rein.

    As for the beastkin cores that Rein had relied on to quickly advance to the high inner realm in a quick six months? He could only bring a small pouch of the low quality ones with him. Too many or high quality, and people would become suspicious of Rein.

    There was also the possibility that Rein would be attacked-- although humans dared not consume the cores, there were many methods to turn the core into a consumable, though the process was difficult and would lead to a loss of a majority of the aurae within the core itself.

    All of this meant that Rein would have to procure more through the Hall of Heroes or hunting beastkin, while keeping his consumption of these cores a secret.

    Unlike the previous time, Rein now entered the Green Trout City through the west gate, which opened to the scenery of the Green Gilded River.

    The two city gates on either side looked identical save for one feature: The west gate had a canal that allowed boats to travel in and out of the city through to the river.

    The walls were made from creamy yellow limestone blocks covered with inscriptions. Well, it looked like limestone blocks, but it was hard for Rein to be sure of that, given that the advancer world had unique materials.

    This wall, as tall as a small mountain, wrapped around the huge city, and Rein could not even see how far it reached now that he was in front of it. Every kilofoot or so, a robust tower sentried by a number of guards would rise dominatingly into the clouds.

    These were not just simple towers-- With his understanding, Rein knew that the significantly more dense and intricate inscriptions on the towers was for one goal-- the towers would launch offensive magics at any invader, while contributing to the defense system of the city as a whole.

    His observation was interrupted by a string of junk rigs with battened sails gliding out through the canals into the Green Gilded River. The yells of fishermen coordinating themselves in preparation for their job broke the tranquility of the early morning.

    It was also at this time that the huge and heavy crimson doors covered with golden knobs, the west gate of this city, creaked open. Two burly men strenuously pushed against the doors until they were wide open, followed by soldiers that positioned themselves either side of the arch opening, ready to screen any travelers.

    Rein felt rather concerned about Baejenh, the supposed icy cold austere representative of the realm-ruler Fusion Sect in this city. They did not have the most cordial of meetings the last time. He had pointed this issue out to Chenhr, but Chenhr appeared unperturbed and had replied that, ¡°It¡¯ll just be fine.¡±

    Rein did not feel that it would be ¡®just fine¡¯, in any shape or form. That elder was already suspicious of him previously. As he spun his head around, there was no shadow of that lady standing at the entrance of the west gate.

    He lowered the soak staff from his right shoulder, allowing his sack to slide down into his arms such that he could take out his papers-- his real identification, as there was no issue with his original identity-- handing them over to one of the heavy-lidded metal-scaled guards.

    The guard shook himself awake, skimming Rein¡¯s identification papers before glancing up and down Rein¡¯s body, no doubt determining if the young man before him was on a wanted list.

    ¡°Purpose?¡±

    ¡°I wish to enter the Hall of Heroes. As you know, I¡¯m from the Golden Desert Town. Surely, you have heard of the incident there and understand my desire to hunt down the devils!¡±

    Rein showed significantly more enthusiasm than his usual self. Although he was no longer a merchant, he had retained the ability to control his expressions and demeanor well. He had been trained to do so in the face of stress-inducing business deal-making. Probably not comparable to stage performers, but good enough to fool most that would come across him.

    Naturally, the fact that he truly wished to identify the group of devils that had participated in the Golden Desert Town massacre made this all the easier. It was just that¡­ he also wished to use the Hall of Heroes to investigate some of the Dingien Clan and its associates¡¯ movements prior to the massacre.

    This soldier scrutinized Rein as if he was searching for a mole attempting to dig up hidden secrets. A few heartbeats later and the soldier waved Rein through without another word.

    Rein breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, only to curse shortly after. There, observing the inner west gate from a porch, sat that icy austere white-robed lady from the Fusion Sect.

    The building was right behind the inner gate, and the porch, on the second floor of a stone house, offered a clear view of all who entered through the west gate.

    The white-robed lady took a sip of her morning tea, and she simply raised an eyebrow at the sight of Rein. Yet her current inaction only made Rein more nervous.

    By all rights, she should have immediately accosted him¡­ Rein turned his head left and right as he casually walked away, presenting himself as a country bumpkin new to the city, drawn by every single sight. To him, this seemed the most ¡®normal¡¯ behavior.

    He turned to a shop owner for directions to an inn-- he needed a few days to rest before the entrance assessment into the Hall of Heroes.

    The Hall of Heroes had quarterly entrance assessment. The impending one at the start of summer was the primary reason why Rein was hurried to the Green Trout City with such haste by Master Yirn. It would occur in a short few days.

    A typical inn appeared in Rein¡¯s sight after he made a multitude of turns down streets and alleyways. It was rather out-of-place for a traveler to request a room in the morning, but Rein wanted a place to store his items. Of course, he would carry valuables on his own body to avoid potential theft.

    He handed over a limpite coin from his coinsack to the innkeeper. This was a round and flat grayish coin with a finger-sized hole in the middle. The common denominator of advancer currency, given to Rein from Chenhr for use.

    This made the innkeeper somewhat wide-eyed. The innkeeper--a mortal-- did not come across this valuable coin often.

    Rein ignored this look, and indifferently hurried to his room-- he would quite like to get some pan-fried meat pies from that street store close to this inn. It had been a long time since he¡¯d had anything tasty¡­ thanks to Chenhr shoving shattered beastkin cores down his throat.

    As he turned the knob and pushed open the door to his room, he became petrified at the sight of a figure facing the now open doorway.

    It was none other than that white-robed lady, Baejenh!

 Ch31: No Choice

    Somehow, her table, chair, and tea set had followed her all the way from that porch to this inn room.

    She took a sip of her tea before gesturing to Rein at the opposite chair. ¡°Sit.¡±

    Rein hesitated for a moment, and eventually complied. The white-robed lady¡¯s tone was amiable and not domineering in any way, but Rein knew that he had no choice but to do so in his current situation.

    Baejenh clapped her hands together, and a silvery sphere expanded to surround Rein and the lady within, completely isolating any sound from outside.

    ¡°So. You went to the Bleak Mountains, and six months later, here you are¡­ and the demonic aura around you, gone.¡± Her icy matter-of-fact tone made it rather difficult for Rein to discern the woman¡¯s stance.

    However, Rein offered an easy explanation. The Bleak Mountains was, after all, a place that advancers had previously tried to explore, only to find their energies extinguished should they enter too deeply. Thus, why couldn¡¯t the demonic aura be removed? He was not given the chance to respond.

    ¡°And,¡± she continued. ¡°The Bleak Mountains would supposedly clean up the residual demonic aura left on your body¡­ that would be your excuse. Very well. I will let this go on two conditions.¡±

    The source of the demonic aura was Rein¡¯s bodily transformation from the draconic metamorphose bead. It was only thanks to Master Yirn¡¯s magical necklace that this aura could no longer be sensed.

    ¡°First, take a drink of this tea. Oh please, it isn¡¯t poisoned¡­ I wouldn¡¯t need to use poison to deal with you if I wished to.¡±

    Once again, Rein complied, and the sweet savory taste of the tea lingered in his throat. That was not all-- it had an additional effect of causing Rein¡¯s aurae to pulsate with warmth. If he did not drink the tea, Baejenh might have taken that as a rejection of her conditions.

    ¡°Now, my name is Baejenh. With that, we''ve established a peaceful cooperation between us. The second condition should be simple for you. You are entering the Hall of Heroes, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am from the Golden Desert Town, and as you--¡±

    ¡°Your explanation is unnecessary.¡± Baejenh had no desire to listen to bullshit. ¡°The deal is straightforward. I wish to know of any out-of-place events in the Hall of Heroes. You surely are aware that the Hall of Heroes are extrajudicial in nature. Not closely monitored by this nation, and not even us, the Fusion Sect.¡±

    She narrowed her eyes threateningly, and her silvery aurae dome around the two lowered the temperature until Rein could feel himself shivering in the cold. ¡°All you need to do is feed me some of the information. Simple, is it not?¡±

    Rein knew that this was no negotiation. Hanging in the air was the unsaid threat.

    Thus, Rein nodded in agreement, once again fulfilling the lady¡¯s demands. He could only comfort himself in his heart that providing the lady with some record of daily events in the Hall of Heroes-- if he successfully enters the organization, did not interfere with his goals.

    ¡°Now, I can¡¯t have the Hall of Heroes knowing about our cooperation. As such, your point of contact with me will be through this store.¡± Baejenh slid a map under Rein¡¯s eyes, giving him a few heartbeats to memorize it before burning it to crisps with a snap of her fingers.

    ¡°Tell the shopkeeper that you need to speak to the bird in the cage.¡±

    She then clapped her hands together once more, and a force threw Rein backwards as he was expelled out of the silvery sphere onto the wooden floorboards.

    When he sat back up and looked around the room, he saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary. It was as if Baejenh was never here. Her figure along with her leisurely tea set-up had vanished in the blink of an eye.

    With a shrug, he threw his main travel sack into a corner and sat down onto the soft bed before scoffing. He had seen the true extent of expert illusion magics from Master Yirn. Baejenh must have used some lesser magic to trick a lowly inner advancer such as himself.

    He further comforted his own heart, remembering that Master Yirn and Chenhr had expressed no concern when he described his first encounter with Baejenh.

    He organized his belongings for the few days he would be using this room at the inn, and soon enough, he found himself out exploring the city with a paper bag of pan-fried meat pies in his hand.

    Originally, he didn¡¯t plan on getting this many, but he had to, after having to face that intimidating Baejenh that was supposedly an elder of the Fusion Sect-- the Sect that held the heart of this very realm!

    With his belly full, Rein¡¯s mind compiled all the information he had-- this was something that Chenhr made him perform during his accelerated training. That half-senior of his called this laying out the ingredients and stirring the pot.

    First, there was the Hall of Heroes, who frankly operated through many different methods in order to combat devils and demons. In the Zoh Empire, the Hall of Heroes was essentially a supporter behind the seven ruling sects. Not so in the Minhr Nation.

    The Minhr nation¡¯s ruling clans had exiled ¡®problematic¡¯ elements to the western wilderness centuries ago, only to find out later that these exiles had built sects that quite literally protected the western flank of the Minhr nation.

    These sects became incredibly powerful in the Evergreen Mountains, and they enforced a clear, positively tyrannical policy of no-clan influence within their ranks. Every single sect leader and elder needed to have a history of non-cooperation with the clans of the Minhr nation.

    The clans obviously do not trust these exiles, who should by all rights hold a grudge against the nation. Certainly not when these powerful sects formed by ancient exiles could one day simply open the floodgates and allow the demons and devils in the western wilderness to attack the Minhr nation.

    This was why the Hall of Heroes positioned themselves in the Green Trout City. Their ranks were made of Minhr¡¯s clan members and the advancers rejected by the great sects of the Evergreen Mountains. The agreement was that they would serve as a bulwark against the west.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    After all, most advancers of any talent would prefer joining the independent sects out west. The alternative to this first attractive choice was to be loyal to a clan or join a sect within the nation that was more or less controlled by a clan. Point being, any who wished to climb to the top would find themselves blocked by members of influential clans within the Minhr nation.

    Thus, the Hall of Heroes in Green Trout City consisted of nobles, rejects and desperate fools. The rules it adopted also primarily sought to make use of this pot of discordant elements in an attempt to reach whatever desired outcome of the organization.

    Rein turned his mind to Baejenh. With his knowledge of the Fusion Sect, which treated this realm as a recruitment center for some higher power, as of right now, his best guess was that Baejenh wished to keep an eye on the Hall of Heroes such that the Fusion Sect could control the degree of any potential future conflict.

    Talents needed conflict to develop, but too much of it and a talent might get his or her flame snuffed out before the flower bloomed.

    It had to be noted that the Hall of Heroes had power bases in multiple realms, and was not an organization that the Fusion Sect could suppress. Rein figured that him being an unknown and lone figure made him an attractive piece for Baejenh to plant in the Hall of Heroes.

    His line of thought further settled Rein¡¯s heart regarding Baejenh¡¯s forceful conditions.

    ¡°Rein! So you did come to the city after all!¡± Out of nowhere, a hand clamped down on Rein¡¯s shoulder. He turned around in surprise, finding himself face-to-face with¡­ a face he wasn¡¯t sure he knew.

    ¡°It¡¯s Chirh! Damn it!¡± The young man appeared frustrated at the confused Rein.

    A look of realization dawned on Rein. This was the young man slightly older than himself that he had met when he traveled past the east gate of the Green Trout City six months ago!

    ¡°Forgive me, Chirh,¡± Rein immediately apologized. Yet, the fault did not entirely lay with him. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­you seem a bit skinnier and,¡± his eyes scanned across Chirh¡¯s face and clothing, which was covered with dashes of dirt. ¡°You just don¡¯t seem like the same guy I met.¡±

    During their first encounter, Chirh had looked to be a disciplined martial artist, robust and looking neat in a leather armor covered by a clean red cloak.

    For a blink of the eye, a sort of despondence flashed across Chirh¡¯s face, but it lasted no longer than a moment.

    ¡°Geez, this is quite natural. I¡¯ve had to join many missions issued by the Hall of Heroes. Some of them were life-threatening, you know? I¡¯ve just recently returned from one, and let me tell you, it wasn¡¯t easy surviving!¡± He then had a lightbulb moment and his eyes widened. ¡°Wait¡­ are you here to join the Hall of Heroes this time? The assessment is in a few days!¡±

    Rein silently nodded to the joy of Chirh, who laughed out loud in relief. ¡°Come! Let me show you around then! We¡¯ll be brothers-in-arms soon enough!¡±

    They ambled down a few cobblestoned streets with Chirh leading the way. Chirh was more than happy to ramble about the many things he had heard and encountered while in the city to fill in the lack of talk coming out of Rein¡¯s mouth.

    Chirh clasped his hands behind his back in a proud and wise expression, happy to make use of his knowledge of the city.

    ¡°Rein, my dear brother,¡± Chirh had already started thinking of Rein as a brother-in-arms. ¡°Those aurae buns are easily purchasable from the stores owned by advancers. They are mostly positioned in the vicinity of the Hall of Heroes. It is the worst type of advancer food but the only type we, entry level advancers, can afford. It is supposedly made from a kind of unique wheat that is capable of absorbing some aurae from the ground.¡±

    Shaking his head, Chirh lamented, ¡°I had to survive on this kind of hard and crunchy bun during my missions everyday!¡±

    At least he did not have to swallow crystal sand created from crushed beastkin cores¡­ Rein obviously understood Chirh¡¯s pain, but he had to keep his agonizing consumption of beastkin cores a secret.

    Rein felt somewhat surprised at how much Chirh was spewing out. He surmised that perhaps Chirh was normally overly talkative, and had learned to hold back especially with others in order to avoid over imposing on friends and strangers. At least, that must have been why Chirh seemed restrained six months ago when they met outside the east gate.

    Rein did not mind this-- growing up in a merchant family, he had to tolerate all kinds of personalities and do business with even unsavory types that would make one¡¯s hair curl.

    Chirh continued relentlessly. He seemed to be complaining now though.

    ¡°...stupid that sects don¡¯t even consider anyone below shell advancers at our age. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s unfair? How do we, as rogue advancers, even get enough resources to develop like those that were born in a rich mortal house or established advancer clan? Or recruited at the age of ten and below by the sects? By Xune¡¯s spear¡­¡±

    Thanks to Jirn Chirh¡¯s incessant rambling, Rein began filling in the gaps of his advancer knowledge. Although he had studied much from Master Yirn¡¯s collections, much of this common knowledge wasn¡¯t obvious from books and scrolls.

    It seemed that the affinity tests conducted to find potential advancers in different towns were done to only identify the most talented ones for personal disciples for highly ranked advancers.

    As for the rest, most had to reach peak inner realm before adulthood, before sects were willing to recruit these as disciples. Rein and Chirh was past adulthood. They needed to be shell and above advancer level.

    But, Rein did not care for this. He knew he was very much a unique case, and was only interested in using the Hall of Heroes for his own purposes.

    As Rein followed Chirh through the streets towards the Hall of Heroes, the two soon reached the main path-- a wide road where over four bulky merchant caravans could travel forward side-by-side.

    Many robed advancers with different emblems holding banners had stalls on the side of the road, and they were clearly attempting to recruit advancers.

    Chirh was still complaining about the advantage of those born in advancer clans.

    ¡°...they have more meditative arts, arcane arts, body arts, movement arts, consciousness arts to learn from. The difference is heaven and hell. We rogue advancers have to try to buy some of these instead, or earn the favor of a master to take us as potential personal disciples.¡±

    Indeed. Any magic so complex and well-designed such that they could be considered an ¡®art¡¯... No one was going to hand out such unique skills without a price.

    Rein could only nod in agreement. It did sound as if those born in advancer clans had a huge advantage. Then again, it was inevitable that some are born into luckier circumstances or with lucky traits. That has always been true since time immemorial¡­

    In reflection, Rein thought of his own circumstances, which could be considered both lucky and unlucky.

    The two soon arrived in front of a grand and imposing gateway into a plaza. The gate was made of a pure white type of stone, its surface carved with images of fierce depictions of war between humans, beastkin and devil.

    At the very top of the gateway stood out one central male figure that towered above all, and in that figure¡¯s hand grasped a spear with intricate inscriptions worming and twisting around the shaft and tip. Rein even felt his vision swimming due to these mesmerizing inscriptions.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at the spear! And that¡¯s the progenitor of heroes.¡± Chirh informed Rein when he noticed Rein¡¯s gaze lingering on that stone carving on the top of the gate. ¡°The first hero. Supposedly the creator of inscriptions, and the one who created the Hall of Heroes. Xune and his ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯!¡±

    The two strode through the huge archway below that awe-inspiring stone carving on top of the stone-gate.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Chirh! Did you bring us a new friend?¡± Chirh, who was slightly in front of Rein, was suddenly grabbed by a well-dressed youth with slick, combed-backwards hair.

    The youth looked at the somewhat travel-worn Rein. ¡°I am a scion of House Larne. Soon, we will rise above mortals and become an advancer clan-- the Larne Clan! Naturally, if you join us and pay a small fee, you will be part of our rising group!¡±

 Ch32: Not My Fault

    Chirh hunched over into a small pitiful ball, his shoulders wrapped around by the arm of this youth of House Larne. Rein was starting to get a pretty clear idea of why Chirh looked somewhat wretched compared to his original self. He had thought that perhaps the Hall of Heroes did not reward its members well enough, but the current events would suggest that possibility to not be the primary source of Chirh¡¯s hardship.

    Rein did not wish to attract unnecessary attention. Although he felt conflicted, he knew he would not give Chirh any type of assistance. He could not afford unneeded attention. He needed the freedom to delve into the inner workings of the devils out west and the Dingien Clan. The best way to do that would be to cozy up to key figures, especially some of the nobles that might have influence over the Hall of Heroes branch in the Green Trout City.

    He could not afford the extra trouble, or to create any enemies this early! He hadn¡¯t even entered the Hall of Heroes yet!

    As for joining this supposedly rising Larne Clan? He considered his options. There were quite a number of issues if he were to join. He certainly had nothing to his name and would not be able to pay the said ¡®small fee¡¯.

    Also, if he were to join, he would be but a lackey and limited with regards to his investigations. He quickly scanned the Larne youth. The youth from a seemingly well-off clan won¡¯t pursue dangerous missions, and if he had to follow him around as one of his lackeys, he would be unable to undertake the more dangerous missions in order to discover the truth¡­

    Thus, Rein concluded that his best play was to reject this offer without incurring too much of this Larne youth¡¯s wrath, and perhaps some time in the future, find a way to drag Chirh out of his predicament-- with a bit of situational luck, that was not impossible. It was very much a balancing act-- he needed an amicable relationship with said nobles without necessarily being at their beck and call.

    He picked his words carefully. ¡°Forgive me, scion of the Larne Clan.¡± He specifically chose to use ¡®Clan¡¯ instead of ¡®House¡¯ to appeal to this youth¡¯s desire for his family to be regarded as an advancer lineage. House Larne had yet to be recognized as an advancer clan.

    ¡°Frankly, I do intend to join the Hall of Heroes, but am extremely inexperienced. Just the other day, I attempted to catch a rabbit, yet I stepped on a branch and the rabbit became startled and darted away!¡±

    He gave the Larne youth a deep bow, perhaps a little too exaggeratedly. ¡°It would truly be a black mark on your record if I did the same thing and caused you a mission failure!¡±

    At the same time, he begged in his heart that this Larne youth would leave things be, so everyone could go their merry way, at least for now!

    A small crowd had now gathered around. Many were here to watch a show. Perhaps they were used to watching this Larne youth starting drama. All this served to heighten Rein¡¯s premonition that he would not be able to avoid drawing attention to himself.

    This Larne youth snorted at Rein¡¯s words, before snatching the Soak Staff that Rein had been carrying with him. Rein¡¯s travel sack was luckily in his rented inn room, and safe from this youth¡¯s hands at least.

    ¡°Just a small prize you know? Chirh has been most unhelpful. Let¡¯s test your poor weapon out¡­ perhaps it would give me a good surprise!¡±

    Twelve hells¡­ Rein swore in his heart, and before he could utter a warning, the Larne youth in front of him actually attempted to activate the Soak Staff. Even the biggest idiots would never recklessly do such a thing! It was rather common for advancer weapons to have some sort of spell to prevent others from controlling their weapon in combat.

    In response, a crimson red inscription activated across the surface of the Soak Staff-- it was none other than the blood inscription that Rein had seen Master Yirn combine with the physical form of the Soak Staff!

    ¡°Hah! To think you can even afford a measly protective spell!¡± The arrogant Larne youth stated, and he focused on forcing the Soak Staff to obey, only to find the blood inscription aglow with an even brighter crimson blaze.

    The Larne youth screamed in despair as his whole right arm became charred in the blink of an eye, and he barely managed to drop the Soak Staff onto the ground in time, preventing his arm from being burnt right off his shoulder.

    Chirh appeared absolutely euphoric at the unfolding events. Rein, on the other hand, could only cover his face with his hand as he continued to swear in his heart.

    How had this occurred? Rein was absolutely befuddled. He had interacted with nobles when he was a merchant-- many had come to buy Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s weapons. None of them had behaved this way!

    Then, he pondered. Perhaps those nobles had simply behaved themselves because they desired the goods House Hehr had on offer. Perhaps some nobles always behaved like this, and he was but blinded due to House Hehr¡¯s unique circumstances back then.

    He had wanted to enter the Hall of Heroes unknown and unrecognized, but unfortunately for him, he discovered that some scions just love walking to their deathbeds while dragging others down with them!

    The wails of this Larne youth faded as his body, with a bleeding, inflamed and blackened right arm, limply dropped onto the hard stone floor of the Hall of Heroes¡¯ elliptical plaza. He had fainted from the pain of the Soak Staff¡¯s backlash.

    Inexperienced and brainless folk might think that the issue was resolved¡­ but Rein knew better. It would have been preferable if this Larne youth held a grudge rather than get his arm nearly razed off his shoulder.

    He could handle a grudge from a relatively non-influential member of an important House in this city. It was far more questionable if he could handle the impending retribution from, likely, the whole of House Larne!

    Speak of the devil...An enraged roar bounced off the pillars forming the elliptical plaza, creating an echo heard by all of the advancers passing through to their individual daily objectives here.

    The delight on Chirh¡¯s face was wiped off by the approach of a figure that had similar features to the limp Larne youth-- just a slight degree older and of a bulkier body.

    The surrounding crowd started muttering amongst themselves, and Rein easily picked up on the identity of this approaching figure-- one of the main leading scions of House Larne, Beincen, a shell advancer. This man would have been accepted by the great sects of the Evergreen Mountains if he was not dedicated to his clan! The man was accompanied by a middle-aged scholar that repeatedly whispered into his ear.

    ¡°Who dared to maim my brother in such a cruel manner?!¡± Beincen¡¯s face contorted with rage as he unsheathed a longsword, pointing it at individuals in the crowd as he pierced their souls with his gaze.

    ¡°You?! No, you¡¯re a known wimp!¡± He swept his gaze across the crowd. ¡°Whoever tells me the truth will receive an ample reward! Fifty limpite coins!¡±

    That was enough to live a few years of comfort in the mortal section of this city! The man that was called a ¡®total wimp¡¯ a moment ago immediately folded, pointing his finger right at Rein. He was rewarded with a small pouch of coins that he joyously pocketed before quickly dashing away as his gaze suspiciously darted to every individual in the crowd.

    ¡°So. It was you.¡± Beincen quickly judged from Rein¡¯s wear that this person was of no import. ¡°I expect compensation. How about I chop off one of your arms as punishment? As an important member of the Hall of Heroes¡­ justice must be fair!¡±

    Rein was at the limit of his patience. He found himself recalling the event of his now demised family¡¯s expulsion from the main merchant house. Beincen reminded him of those unjustifiable fuckers. If they hadn¡¯t been exiled to the Golden Desert Town, his parents would not have been struck by the town¡¯s calamity!

    All he wanted was to ¡®peacefully¡¯ seek revenge for the Golden Desert Town massacre. Yet he was randomly dragged into this¡­ incredibly maddening situation!

    ¡°Beincen, was it? The fault lies with your own younger brother.¡± Rein did his best to reign in his bubbling anger. ¡°Only one of a questionable mind would activate another advancer¡¯s weapon with nary a thought!¡±

    Stifled laughter echoed through the crowd as many, though worried about House Larne, couldn¡¯t resist partaking in this show. They themselves were observers of the Larne youth¡¯s idiocy.

    ¡°And? Someone must pay for my younger brother¡¯s right arm!¡± Beincen pursued his goal, his gaze attempting to identify and remember those who couldn¡¯t restrain their laughter within the crowd.

    He was of House Larne, a major contributor to the Hall of Heroes in this city. He might not be able to kill someone in broad daylight, but being tyrannical, overly brutal and heavy-handed with punishment would be tolerated!

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    An aurae shell submerged his skin as well as his longsword. Beincen was ready to act with force! Rein held tightly onto the Soak Staff that he had regained. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how he would fare against Beincen-- his advancer combat experience was mostly against his half-senior hiding in the Bleak Mountains! However, Beincen would quickly lose his chance to act. The tense situation was broken when a raucous laughter suddenly sounded through the plaza.

    ¡°Who dares to ¡­¡± Beincen, enraged, surveyed the crowd for the source of this laughter. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. The middle-aged scholar accompanying him urgently whispered into his ear.

    ¡°I am truly shocked by the Hall of Heroes.¡± A figure dressed in white robes strode towards Rein. It was none other than the underling that worked under Baejenh and had participated in questioning Rein at the east gate.

    ¡°To think one in an eminent position in the Hall of Heroes would be unable to see the truth¡­¡± The white robed man shook his head in exaggerated dismay at Beincen.

    Beincen opened his mouth to retort, but he stopped himself upon seeing another figure enter the stage.

    ¡°And you, the Fusion Sect, are acting outside your jurisdiction here.¡± A yellow-hooded old man stepped forth from the crowd to confront the white-robed man. ¡°Darhge. This is not your place.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Overseer Jeahz.¡±

    The two men glared at each other in a standoff.

    ¡°Do you truly believe that I wanted to act?¡± Darhge scoffed at Overseer Jeahz. ¡°It¡¯s just that, dear ¡®friend¡¯, I am worried that the reputation of the Hall of Heroes would be tarnished. You might even struggle to recruit if that were the case!¡±

    ¡°Look at this young man.¡± Darhge turned his attention onto Rein. ¡°A traveler, coming here to join the Hall of Heroes and put his life on the line.¡± A melodramatic sigh. ¡°Yet even before he could take your silly little assessment¡­ he would lose an arm because a key member in your organization,¡± he raised an eyebrow at Beincen, ¡°had a brainless little brother that used another advancer¡¯s weapon recklessly.¡±

    ¡°Are all of you certain that you want to join such an organization?!¡±

    Many in the crowd had doubtful looks. Many of them had indeed come to the city in hopes of gaining a bit of glory in the Hall of Heroes, hopeful of becoming a shell advancer and truly breaking into the advancer world. They had been rejected by many sects and saw the Hall of Heroes to be their last chance, despite the rather harsh conditions they would operate under as a member.

    Darhge then straightened his posture before proudly meeting the gaze of all in the surrounding crowd with a beaming smile.

    ¡°Do not listen to--¡±

    Overseer Jeahz furiously attempted to interrupt Darhge, but Darhge was no idiot. At this point of time, he intentionally used magic to augment his voice in order to drown out Overseer Jeahz¡¯s protestations. A thick aurae skin formed a pattern in front of the man¡¯s throat.

    ¡°I pity all of you for coming here to see this disappointment. However, worry not! We, the Fusion Sect, will make a special case today! We are willing to provide all of you with an opportunity to join the outer ring of many of the sects affiliated with the Fusion Sect! And if you perform well, it is not out of the question that you might one day become a key member of the Fusion Sect itself!¡±

    He continued, ¡°There would be no need to throw yourself against demons and devils for a miniscule return!¡±

    Oh. Rein found himself, once again, used in a greater scheme. He hated that feeling, but there was nothing he could do about it. Though, he would at least leave this place with an intact body.

    Initially, he had thought Darhge might be offering him a helping hand under Baejenh¡¯s orders. Now, it was abundantly clear that the Fusion Sect simply did not see eye-to-eye with the Hall of Heroes, and Darhge was but attempting to drain the Hall of Heroes of potential recruits. The conflict between the two must be of a much larger scale than he initially thought.

    Meanwhile, Beincen was displaying a vast array of emotions as the middle-aged scholar furiously spoke into his ear, as if he was a stage performer preparing for a show.

    He recalled the information on the sects affiliated with the Fusion Sect. Indeed, some sects in the Minhr Nation had submitted directly to the Fusion Sect, not wishing to submit to the clans within the nation. The clans? They couldn¡¯t exactly resist the ruling Fusion Sect of this realm.

    As for the Shroud Alliance to the southwest-- some of those sects received quite a number of benefits from being a part of the Fusion Sect umbrella.

    The Zoh Empire to the east, though backed by the Hall of Heroes, had to pay a yearly tribute to the Fusion Sect, not to mention, lost many of its talented individuals, some picked by the Hall of Heroes while others, to the Fusion Sect.

    Rein had no interest in this offer of the Fusion Sect-- the Hall of Heroes in the Green Trout City was perfectly positioned and structured for his own goals of hunting the devils while peering into the world of the Dingien clan.

    A brilliant idea suddenly popped into his head-- he did not wish to constantly have his fate dictated by these bigger players. It would come along with a certain degree of risk, but playing it safe would only bring mediocre results!

    Rein aggrandized his voice as he thumped his fist against his chest.

    ¡°Forgive me, Overseer Jeahz. Do not worry, for I am not so easily convinced by,¡± he waved his arm dismissively at Darhge, ¡°this man¡¯s words. I have come to the Green Trout City to join your Hall of Heroes! Granted, there have been some¡­ complications, but I plan to take on some of the missions into the western wilderness once I enter your Hall of Heroes!¡±

    ¡°Surely, that will be ample compensation for,¡± he glanced at Beincen, ¡°House Larne. I am confident that House Larne, who no doubt cares about the citizens so deeply, would be quite happy to have another able-bodied young man strive for its people on dangerous missions involving these hungry demons and devils, no?¡±

    The crowd nodded at each other, and a few of them even cheered at Rein¡¯s gallant words. With this, Rein was confident the Hall of Heroes would not necessarily provide much support to House Larne. As a multi-realm organization, while they might seek local support, what they lacked most were willing fighters for the dangerous missions. Rein was banking on that fact.

    Beincen clenched his jaw for a heartbeat before spitting at the ground. ¡°If only that was true, then we, House Larne, would acquiesce.¡±

    He knew. If he still pursued a young man willing to put aside his own safety to take on these dangerous Hall of Heroes missions, especially for his dumb young brother¡­ it would put a dent in his own position within the Hall of Heroes and House Larne¡¯s aspirations as well.

    There were other houses that desired to elevate themselves to the status of an advancer clan in Green Trout City. Beincen, after being pelted by the rapid mouth of his advisor, understood that he could only grit his teeth and play along this day.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rein pulled out his identification papers from his jacket pocket as his eyes darkened. How many times had he explained his identity this day? ¡°You see, I am a survivor of the Golden Desert Town massacre. I must hunt the devils, and the Hall of Heroes have been the biggest contributor across realms in this aspect of the advancer world! Is that not true?!¡±

    Overseer Jeahz beamed, his earlier anxiousness completely erased as he slapped Rein¡¯s shoulder. Rein discovered that although Overseer Jeahz had an elderly look, his back was still straight as an arrow, and his arms strong like iron.

    ¡°This young man has the right ideals! We, the Hall of Heroes, have always made hunting devils and demons to be our primary objective! Devils and demons are fallen existences, slaves to their desires and a source of chaos for us all!¡±

    ¡°The offer to join the outer ring of affiliated sects still stand.¡± Darhge repeated. ¡°As inner advancers, you are all nothing but meatbags to sacrifice ato the wilderness demons and devils!¡±

    Overseer Jeahz further amplified his voice as he reinforced his position. ¡°All of you that have come here to join the Hall of Heroes know the truth in your hearts! Sects have always recruited those they deemed most promising, and their resources, too, spent on those most gifted!¡±

    ¡°The Hall of Heroes is different. We take risks because we recognize that in many of you, there may very well be,¡± he swept his eyes across the crowd, making an effort to meet the gaze of every single pair of eyes. ¡°A hidden, intangible strength and talent, that the sects fail to see!¡±

    ¡°That is why we have more dangerous missions. That is why we are willing to give chances to those that, at first glance, may seem lacking in talent! This is where one gets forged through fire and steel! Where one surpasses expectations!¡±

    The heads bobbed in agreement. They had been reminded of how they had been ignored by recruiting sects. Frankly, that was precisely the reason they had come to the Hall of Heroes in the first place.

    Darhge raised his hands and slowly clapped theatrically. ¡°Once again, my offer stands. Once all of your companions start dropping like flies next to you-- and they most definitely will-- you will only have one, single thought.¡± He raised his chin.

    ¡°The thought of wishing to avoid being crushed and swallowed into the corrosive bellies of these demons and devils with not even a single bone in your body remaining. And when that day comes, and your spirits break¡­ you can come to me, and I will give you a place to see out your days.¡±

    Darhge beckoned to a few of his other white-robed underlings in the plaza, and as he left, there was a relatively meager, but not insignificant group of of people that decided to follow, preferring to wallow their days away safely in an minor sect under the Fusion Sect.

    For many, they knew in their hearts that they would probably be a corpse very soon if they joined the Hall of Heroes. Darhge¡¯s offer wasn¡¯t amazing-- chances were that in these minor sects, they would receive barely any opportunities-- but they figured it would be better than losing their precious life as the price for the multitude of chances at the Hall of Heroes.

    ¡°Xune¡¯s spear! Those Fusion Sect bastards have been endlessly poking us like a fictite needle these past few years.¡± Overseer Jeahz¡¯s voice cackled next to Rein¡¯s ear. ¡°They¡¯ll be back before long.¡±

    ¡°I hope you understand that I have to be fair, and you must still take the assessment. Worry not, it has always been just a tradition. We almost never reject potential helping hands against demons and devils. But today¡¯s contribution will be added into your tab once you enter the Hall of Heroes.¡± The Hall of Heroes overseer chortled before pointedly staring at Beincen.

    ¡°We will have a special consideration and allow the upper echelon of healers to tend to your younger brother¡¯s arm. It should return to being mostly functional, and as long as your younger brother reaches the telekinetic realm, he will be able to regain whatever minor control over his right arm he may have lost as a result of this incident.¡±

    Beincen could only hook his fingers respectfully before giving Overseer Jeahz a bow. With a wave of his arm, Overseer Jeahz summoned a few servants to carry off Beincen¡¯s hapless younger brother on a stretcher.

    Was this incident resolved? Would the Hall of Heroes keep Beincen in check? Rein knew that the Hall of Heroes adopted policies that generally ensured that their members¡¯ deaths would always come while combating demons and devils.

    However, when Rein took a brief glance at Beincen, he knew¡­ that this incident was far from resolved. The unconcealed hostility within those eyes communicated that House Larne would cause endless troubles for him.

 Ch33: Lyne of Xuere Clan

    Rein inwardly sighed, knowing that he could not sit idly by, waiting to, as Overseer Jeahz so put it earlier, ¡®get endlessly poked by a fictite needle¡¯.

    He gestured to attract both Beincen and the crowd¡¯s attention. ¡°How fortunate that Beincen of the Larne Clan has kindly allowed this incident to pass.¡± A bouncing bow. ¡°I believe it is necessary to prove my words with action against the demons and devils.¡±

    His concern was that Beincen also would be able to attract competent helpers due to his position in this city. He first had to give a favorable impression to all-- this would be fairly important if Beincen were to try to use his influence in the city against him.

    Rein released a shallow breath as he softened his words. ¡°I will definitely be looking to Beincen of House Larne as an inspiration. I have no doubt that Beincen has already accomplished certain dangerous missions in his time within the Hall of Heroes!¡±

    With a wry smile and a respectful nod to Beincen, Rein continued towards the Hall of Heroes temple with a fidgeting Chirh in tow.

    A few in the crowd cheered and clapped, but some were confused at this seemingly dull conclusion. Many had thought an interesting fight would break out, but Overseer Jeahz¡¯s presence ensured such an event would not occur. In his eyes, the weaker Rein¡¯s role was to die while taking down a few demons and devils along with him, and not in the plaza before the Hall of Heroes!

    As for Beincen and his advisor, both of them glared hatefully at the departing figure of Rein and Chirh. Unbeknownst to  Rein, the reality was that Beincen had not actually participated in a single dangerous mission in his time with the Hall of Heroes... Frankly, most nobles avoided such high risk missions, and this fact was very much an open secret! Rein had actually poured oil on flame with his final conciliatory statement.

    _____________________________________________________________________

    Darhge greeted the Fusion Sect elder Baejenh at her magical round tea table.

    The white-robed lady gave the bowing man a glance. ¡°Is it done? Did he respond well?¡±

    Darhge nodded. ¡°Yes. He took the opportunity to ingratiate himself to Overseer Jeahz.¡±

    ¡°As long as one of them can get some information on the relic, it will be worth it.¡±

    Rein had thought that Darhge was intentionally going against the Hall of Heroes under Fusion Sect¡¯s banner. In fact, it was two birds with one stone! Darhge had also aimed to ensure that Rein would enter the Hall of Heroes intact!

    ______________________________________________________________________

    The pair of Rein and Chirh traveled through the elliptical plaza and entered a wide avenue that led to the Hall of Heroes.

    The white stone used to pave this avenue was expertly flattened, its appearance so smooth and orderly that Rein partly believed that the stone was cut with a single clean slice of a gargantuan magic blade.

    The avenue¡¯s side was lined with many different stalls, their owners doing their very best to drown out their competitors through yelling and gesturing to the potential customers wandering to and fro from the Hall of Heroes.

    The pair remained silent, unsure of how to approach the subject of the recent event. Rein noticed that this whole while, Chirh could not keep his downcast eyes from staring at the repeating blocks that paved this very avenue like a nervous child trying to calm himself by counting shapes.

    Finally, Rein asked the burning question in his mind. ¡°When I first met you, you seemed like a man well-versed and disciplined with martial arts.¡±

    ¡°I might have been something in the mortal realm,¡± Chirh only shook his head with a sigh. ¡°But in the Hall of Heroes, I am not even considered to have truly entered the advancer world yet. You know what they say¡­ you need to know when to act strong and when to stay meek. I¡¯ve seen numerous advancers have worse lives when they failed to recognize the strength of some of these houses and clans in the Hall of Heroes¡­¡±

    He suddenly jumped in shock as he exclaimed,  ¡°Twelve hells, I¡¯m in for it now. That House Larne will come for me too!¡±

    Rein found the collar of his jet-black jacket gripped by a Chirh whose face was pale and drained of color. By now, Rein had thoroughly discarded his initial impressions of this hysterical man beside him.

    ¡°You and your magical staff have fucked me over! Why would a traveler in a worn black knotted jacket have a staff with an imbued magical protection?! I still have family waiting and praying for my glorious return!¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Rein wanted to swat Chirh to the ground, but before he could act on his impulse, Chirh himself had curled into a small ball in the center of the avenue, drawing many disapproving eyes from the passersby.

    ¡°Xune¡¯s Spear, this is my fault! If I never recognized or approached you, none of this would have happened in the first place!¡±

    Rein struggled to believe that this was the first person that he acquainted himself with in this city-- and the Hall of Heroes¡­ He dragged the groveling Chirh up by the shoulder. How embarrassing! The older Chirh was even an inch taller than him! Rein himself still had a few years to grow.

    ¡°Gods, what¡¯s happened has happened. If you join me on those dangerous missions, the Hall of Heroes won¡¯t tolerate you being badly treated by anyone. You just have to... do what you need to do¡­¡± If there was one thing that Rein knew, it was that the Hall of Heroes cared about results the most.

    Rein trailed off, for a moment lost in his own words. Then he gave a strong pat on Chirh¡¯s back, before moving onto a stall that caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    The stall sold nothing fancy, but Rein recognized the aurae buns that he had relied on for sustenance when searching for Master Yirn. Rein wanted to get a good amount of this cheap, dry and crunchy kind of tasteless bun-- that was supposedly the most basic ration in the advancer world, and would serve as a good safety net if he were to get stranded somewhere.

    Rein withdrew a limpite coin--a circular grayish coin with a square hole in the center-- from his pouch and with a flick of his thumb, spun the coin through the air into the storekeeper¡¯s palm. He received a sack of ten aurae buns in return. This was the normal rate for these buns. They were so common that the buns themselves were basically a currency tied to the worth of limpite coins.

    His resources were naturally limited. His small amount of limpite coins was gifted by his half-senior Chenhr for this mission. He was, after all, meant to be a mortal from the Golden Desert Town that traded all of his fallen house¡¯s wealth for a half-chance to enter the advancer world. That was his cover.

    This explanation was also meant to explain his magical staff. Although mortal wealth was not treasured by the advancer world, a House¡¯s wealth could be traded for a few magical armaments and spare change.

    Rein continued onwards, unable to keep his eyes from sweeping from magical item to item of the passing stalls. Yet he did not bother giving them more than a cursory glance. It was not as if he had the resources to afford them.

    Chirh had chosen to stick with Rein for now, following a few feet behind while incessantly muttering about the high mortality rate of those who participated in the dangerous missions.

    From his words, Rein gleaned nothing new-- he had long learned such information through his studies about the Hall of Heroes. The black star missions, the hardest ranked missions in the Hall of Heroes, had mortality rates as high as fifty percent, and that was with the more capable and brave advancers taking on said missions.

    Nearly no sane person would want to participate in such missions. Most advancers wanted to live longer, not throw one¡¯s own life into the twelve hells!

    The rewards, however, were supposedly tantalizing. Too tantalizing for a not an insignificant population to take the risk. Still, it was well-known that the Hall of Heroes lacked willing participants and had to raise the rewards to a barely-unsustainable level for the more difficult missions.

    Rein turned his head sideways, his now shoulder-length mane of black hair momentarily lifted into the air by the wind for a single heartbeat.

    He was thoroughly surprised that Chirh was still following him. This guy¡­ He already declared his intention to join dangerous missions. Is there any point for Chirh to take on these missions if he could not even stave off that ignorant younger scion of the Larne clan? He would just be a liability, Rein thought.

    Frankly, Rein simply could not find it in himself to trust Chirh to have his back at a critical juncture in a critical mission. Not after today. There was too much at stake!

    He appreciated Chirh being friendly and all throughout this day, and the man had yet to do anything malicious, but¡­

    ¡°You know,¡± Chirh finally spoke again, his voice quivering. ¡°The Hall of Heroes¡¯ protection of its lesser members is just for show¡­ The nobles donate many resources to this branch, and many of the members who have offended the nobles¡­ I¡¯ve noticed these past six months. Often, they simply die out west on some mundane mission.¡± He wailed pitifully in a hoarse voice, ¡°We¡¯re..  We¡¯re fucking dead!¡±

    ¡°The Hall of Heroes might not tolerate a committed body falling at the foot of its doors! But once we step out¡­ We¡¯re just meatbags to throw at the western wilderness¡­¡± He muttered in fear as his imaginations presented his mind with untold horrors.

    Rein was rendered speechless by Chirh having already thrown in the towel. Perhaps it was him that had changed. After all, he had spent the last six months never winning a single battle against his half-senior Chenhr. He, too, had a rather defeatist attitude at the beginning, but then despite his continuous losses, he found himself lasting longer in their duels. One second by one second longer he would last longer each time.

    Anyhow, the two¡¯s journey to the hulking Hall of Heroes at the end of this zone, named the Avenue of Transcendence, was cut short by a crowd uproar.

    ¡°Out of the way. You, you, and you! Out of the way!¡±

    A group of young men and women in neat and clean servant garb started demanding all within the avenue to shift to the side and empty the center portion of this path. One might assume this group to be a bunch of boisterous troublemakers, but the bounce in their feet and their passionate voices brimming with devotion, crackling from overuse, thoroughly dampened any inner resistance.

    A majestic young woman that looked to be in her low twenties, riding a heavyweight black stallion, casually trotted up toward the Hall of Heroes through the emptied avenue. She was dressed in a skin-tight white robe with gilded gold edges, and a large emblem resembling an eagle at the back of the robe signified her clan.

    She was, of course, an incomparable jade beauty. Then again, this was the norm for many female advancers, at least appearance-wise. For the most part, advancers had long lives and thus maintained the appearance of their prime-- this would usually be an appearance between twenty to thirty years old.

    In the advancer world, jade is the gemstone that could carry and store most aurae energies, and thus considered the most expensive. At least, this was why the term jade was quite literally used to describe most things that were ¡®top-of-the-line¡¯.

    Now, thanks to the nurturing of the body from worldly aurae, an advancer¡¯s skin and body would be healthy beyond imagination. It should also be mentioned that the body could be somewhat modified to a limited degree, by certain magics.

    Thus, when it came to female advancers, many of them would have much of the looks and body they so desired. What truly accentuated this woman right now was her current demeanor. It contained a cool confidence, as if everything was in her control.

    However, what truly set many of the men¡¯s hearts aflame was her graceful gyration as her slender body shifted to the movement of the black stallion trotting underneath her hips. Her skin-tight white robes, though certainly not revealing much skin, failed to keep her substantial breasts truly contained, as all observers who dared to look would see the weight on her chest somewhat shifting along with her graceful gyration on the stallion.

    ¡°Twelve hells! That¡¯s Lyne. The young mistress of a recently recognized advancer clan, the Xuere clan! She¡¯s already a mid-stage shell advancer!¡±

    Chirh yanked Rein behind one of the wooden stalls, cutting off the line of sight between them and the beauty on the black stallion.

    The wimp¡¯s actions scared Rein. Did Chirh, at some point of time, make an enemy out of Lyne and the Xuere clan? Rein increasingly doubted Chirh¡¯s character and history.

    ¡°We can¡¯t attract Lyne¡¯s attention! She is the target of many suitors in the city! That Beincen being one of them! It¡¯s best for Lyne to never recall seeing either of our faces! If her glance so much as lingers on one person too long¡­ those crazy motherfuckers will come for you!¡±

    By the fallen gods. This man is just an absolute wuss! Rein stuck his head out from behind the stall, ready to be a part of the crowd.

    Following behind the jade beauty Lyne was your typical brown horse pulling a wagon. Within the wagon sat a few deathly looking individuals in chains, as well as a few lifeless demon beast corpses. And behind that wagon was Beincen and a group of proud guards with their every step in sync with each other.

    Rein silently ducked back behind the stall to the relief of Chirh. He wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about Chirh any longer. Somehow, this wuss had helped him avoid a situation that would have doubtless turned even more eyes on him.

    The two simultaneously exhaled sighs of relief and both had small smiles on their faces.

 Ch34: An Easy Admission into the Hall of Heroes

    Many eyes in the plaza were drawn to Lyne¡¯s beauty, but many eyes also spotted the individuals in chains on the following wagon.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s one of the devils on the wanted list!¡± From behind the wooden stall, the two could hear most of the crowd¡¯s reaction, even if slightly muffled in their position.

    The crowd cheered, fully convinced that stepping onto the side of the avenue was their natural course of action. It was well known that devils were advancers that had gone off the orthodox path, and more often than not, consumed other humans in one way or another to increase their own strength. This was not an uncommon trait with demon beasts as well.

    The sound of the black stallion¡¯s hooves rose in crescendo then fell as Lyne trotted past the two¡¯s hidden location. This was followed by the sounds of marching guards-- not just one squadron, but multiple.

    Peeking out again from behind the stall, Rein confirmed that other than Beincen, there were numerous nobly dressed young men and their guards marching in tune. A guard that made a slight misstep for a heartbeat instantly got shoved out of their squadron and dismissed with a single glare by the scions of the city¡¯s families.

    Oddly, Rein thanked the heavens for Chirh¡¯s cowardice. Word of His and Beincen¡¯s confrontation might have already begun spreading, and if there was one thing he knew from his merchant days, someone like Beincen was sure to lash out, especially if he was to believe Rein was at fault for Lyne developing a bad impression of him. At least, based on Chirh¡¯s words, all these noblemen in the procession must be suitors of Lyne.

    It was inevitable that Lyne would learn of that incident. But at the very least, it would be in a slightly less public situation, and any potential retribution would likely be considerably of a lesser degree.

    The two stayed hidden until the sounds of stall keepers advertising their wares echoed throughout the Avenue of Transcendence again. Only then did they repeatedly kick out their legs to loosen the tightness from crouching for too long, gingerly stepping back out into the sun.

    ¡°So¡­ who has the best chance?¡± Rein was rather curious about all these suitors of Lyne. Perhaps one was the headrunner. His mind was already whirling with schemes. If he were to develop good relations with a suitor that saw Beincen as a competitor¡­

    ¡°None,¡± replied Chirh. With the presence of the nobles gone, this scaredly cat had calmed down and even adopted a somewhat prideful demeanor. ¡°Supposedly, a scion of the ruling Dingien Clan has already been rebuffed by Lyne. You think these other fools have much of a chance?¡±

    Progress in the shell realm slowed significantly. Lyne, having reached mid-shell realm at what Rein assumed to be low twenties, placed her as one of the youngest mid-shell advancers with a boundless future.

    Rein opened his eyes wide at these words. The Dingien Clan did have ties to the nobles of the Green Trout City. This scion of the Dingien Clan¡­ surely he hasn¡¯t given up? If he were to visit Green Trout City to woo Lyne of the Xuere Clan¡­ If he could force an encounter with a scion of the Dingien Clan¡­

    Half-senior Chenhr¡¯s investigations had revealed that the scions of the Dingien Clan had begun competing for the ruling seat of the Minhr Nation, and at least one had attempted to seek assistance from the devil sects in the western wilderness.

    Should he ingratiate himself to Lyne¡­? Would those suitors of Lyne see him as an enemy or just some random inconsequential lackey? Rein preferred the latter-- he had come to the Hall of Heroes for a goal, and he saw Lyne as but a means to an end. Anything else was but a distraction.

    ¡°Have you crossed any of those other scions of the city¡¯s noble families?¡± Rein was also rather curious as to how much Chirh had-- or hadn¡¯t-- done in the six months since the man had entered the Hall of Heroes.

    Chirh guffawed. ¡°I¡¯ve tried to avoid the lot of them this whole time. Unluckily for me, somehow, Beincen¡¯s younger brother decided to¡­ approach me.¡±

    Chirh¡¯s approach isn¡¯t without merit. The man¡¯s a bit too much of a wuss, but it would be for the best if he remained off everyone¡¯s senses as well. Rein reconsidered his position. Although the original plan had always been to remain hidden, he now realized he could not remain absolutely hidden. He needed to put himself in a position to come in contact with the scions of the Dingien Clan pursuing Lyne.

    He also reversed his opinion on Chirh. Even if Chirh couldn¡¯t be trusted at critical junctures, the man clearly had a good nose for detecting trouble.

    ¡°Well. It would definitely be best for us to avoid such troublesome matters. Still, I have to keep my promise to Overseer Jeahz to take on those dangerous missions, and in turn that will give us a degree of protection against Beincen.¡± Chirh may have warned that those who offend the nobles sometimes simply vanish on such missions. Yet, at the same time, the Hall of Heroes very much valued results.

    Rein gave Chirh a pat on the back. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can play a supportive role instead and perhaps avoid the most dangerous of situations?¡±

    Chirh begrudgingly nodded, his shoulders slightly slumping upon hearing Rein¡¯s words. Frankly, at this point, it was unavoidable for him as well. He would have to make himself worthy of the Hall of Heroes¡¯ intervention against actions that Beincen might take against him in the future, minor though they may be.

    Now united in goal, Rein and Chirh walked shoulder-to-shoulder--though Chirh¡¯s shoulders seemed much heavier and rounded-- the remaining distance to the Hall of Heroes¡¯ central structure.

    The true scale of the building was only apparent now that Rein stood directly in front of it. All the architectural components were simply supersized. The pillars were thick red with repeated gold bands at the top and bottom end, supporting a triangular white stone roof on the top. The steps leading up to the entrance were double the height of a normal step, requiring one to raise their foot as high as the knee to step upwards.

    This is the Hall of Heroes, a place made for giants amongst men.

    As the two ascended the knee-high gleaming white steps, Rein gradually found it harder and harder to ascend to the towering doorway.

    Chirh¡¯s legs were also somewhat shaky under his own weight. He still sounded rather dejectedly about his future prospects. ¡°These steps are magically augmented to test the strength of newcomers. Not too much of a hassle for any that has raised themselves above the mid-inner realm.¡±

    In some ways, this could be considered a test, though it was more of a baseline. Normally, promising individuals are expected to have reached the shell realm--able to form a complete aurae-skin armor-- by adulthood. These individuals were often snatched by sects immediately.

    Although the Hall of Heroes was more than willing to have meatbags to throw at the demons and devils, in their eyes, if one was unable to even reach the mid-inner realm when close to adulthood¡­ one could basically be considered a lost cause. Hence, these steps.

    Rein was, of course, fully aware that it was only thanks to Blacksmith Tiehr that he had a chance at being an advancer-- and revenge. He had yet to fully understand the progression of his origin skill he had wondrously gained. Yet that was just a skill, and had little-to-no impact on his ability to absorb aurae and climb the advancer realms.

    These steps he had just ascended reminded him of his debt to Blacksmith Tiehr. It was a thought that had increasingly occupied his mind as he gained more knowledge of the advancer world.

    He would not have been able to climb these steps without that bead accelerating his advancer through ¡®demonic¡¯ means. Blacksmith Tiehr himself, too, deserves to have his revenge as well¡­ in some way or another. This is a debt. A fair trade for the bead. Rein very much remembered Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s request to visit the crow realm.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    As for the magic that augmented these steps he was currently ascending? Rein surmised that it was likely some sort of gravitational type of advancer art.

    When he reached the top with a bit of a wobble, he saw five guards lining the left side and another five lining the right of the imposing doorway, a gargantuan arch. They were dressed in tight pure white and gold patterned robes and cowls, and the center of their chests the Hall of Heroes emblem.

    The robes seemed flimsy, but with his understanding of inscriptions, Rein knew the gold patterns had a strengthening effect. Not to mention, underneath the tight robes and cowls, one could see that these ten guards also wore metallic silver armor that covered the guards faces and glinted out at the wrists and feet.

    As the ten guards turned their robotic heads onto the two entering the structure, Rein felt that for a single heartbeat, a dangerous burning heat coursing through his veins. But then the ten guards'' attention turned to another behind them, and that heat instantly faded.

    He had no doubt that if those guards deemed him a danger, he would have become melted flesh in the blink of an eye. And those guards would not have even needed to lift a single finger.

    ¡°Decorated freaks that, against all odds, survived numerous certain-death missions. They don¡¯t even have any unique magical abilities! The survivors that have unique abilities are in the pantheon of heroes instead¡­ These are just survivors forcibly transformed and elevated into a death guard squad by magical means.¡±

    Indeed, Rein knew of these guards from his readings in Master Yirn¡¯s towers. The Hall of Heroes would transform weak but loyal survivors into these guards. These guards will never be able to rise in advancer realms as a result of said transformation, ever again.

    Though Chirh described them as freaks, his gaze lingered wistfully on the guards, dreaming of becoming one, disregarding any fear of the burning sensation that attracting the guards¡¯ attention would bring.

    As Rein listened to the tidbits that Chirh dropped here and there, he increasingly lambasted his elder disciple Chenhr as well as Master Yirn--partially-- in his heart. That Chenhr was meant to instruct him! Yet most of the information he gained were of the ¡®big picture¡¯ or oddly specific topics such as inscriptions, weapons and strategic planning¡­

    Then again, it had really only been a short six months of cramming knowledge and skills before Master Yirn sent Rein to the Green Trout City with zero specific instructions, expecting him to do as he saw fit. Rein figured that Master Yirn must believe in the concept of trial by fire.

    The two were greeted by a grandiose hall that was split into a central hallway and aisles on either side by two rows of round white stone pillars. Etched onto the pillars were images of humanoids taking up arms against beasts and devilish humanoids that appeared to Rein¡¯s eye as something in between human and beast, and also depicted to be more jagged and crooked in nature by the artist of these images.

    He turned his eyes to observe the ground that seemed to shimmer and sparkle beneath his feet. It was a depiction of mountains and seas, from some coastal region, created by the combination of the same white stone of the structure¡¯s exterior and a new pearl quality marble surface. The intertwining of the two materials was enough to give life to the ground.

    This whole piece of art was a giant system of inscriptions! Rein had failed to notice this initially-- who knew that the representation of nature painted by two materials, stepped on by millions daily, could be a source of magical effect for the whole structure?

    Rein stared with concentration at the ground, hoping to decipher the magic within, only to find his vision tilting as he staggered and found himself on one knee, to the bemusement of the other advancers close-by.

    It was Chirh¡¯s turn to haul Rein up by the shoulder. ¡°Please¡­ we need to keep our eyes away from¡­ high-end stuff. Attempting to comprehend these magics with our lowly strength is but a death wish. Be they people or special arts¡­ I¡¯ve been told that the one who created this was an ancient grandmaster so skilled that he could craft illusions and create art as inscriptions. Please¡­ just don¡¯t...¡± The man was literally whimpering as he found himself the center of many gazes attracted by Rein¡¯s actions.

    Rein acknowledged Chirh as his muddled mind gradually cleared once he kept his eyes firmly glued to the registration counter in front, disregarding the shapes on the ground as simple decorations.

    Fortunately, Rein fully recovered before reaching the white stone counter-- it would have been embarrassing and disrespectful to stumble like a drunk for an application for membership.

    But his blunder had long been recorded. ¡°An applicant that has some knowledge of inscriptions, enough to catch a glimpse of the profoundness of the depiction of mountains and seas? A basic degree of understanding then.¡± The lady dressed in a form-fitting light gray robe behind the counter beamed.

    ¡°And willing to take on life-threatening missions?¡± She clapped with delight as she reached behind the counter to bring forth a crystalline orb.

    This was the orb that had detected Rein¡¯s complete lack of elemental affinity back during his childhood.

    What would it detect now¡­?

    Rein placed his cool and sweaty palm on top of the orb. Who was to know how the orb might react to the draconic metamorphose bead? Or the origin skill within him?

    His concern was, however, unfounded.

    The orb glowed a palette of colors. Yet there were specific brighter stars that lit up-- obvious dots of dense blackish purple color, as well as slightly softer but still solid whitish-yellow color and murky green dots. As for the remaining range of colors, they were near-transparent.

    Back when Rein was tested as a child, all the colors were near-transparent.

    ¡°A solid affinity for spatial, decent connection to lightning and wood. And pretty much zero for all else.¡±

    The necklace Master Yirn had hidden within the skin around Rein¡¯s neck must be suppressing the beastkin lightning and wood affinity of the draconic bead.

    The lady knitted her brows briefly before finally shrugging her shoulders. ¡°An odd combination¡­ and heavily tilted to specific elements. But rest assured. Our Hall of Heroes aren¡¯t picky like all those sects! We do have locations heavy with the wood element for your purposes. But obviously, locations with rich spatial or lightning do not naturally exist in the world.¡±

    ¡°Force your aurae into it, please,¡± She said as she handed over an aspen wooden tile to Rein.

    Afterwards, she snapped the wooden tile into two. ¡°The broken ends as well as the unique combination of your aurae-- your aura signature-- is now trapped within the tile. This will be your identification.¡±

    ¡°And you?¡± She looked toward Chirh.

    Chirh brought forth his own snapped tile-- though his wooden tile was of a slightly deeper shade --maple brown. ¡°I¡¯d like to transfer to¡­ providing support for red diamond missions.¡±

    ¡°Already done.¡± The lady beamed and returned Chirh¡¯s tile. ¡°Overseer Jeahz has already instructed that transfer. Are you sure you don¡¯t wish to become a full-on participant?¡±

    Grumbling under his breath, Chirh ignored the lady¡¯s query as he pocketed his maple-brown tile.

    ¡°That was almost too easy¡­¡± Rein muttered. He was a member of the Hall of Heroes, just like that?

    ¡°Like I mentioned. We are meatbags.¡± Chirh shook his head at Rein¡¯s ignorance. ¡°The Hall of Heroes throws us overaged lowly and unblessed inner advancers at the demons and devils in hopes of finding a rare gem. That is all.¡±

    ¡°And you all are desperate enough to agree to said deal.¡± Mocked the lady in charge of registration.

    Chirh muttered something incoherent to himself and dragged Rein to the side.

    ¡°That lady always gives me the creeps. Outside of the first instance, every single time I make a request, it¡¯s as if she already knows of it beforehand.¡± Chirh shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°Well, I will be hiding out within my quarters. Please come find me in a few days, after your entrance ceremony. We better stick together to deal with any potential trouble that Beincen and possibly House Larne will cause for the both of us sooner or later. The Hall of Heroes won¡¯t bother interfering for minor stuff I¡¯ll be on the receiving end of...¡± His eyes beseeched Rein to promise him that.

    Rein nodded in agreement and Chirh trudged away toward another archway door while suspiciously examining every single person he passed by on the way, fearful of retribution as he was. The sidedoor was significantly smaller in size compared to the main entrance of the hall-- at the end of the transept that cut across the main hall. It probably led to private locations only available to the members of the Hall of Heroes.

    As Rein retraced his footsteps out of the Hall of Heroes, he made sure to keep his mind clear and avoid analyzing any of the decorating art in his surroundings. He found Chirh¡¯s actions excessive. Surely, it would at least take Beincen a few days to take any proper action against them.

    The lady¡¯s words had no effect on him at all. Naturally, he would struggle to make any advancement if he relied only on the most common of elements. These were the wood affinity that he had, water, fire, earth and to a lesser extent, metal. All these other elements are most common to find in nature, and advancers that had affinity to all these had the easiest time gathering aurae into their bodies.

    Anyhow, Rein had been transformed by the draconic metamorphose bead. Sure, environments rich and stable with lightning or spatial elements were close to non-existent. Yet, unlike a normal human, he simply needed to hunt demon beasts that were birthed with these two elements and consume their core!

 Ch35: Well-trained

    Rein spent the rest of his day orientating himself in the city-- identifying the locations of various goods and services he might need during his time here.

    By the time Rein had returned to the inn, it was already time for supper, and he once again shattered a beast core and swallowed the crystal sand. He did not necessarily need to consume normal human meals anymore, unless he desired the taste.

    One might wonder why Rein would continue to consume this disgusting crystal sand when he was surrounded by human stores. It was simply a matter of convenience, and cost.

    He returned that elegant ring-hilted dagger back into his travel sack. He had hid it in his leather boots-- brought along with him to prevent a potential theft. Mortal-owned inns did not exactly have much protection in any shape or form.

    He gave the dagger nothing more than a cursory glance. He had, for quite some time, considered whether it would be more of a relief for this thrown dagger to have found its mark. Only the scriptures that he recited nightly kept his mind occupied.

    He had barely gained any depth of insight into those scriptures after all this time, but what he had managed to perceive was enough for him to compose his mind. Many of these scriptures would remain useful and provide insight into progressing in the higher advancer power realms.

    Anyhow, he had finally taken a few steps forward today. The Hall of Heroes was undoubtedly the right place to be in order to hunt devils-- endlessly. He would be a fool to feel any sense of defeat now that he had finally taken a tangible step forward.

    Laying down on the hard bed only somewhat mitigated by a thin mattress, Rein stared at the wooden ceiling lost in thought. The Halls of Heroes have always been lenient on allowing entry, but comparably lethal in nature. Still, it felt too easy. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the Hall of Heroes had encountered some problem out west.

    His thoughts turned to examining the events of the day. One habit that Chenhr had ingrained into Rein was night time reflection to ensure a strategic competence.

    As of now, his main risk lies in his affinities being known to the Hall of Heroes. Spatial, wood and lightning. If those pursuers of that draconic metamorphose bead were to become aware of this, he might very well become an identified target.

    Whether that would occur depended on if the pursuers were actually aware that the draconic metamorphose bead was of wood and lightning. Blacksmith Tiehr had been despondent upon discovering that the bead was only of these two affinities-- the dragons were meant to at least have elemental affinity with all major elements! Perhaps the spatial element would give him cover as well.

    It was highly unlikely that these pursuers would be able to identify him due to the oddity, or rather, flaw of the draconic metamorphose bead he absorbed.

    What else? The Hall of Heroes, if not associated with those pursuers, is unlikely to make any knowledge of that public. And this information may very well be buried under the information of every single newcomer entering the Hall of Heroes.

    And Baejenh, the elder of the Fusion Sect? It was highly unlikely that she would be able to draw any conclusions just from visiting that small pond where he had met that dragon. So far, she had now even strong-armed him into spying for her as well. He was more than happy to give her his daily diary.

    He was, in fact, rather confused about the whole deal. As a newcomer to the Hall of Heroes, he wouldn¡¯t be privy to any secrets. Chirh had even called them ¡®meatbags¡¯.

    On the whole, the situation seemed stable. A few small holes here and there, but nothing major that would be easily noticed and identified. The biggest risk really lay in whether those pursuers actually knew of the flawed nature of his draconic metamorphose bead.

    He closed his eyes, weary from his return to civilization. For the first time in a long while, he slept like a dead log.

    A few days had passed. There was still a day before the official entrance ceremony. Naturally, Rein sought to further accustom himself to the layout of the Green Trout City.

    Many of the buildings within the city were built using light colored stone of the creamy yellow to gray spectrum, whether they be patterned or not. The more wealthy had significantly larger plots, most of them of the quadrangled design similar to the now burned-down Hehr Mansion.

    Naturally, this is a much larger city, and thus the mansions too are of a grander scale. Some of the mansions Rein strolled past likely had multiple gardens inside that were expertly designed to look ¡®natural¡¯, such that any visitor lucky enough to be invited in might be none-the-wiser that these gardens were in fact man-made, provided they were not versed in the means of local architecture.

    Other houses within the city were crafted from various types of wood, also of lighter tones. These houses made up the less wealthy district. Rein, looking from afar, even noticed some buildings in the slums at the outer edges of the south side were being held up by rotting wood.

    Naturally, he did not dare enter that region of the city. He had no desire to put himself at risk in a region that the city officials clearly neglected-- no doubt, the unsavory types intentionally took advantage of this fact in said region.

    As for the city districts, it would be inaccurate to claim that there was a clear cut division of any kind. However, the city was laid out in rings, and each ring into quadrants. The inner rings were obviously safer from external threats and the wealthy and business districts existed here. Each ring itself was an extra defensive wall layered with inscription magicks.

    The outer rings were basically occupied by the lower class-- after all, how could they afford the significantly more expensive safe inner rings?

    As for the Hall of Heroes that Chirh had brought Rein to through the winding streets? It was in the northwest most exterior ring of the city, and the Hall of Heroes entrance supposedly led to a range of mountains that laid on the northeastern bank of the Golden Gilded River. These mountains belonged to the Hall of Heroes, gifted by the Dingien Clan for the Hall of Heroes to use as a bulwark against what they viewed as the rebellious great sects in the Evergreen Mountains.

    This made the northwest quadrants of all rings into special districts meant for advancers.

    Rein gave his newly obtained straw hat a slight adjustment. He had easily purchased this from a mortal shop.

    He scrutinized the occupants of the tavern as he swallowed a mouthful of white liquor. A pair of gray-cloaked figures, a boisterous and muscular lion-like man, a short and masked woman.

    This was no normal tavern. It was supposedly the mortal branch of a bounty hunter guild. As for why Rein had come here? His gaze searched the flyers pinned to the board behind the attendant. It was just curiosity during his wanderings of the city.

    This bounty hunter guild called Bloodhunt might be useful in the future. If he were to become a true advancer. As an inner advancer, he lacked the strength to capture or kill any of the targets on the flyers.

    He slung his staff back across his shoulders as he took leave of this tavern, momentarily blinded by the beaming sun once he stepped back onto the cobblestoned streets.

    The streets were filled to the brim with people, and Rein had no choice but to lower the staff from his shoulders in order to not aggravate the others.

    That meant Rein had to walk around with the staff as a crutch like an old man. His internal grumbling at having to position the staff as a walking stick definitely exuded an old man vibe.

    Finally, after a bit of jostling, Rein reached his desired location-- a store that supposedly sold ¡®high-end¡¯ advancer techniques. This was a place he had visited a few times the last few days, just to get a better idea of the numerous advancer magical arts.

    The arts he observed had a clear pattern based on the level of the advancer. Shell advancer arts mostly focused on ways to manipulate the aurae skin to create desired effects.

    And outer advancers? Though few and far between, the outer techniques focused mostly on ranged manipulations and effects.

    All of this was in line with the base concept of advancer arts. Those of shell realm strength have yet to develop the ability to reach out with their aurae, and could only surround their body with it.

    Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Rein noticed a shadow of a gray-hooded man. The very same one he had seen in the Bloodhunt tavern.

    Rein immediately put two-and-two together. He must be being followed. It must be Beincen and his House Larne. He had no other enemies!

    Wanting to avoid the trouble, he immediately placed the scroll he was skimming back into its place, and dashed towards a side alleyway.

    He quickly mapped out his surroundings. He was in a relatively wealthy advancer business district. In order to return to his inn, he needed to pass through the adjacent living zone containing numerous quadrangled mansions. He needed to gradually follow the rings outwards then head south to return to his inn down in the northern area of the southwest quadrant.

    He sprinted away, hopeful that he could leave his ¡®ardent¡¯ followers behind-- it wouldn¡¯t be long before he joined the Hall of Heroes and would likely have a place in the mountain ranges owned by the organization northwest of the city, which would further dissuade these kinds of interference¡­ in theory.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Rein saw no shadow of that gray-hooded man as he flitted through the alleys, but as he entered the living district, a gray-hooded figure appeared to block off the alleyway. Then behind him, a second gray-hooded man trapped him in the middle. This was none other than the pair of gray-hooded figures he had noticed back in the Bloodhunt tavern!

    He initially felt somewhat of an idiot as he had a bit of a realization. In hindsight, he could have put on a hood and melded into the busy crowd of the business district. On second thought, that would just be delaying the issue. Rein remembered the deep grudge within Beincen¡¯s eyes over the incident.

    ¡°House Larne, is it?¡± Rein let out an exasperated sigh.

    The two gray-hooded figures¡¯ replies were a simultaneous metallic unsheathing echo of shortswords.

    Rein knew he would have to engage these two gray-hooded men to dissuade them from being future hindrances to him. But he would be an idiot to fight in this narrow space with a staff.

    With a single tap of his boots, he leaped across the wall, right into the garden of a quadrangled mansion. His staff would serve him well in this open space, even should there be multiple opponents.

    Even though Master Yirn had forced Rein to focus on the staff, he had eventually explained the strengths of the staff, such as being able to fight multiple opponents, as well as the fact that mastering the staff would contribute to learning future polearm weapons.

    The mansion he had entered was completely empty. Was this lucky? Perhaps. Rein knew not. For all he knew, the one who owned this manion might very well have connections to House Larne. Then again, if they were political enemies of House Larne, he could instead get a helping hand.

    Regardless, the two gray-hooded men, both brandishing short bronze swords, now too stood in the garden, having followed Rein over the walls.

    Rein calmed himself with a deep exhalation. This was but an opportunity to test his skills. All of the teachings that Chenhr had passed down to him flooded through his mind. He had sparred often against Chenhr, but Chenhr had been trained for many years. He then had to run around like a headless chicken while being pursued by that ¡®weak¡¯ outer realm corpse-man advancer. This would be the first time he would face someone truly at his level¡­?

    ¡°Youngster. You really should just give up on your life. Us two, with our shell realm, will maim you for good.¡± One of the gray-hooded men, with his muffled voice, dished out a warning.

    For a heartbeat, Rein nearly panicked. He was only an upper-inner advancer. Would he have to reveal his origin skill this early to protect his life? Then he recomposed himself.

    ¡°Pathetic,¡± he snorted. ¡°House Larne isn¡¯t even an advancer clan yet. To hire two shell realm¡­ assassins for a small insect like me?¡±

    He spun his staff from his left to his right, before slamming the end of it into the garden¡¯s soil.

    Thunk!

    ¡°The two of you are no doubt still in the inner realm.¡±

    The two gray-cloaked men began their attack in reply, instead going into a slight crouch as they crept forward, in an attempt to pincer Rein.

    Their bluff had been called, and Rein was confident of his assessment. Neither of the two had even activated any type of aurae skin magics at this juncture. The gray-hooded man must have wanted to gain a mental edge and perhaps even scare him into capitulating!

    And Rein was not about to sit still and wait. His hand gripped the center shaft of the soak staff, activated the power crystals-- he had no desire to draw energy from the surrounding environment and make enemies of these estate owners.

    The power crystals supplied less aurae to activate the art, but it was still substantial. He felt his body¡¯s strength, power and endurance rise as the wood-based inscription on the soak staff augmented his physical function.

    He then immediately charged at the gray-hooded man behind him with no hesitation, abusing the length of his staff to dominate the assassin.

    Gray man one was instantly put on the defensive, and Rein made sure to keep it that way, throwing a varied combination of quick thrust and swings that focused more on precision rather than generating power.

    In combination with each blow, Rein, too, constantly sidestepped in a curved line, in order to shift his position such that he would no longer be in between the two gray-hooded men, and instead have the two, both in front of his eyes.

    Although the other gray man attempted to prevent this from happening, his feet were more akin to being stuck in mud. With the wooden inscription on the soak staff augmenting all of his body¡¯s vitality, Rein was infinitely quicker, and easily responded to every attempt of the other gray man to circle behind him!

    The two gray-hooded men¡¯s expressions darkened, and they both gripped their shortswords, causing a glinting inscription along the blade to light up.

    Rein squinted at the two men¡¯s shortswords in front of him. Those inscriptions were too small for him to comprehend, even though the two were only around ten feet away.

    A useless thought. Small inscriptions are unlikely to have as significant an effect as larger ones. It mattered not. Rein assaulted the same gray-hooded man again-- that man was already in a grim mood due to their earlier trading of blows.

    He maintained a similar approach, constantly sidestepping as he circled this gray-hooded man, keeping the second man directly in front of him. This led to the situation of one of the gray-hooded men constantly shielding Rein from the second.

    Although the shortswords had their etched spells activated, the only difference Rein could detect was a high-pitched ding sound every single time those blades came into contact with his soak staff.

    He did not worry about the soak staff-- he knew that the inscription augmented the durability of the staff as well.

    In frustration, the gray-hooded man being focused by Rein leapt backward, hoping to draw Rein forward, which would ultimately allow the other gray-hooded man to assault Rein from behind.

    Rein rolled his eyes, and instead of leaping forward to chase that man, he quickly switched targets, circling to the other gray-hooded man, and thus both of his enemies remained in front of his eyes.

    To his surprise, within a few jabs and swings, Rein found his staff connecting with the wrist of this other gray-hooded man, completely shattering the bone, causing the shortsword to fall onto the grass, now flattened by the movement of the three combatants.

    Rein had to wonder. Did this other gray-hooded man miscalculate his speed, augmented as he was by the wood inscription of the soak staff? Or did he gain mastery of movement while under the augmentation? Rein swung his staff at his opponent¡¯s head for a final blow, only to leap to the side as he dodged a flying shortsword that pierced through his shadow.

    ¡°Split and leave!¡±

    In a flash, one gray-hooded man escaped to the east, while the other, to the west.

    Rein had a mind to pursue one of them-- the one with the shattered wrist would make an easier target, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was worth it. These men might have connections within the city that would assist them, and Rein wasn¡¯t sure how long the power crystals that powered the soak staff would last.

    As for using his origin skill? That would be madness. In this city where the next street could be filled to the brim, not to mention, the agents of those mad organizations surely had scouts here. Rein knew not if he could truly remain undetected. Rein had quickly developed an instinctual fear of these organizations that hunted those with origin skills from reading the research journal entries that Master Yirn had collected.

    Still. Rein smiled as his gaze settled upon the two shortswords left behind in the garden. These two shortswords would be his prize. He wasn¡¯t about to use them for himself-- who knew if they had protection magics woven onto them, similar to that of his soak staff?

    But, he could still get a reward from them. A blacksmith could simply wholly destroy these two weapons and use the raw materials for other crafts. Without the physical form of the sword or power crystals as a source of aurae, the inscriptions on it, including the protection magics, would simply unravel.

    Plus, he might be able to track down those two gray-hooded men¡¯s abodes if they directly purchased the two weapons from a blacksmith.

    __________________________________________________________________________

    At Beincen¡¯s courtyard within the Larne mansion cluster.

    ¡°Young Sir. We have failed you.¡± The two gray-hooded men kneeled on the ground and pressed the foreheads against the ground before a rectangular wooden building lined with silvery inscriptions.

    Beincen stood in front of his quarters and squinted his eyes at the gray-hooded man with the shattered wrist.

    If one thought he was concerned about these underlings, they would very soon discover this was not so. Beincen raised his foot and stepped directly down onto the kneeling man¡¯s broken wrist!

    ¡°Ahhhrgh!¡±The man screamed in agony as he further pressed his head against the dirt ground in an attempt to stifle his pain.

    The middle-aged scholar that shadowed Beincen whispered into his ears, and the young Larne scion stepped back to give the tormented man a moment of reprieve.

    ¡°Tell me,¡± Beincen pondered. ¡°How did the two of you, peak-inner advancers, return to me defeated, with your weapons lost? The target is but an upper-inner advancer!¡± He had managed get a hold of such information through his connections within the Hall of Heroes.

    The two gray-hooded men remained silent.

    ¡°Tell me!¡± Beincen bellowed as he spitted onto a gray-hooded man¡¯s head.

    ¡°Sir.¡± The uninjured gray-hooded man was the one who spoke, wishing to prevent his companion from being further injured by Beincen¡¯s rage. ¡°The target had an odd set of staff techniques. A slightly altered style that created an uncomfortable flow. And¡­ the target was faster than us. Tired less slowly than us. Never allowed us to encircle him from different directions.¡±

    The middle-aged scholar muttered into Beincen¡¯s ears again. Beincen nodded and with a final kick to the head that sent the gray-hooded man sprawling, he briskly strode out of his own courtyard.

    ¡°Get up and heal yourselfs,¡± stated the middle-aged man and then he followed after Beincen.

    __________________________________________________________________________

    Back in his room within the inn, Rein found himself thinking back to the straightforward battle. Were his opponents weak? He couldn¡¯t tell. The body augmentation effect from the soak staff certainly helped.

    His combat experience mostly came against Chenhr. Often, Chenhr would use his origin skill, that aurae cloud against Rein. Rein always felt his movements slowed under such conditions. Frankly, whenever he fought against Chenhr, it always felt like he was wading through mud, fighting with heavyweights that limited his ability to move quickly.

    He had also begun training in the draconic magical arts given to him by Master Yirn. The body tempering magic was rather simple-- he had to use the lightning spark from the draconic metamorphose bead to electrocute his own body.

    The concept was that his body would develop a durability over time while being infused with the lightning element. He would then have to use the wood affinity to heal and recover his body. This was something he had begun practicing over the past few months, once he had mastered the dragon fists art altered by Master Yirn.

    Supposedly, that lightning spark had a unique nature of the dragon race, and was very much the source of the dragon¡¯s world-renowned strength in flesh. Every dragon is born with one.

    Rein began realizing an uncomfortable truth that he could not deny. Perhaps, it was Chenhr¡¯s stringent training and methods that had strengthened him to this degree. He had developed a grudge against Chenhr and his verbal jabs over the months. Should he be thankful to his half-senior? Ugh. If Chenhr wasn¡¯t there, Master Yirn would have trained him just as well, if not better!

    He resolved to continue the same diligent approach in the future. He needed to recreate that feeling of being suppressed by Chenhr¡¯s thick aurae during his training!

 Ch36: Ceremonial Sparring

    Rein, dressed in his black frontally knotted jacket that basically functioned as a shirt, a straw hat, and worn leather boots, found an empty spot at the back corner of the white stone and pearl marble hall.

    He tipped his straw hat at a wooden-masked, fully hooded and robed petite female figure also waiting in the corner, before leaning with his back against the wall and placing his attention onto the yellow hooded figure of Overseer Jeahz that stood in front of a podium at the very front of this hall.

    He had been led down a spiral staircase to this underground location. It was decorated in a similar fashion to the entrance hall that Rein had observed a few days earlier. There were two major differences-- this hall was pillarless, and there was a sort of combat arena in the middle. The area was now used as nothing but standing space for the Hall of Heroes¡¯ newcomers.

    A large gray wolf lazed on the ground next to the podium, its squinting eyes drifting across the sea of newcomers. Occasionally, it pointed its snout upwards for a sniff, testing the scent of every individual within the hall.

    ¡°... here because of your desire for a long life-- or perhaps fear of death. Or perhaps simply a desire for power. That remains yours and yours only to know. But often, it is on the boundary of death that one ascends. Like a phoenix from its ashes!¡±

    ¡°You all will be granted ample opportunity here¡­ but remember this,¡± Overseer Jeahz glared at all the bobbing heads. ¡°You must be exceptional compared to your peers. Then you will be rewarded. After all¡­ you all have been provided an opportunity here-- one that the sects had chosen not to give any of you.¡±

    ¡°They deemed you too much of a risk. A lack of promising¡­ traits. All of you will be given a short one month to prepare yourselves, either gaining knowledge through our deacons or whatever means you so choose. Then you will have to prove yourself through the numerous tasks available.¡±

    ¡°And if you are unable to make ends meet yourselves¡­ then you can only blame the fallen gods. For even we, one of the mightiest factions amongst humankind, cannot conjure resources out of thin air for all of you to advance!¡±

    ¡°Remember this,¡± Overseer Jeahz sternly stated. ¡°We, the Hall of Heroes, reward kills. Not survival. If, as a member, you sit back to preserve your life¡­ you will remain a peon. If you bring back severed heads our enemies, especially demons and devils, even if you are but a newcomer, you will be given the status, ¡®Riser¡¯!¡±

    Rein closed his eyelids as he rested his head against the back wall. One might even think that he was deep in thought, motivated by Overseer Jeahz¡¯s dour speech.

    In truth, Rein was truly attempting to take a short nap. These ceremonial speeches? Always overly long. Frankly, he had attended enough of them during his time as the scion of House Hehr.  Too many words, too little depth¡­

    He found himself awakened by a wolf''s growl and the rapid shuffling of feet.

    ¡°You all can choose to spar.¡±

    Rein shook himself awake from his lull.

    Overseer Jeahz smirked, his goatee widening along with his lips. ¡°Allow me to give every single one here an example of how we, the Hall of Heroes, reward our shining gems. We do not have the resources to support all your endeavors in the advancer world. Thus, we focus on a select few surprising talents. Good soldiers will still be able to survive on even scraps.¡±

    ¡°And it is in combat where our true value lies. How can one be a hero to the people across realms unless they are able to stave back the hordes of demons and devils?¡±

    ¡°Two of you will enter the arena. Weapons allowed. The winner gets to stay, and,¡± he brought forth a power gem in his hand, ¡°fully recover your strength by siphoning aurae from this crystal.¡±

    ¡°Anyone can challenge this winner, and after every single match, the winner will be able to restore his aurae.¡±

    ¡°The final winner will receive this.¡± A small corked cylindrical glass bottle filled with a clear liquid appeared out of nowhere, pinched between Overseer Jeah¡¯s finger and thumb as he raised the item up for all to see. ¡°This alchemical liquid will put you in a dream state, allowing you to gain revelations to assist in transforming your body. You may very well find yourself with the ability to fully employ the magical aurae skin after consumption. If you have a bit of talent that is. For those unaware, that itself is a sign that you have reached the magical shell advancer realm as well.¡±

    The hall should have cheered, but most remained in a nervous silence, their gazes flitting across all of their potential opponents. There were at least a thousand here. Only one would be rewarded with this magical tincture.

    A psychedelic that Rein could not consume if he wished to remain in the good graces of Master Yirn.

    ¡°Ah yes. I forgot to mention. Weapons allowed naturally mean that you can injure-- or even kill your opponents. Demon and Devils would not hesitate to kill any of you. Worry not. I will preside over this spar, and provided that you raise your hand in defeat, I will prevent you from receiving any further injuries.¡±

    Rein was definitely fully awake by now after hearing of the rules of this contest. This is truly a place for desperate souls to find their chance in the advancer world¡­

    As for Rein? He had no intention of participating. His goal was to investigate these so-called devils, and perhaps through them, peer into the inner workings of the ruling Dingien clan of the Minhr nation. He himself could easily consume beast cores to transform his body, something unique to himself thanks to the draconic bead.

    And well¡­ If he wanted to remain in the good graces of Master Yirn, he had no use for this psychedelic. That was supposedly one of the reasons why some of the previous disciples of Master Yirn had ¡®left¡¯.

    Not to mention, those who over-rely on psychedelics to advance in the advancer world were generally weaker by an observable margin-- and more likely to eventually ¡®turn¡¯ into a devil. Like that corpse-man that, though supposedly an outer advancer, found himself unable to match Chenhr in aurae density. Granted, Chenhr had a unique origin ability, but still, Chenhr was only an inner advancer.

    Thus, Rein leaned backward against the wall again. Not to continue napping, but to observe the competition about to occur in the center of this very hall. He wished to have an accurate impression of the strength level of those in the inner realm.

    The fully masked and hooded petite figure a few feet away from Rein remained unmoving as well. She, too, appeared uninterested. Though, perhaps, she wanted to observe for now and enter the stage later? Rein could not help but wonder about the motivations of those around him.

    ¡°Volunteers?¡± Overseer Jeahz stroked his goatee with one hand, while brushing the gray wolf¡¯s mane with the other.

    ¡°No volunteers?¡± A raised eyebrow.

    It seemed that the allure of the salivating prize was unable to get most in the hall to put their body on the line. Killing your opponent was even allowed in the spar! Even though Overseer Jeahz hat stated that he would intervene when one admitted defeat, who was to know if one even had the time to raise their hand in defeat mid-battle?

    Rein found Overseer Jeahz¡¯s gaze turning to him, but he simply beamed back in response. He had promised to participate in dangerous missions against the demons and devils, but he had no desire to reveal himself in this sparring competition!

    Finally, a man stood forth with a confident grin. He held a modified spear that had a metal tip that winded like a snake. No doubt, the shape was designed to widen and torment an enemy¡¯s wounds.

    On the tip of the spear were engravings that contained qualities of sharpness. Rein was unable to identify whether that sharpness was linked to certain elements-- different elements often had slightly different connections with sharpness, and could have different inscriptional effects.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Opposite the snake-tipped spear man stood a slimmer built man with a sword and shield. The shield itself had an inscription, but the sword did not. The two were clearly not a set. The shield had a bronze hue while the sword had a dark metallic surface. Neither man wore anything more protective than leather vests.

    With a wave of Overseer Jeahz¡¯s arm, the two began circling each other in the middle of the arena, a few arm¡¯s length away from each other. The slimmer man hid behind his shield with the sword seemingly a bit of an afterthought. That was understandable. Afterall, the sword was not strengthened by an inscription.

    The slimmer man was likely just looking for an opportunistic strike with his ¡®mortal¡¯ sword¡­ That was Rein¡¯s assessment.

    The spearman stayed light on his toes, his feet constantly dancing back and forth as he gave a few experimental stabs with the snake spear. His slimmer opponent could not help but flinch at every single fake attack, shifting his shield excessively as a countermeasure.

    The sword-and-shield wielder¡¯s lack of composure was so evident that the spearman even turned and displayed his back for a heartbeat as if daring the man to stop hiding behind his shield and employ the pitiful inscription-less sword.

    It was precisely this move that made the sword-and-shield user hesitate for a moment. Taking advantage of his lapse, the spearman lunged forward with a shout, simultaneously activating his spear¡¯s inscription.

    The slim man reacted quick enough, yet he could not predict the unknown. Perhaps without that momentary lapse, he would have reacted better to the ¡®surprise¡¯. The snake-spear¡¯s inscriptional activation allowed the spear to extend in length and curve around the shield, completely avoiding the shield¡¯s defense!

    The spear tip stabbed right into the sword-and-shield man¡¯s left chest. The spearman had held nothing back, absolutely vicious in his aim.

    Blood poured out of the wound as the spearman pulled out his snake-spear. However, it appeared that his aim was slightly off, and had missed the heart. The sword-and-shield man, though now down on his knees, managed to raise his arm and croak his defeat in hopes of being saved by Overseer Jeah. His wound was serious, but the healing magics of the heavenly Hall of Heroes would be able to save his life.

    Yet, the spearman was not so merciful. He sneered in contempt, ¡°This is the Hall of Heroes. You are too weak to be here.¡± Fully certain that Overseer Jeahz would not impede him, he struck again with his spear to deliver a final blow, only to find himself ¡®slapped¡¯ into the air, flying ten feet backwards before skidding another ten feet on his back.

    That slap came from none other than Overseer Jeah¡¯s wrinkly old hand aurae projection.

    ¡°You may have some level of competency. But I fear you misunderstand the Hall of Heroes. We only care about killing the demons and devils that have dogged humanity since time immemorial, in addition to those that attempt to disrupt this aim.¡± He gestured at the shieldman. ¡°He may have lost, but he still managed to survive your strike.¡±

    Overseer Jeahz gazed sternly around the hall. ¡°If any of you, even against a stronger foe, can barely survive long enough to pass on news of demons or devils to others. Or even survive an extra heartbeat against such beings. That would be worth it, for it would mean you have wasted an extra heartbeat of that demon or devil¡¯s life!¡±

    With a flick of his sleeve, he commanded a few aides to quickly take the shieldman away to be healed. Then he flung a power gem, a cloudy quartz crystal, at the spearman who was still somewhat winded from Overseer Jeahz¡¯s earlier slap.

    ¡°And you. You have yet to win. After all, you still have many challenges in front of you, no?¡±

    Up stepped another figure-- a balding man with a long stubble beard. The man was dressed in worn tunic and short breeches. To all those present, this balding man was likely to be skewed by the snake spear and cooked over burning coal.

    Even more odd was his choice of weapon-- a bow. Not exactly useful in a close-ranged ¡®sparring¡¯ match. He also had no intention of using the bow, keeping it slung over his shoulder¡­

    With no hesitation, the spearman lunged forward, activating the inscriptional skill that led to the spear curving in acceleration. In his mind, it was possible that his challenger had some tricks up his sleeves, and giving his opponent time would likely be a mistake.

    Every observer blinked in disbelief as the balding man stood unmoving as the spear curved into his chest. Yet the snake spear did not pierce his body on contact. In reverse, the spearman howled in pain as blood burst from his arms, mainly from the primary arm he used to control the spear. It was his turn to collapse onto the ground.

    Unlike his prior opponent, the spearman did not attempt to save himself, and the balding man picked up the snake spear that had been abandoned by its owner, and pointed the tip at the spearman¡¯s neck, contemplating whether to end the man¡¯s life.

    That tense atmosphere was, however, quickly dispelled as the victorious challenger threw the snake spear to the side, sparing the spearman¡¯s life.

    He then hooked the fingers of his two hands together as a greeting to Overseer Jeahz, to declare his victory.

    Overseer Jeahz¡¯s narrowed eyes observed the balding man head-to-toe for a moment, before he once again turned his attention back to the mass. ¡°Any more challengers?¡±

    Silence ensued. Most were still processing what they had just seen, and none felt certain that they could defeat such an opponent. It was obvious that the combat result had something to do with the spearman striking against the balding man. But no one in the hall was prepared to put their own bodies on the line to test out their theories as to how the spearman was defeated.

    ¡°Xeeseir. I will summon you after this ceremony is over.¡± Overseer Jeahz was fully aware that the little contest was over. Only a reckless idiot would challenge this balding man¡¯s show of strength. ¡°You will be escorted to a protected area for the consumption of this psychedelic.¡±

    Xeeseir gave a small nod and looked to find a place within the crowd again. Yet every single individual seemed to be repelled by his presence. His every footfall was accompanied by a ripple of human wave that cascaded backwards.

    Within the eyes of these individuals contained a mix of emotions, consisting of jealousy, fear, uncertainty and more.

    Xeeseir could only groan inwardly and march himself to the back of the hall. When Rein saw the figure approach, he found himself hesitating on voicing his suspicions. No-- it was not just a suspicion. Rein knew that this balding man must have an origin ability.  If he had a question to ask, it would be why this man had so easily revealed his origin skill. Those mad and deranged research organizations would have this man on their hit list!

    As for the function of Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability? It was one of the better known and recorded skills. The reason for this was that this origin skill, named ¡®Reflect¡¯, often appeared on those with rather¡­ forthright natures. In Master Yirn¡¯s library, the fate of this origin skill¡¯s users was always death-- preferring to break rather than bend when facing a higher power or calamitous situation.

    How did it function? The scholars analyzed that the origin skill retraced the pathway of an advancer art and it is through this pathway that the damage and power of an enemy¡¯s advancer art would be ¡®returned¡¯ to its user. That was why that spear-man¡¯s right arm sustained the full brunt of his own attack.

    How would this origin skill develop in high advancer realms such as the telekinetic realm? There wasn¡¯t much information regarding that-- the users of this origin skill mostly lost their lives below the telekinetic realm¡­

    Rein observed this bald man approaching, a sense of pity rising in his heart. This balding man¡¯s fate would likely be similar¡­

    The petite masked form also at the back of the hall next to Rein had the same question. ¡°So. You must already be one that is hunted.¡± Her voice was soft yet firm, like the sound of willow in the wind.

    ¡°Heh. It was completely unavoidable. My travel carriage was ambushed by bandits, and there were a number of harmless citizens on the journey. I had to act! Since I revealed myself, then so be it!¡± Xeeseir was a man of conviction. Rein detected not even a hint of regret in his tone of voice.

    ¡°And humans have always sought a deeper knowledge of the mystical arts, and you will be the price. You could have done more in your lifetime if you hid yourself and did good deeds without being detected.¡± The masked lady held nothing back. She clearly thought the man was a numbskull.

    Yet, Xeeseir was resolute and shrugged off the comment.  ¡°I can only live my life with no regrets.¡± He then gestured at Rein, the next closest person that clearly would have overheard the short conversation. ¡°What say you? You don¡¯t seem¡­ repelled by my presence like those others.¡±

    Rein quickly realized he would need to take more care in terms of ¡®acting normal¡¯ in order to blend in with future crowds. He should have acted ¡®scared off¡¯ like those other members in the hall.

    ¡°I naturally agree with the masked lady.¡± Would he choose to take such action if he were in Xeeseir¡¯s shoes? Not if it impeded his future opportunity to seek justice for his family! It would be idiotic.

    Xeeseir could only shake his head, in disappointment that the two not repelled by his presence within this hall, differed in opinion from him.

    ¡°... lead you to multiple key locations within the Hall of Heroes vital to your future progress.¡± Overseer Jeahz¡¯s voice reverberated through the hall as the crowd shuffled toward the exit.

    ¡°I¡¯m Rein, by the way.¡± Rein had determined that it shouldn¡¯t be much of a risk to associate himself with this reckless fellow. In fact, Xeeseir¡¯s presence beside him would help him to avoid drawing attention.

    For her critique of Xeeseir¡¯s choice of action, the masked lady also offered her name as she climbed the steps to exit the hall. ¡°Wilo.¡±

    Xeeseir roared with laughter, making everyone around squirm due to how the sound echoed off the narrow space. ¡°Hah! This is fate, I tell you. Rein, the guy who claimed that he would be rapidly taking on red diamond missions, is one of the new members that I came across first! My name is Xeeseir!¡±

    Has news of that incident with the Larne Clan spread so far already? Rein felt increasingly uncomfortable with that possibility. Anyhow, he explained himself. ¡°Well. You see, I come from the Golden Desert Town that was¡­¡±

    ¡°We will be brothers-in-arms then,¡± the balding man stated. ¡°I, too, have a need to take on such challenging missions as well!¡±

 Ch37: Tavern of Reverie

    Xeeseir¡¯s declaration to take on challenging missions like him, surprised Rein. But he quickly realized that Xeeseir, with his origin skill now out in the open, actually needed to constantly deliver results. Doing so, in theory, should ensure that the Hall of Heroes use their power to impede those madmen that would do anything for a live origin magic sample.

    ¡°In truth, I have been carefully collecting news on potential members that I may be able to cooperate with on missions. Your name came up after a bit of digging,¡± Xeeseir said.

    Rein felt relief knowing that his name has not necessarily spread far and wide. ¡°So¡­ did you intentionally approach me?¡± At least, to Rein, it did not seem that way when Xeeseir wandered to the back of the hall.

    For a heartbeat, Xeeseir avoided Rein¡¯s gaze by staring at the ground, and simply shrugged as if he was a kid being caught doing something questionable.

    ¡°I, too, will join.¡± Wilo pleasantly included herself. She then halted any questions from Rein and Xeeseir with a raised hand, as if sensing their inquisitiveness. ¡°My own reasons.¡±

    Things had definitely taken a turn. Rein could not have foreseen these events. He had more or less randomly come across two individuals that also needed-- or perhaps simply wanted-- to take on life-threatening missions such as himself.

    Although thinking in such terms made himself feel somewhat guilty, Rein¡¯s astute mind was fully aware that having someone like Xeeseir close to himself would actually draw attention away from himself.

    He could easily attribute any ¡®fortuitous¡¯ events to Xeeseir¡¯s origin skill, which was already out in the open. This would allow himself to stay out of the limelight.

    As far as he could tell, Xeeseir seemed like a good man, which was why Rein felt rather uneasy when thinking of him in such a manner¡­ He was once again reminded of the unfortunate deaths and forthright nature of previous users of this ¡®Reflect¡¯ origin skill.

    As for Wilo, he frankly could not see past the wooden mask and the hood on her face. It would be impolite to press for answers seeing as Wilo had clearly implied that she did not welcome such prying questions.

    The line of new initiates winded into another hall, completely identical in layout to the entrance hall. The major difference lay in the decorations, occupants and the carved motifs on the walls, ground and pillars.

    Naturally, all advancers made sure to memorize the layout of the pathways to ensure that they would not find themselves lost and embarrassed.

    Overseer Jeahz motioned with his arm at the incredibly busy hall. ¡°Mission hall. A location that you will return to filled with relief from all your journeys.¡±

    There were multiple long lime blocks used as tables, separated into sections: green circle, blue triangle, yellow square, red diamond, black star. It was evident to all initiates that these represented the difficulty of the missions.

    Advancers dressed in all sorts of battle gear surrounded every station. They particularly stood out against the backdrop of the white and pearl nature of the hall.

    As the new initiates meandered past each section, Rein noticed many devices being passed across the lime block station. When activated, the devices would spout out some sort of smoky cloud that communicated information through whisperings and images.

    The most distinct location within the hall was a huge lime tower in the middle of the hall, at the center point between all the other five stations.

    In Rein¡¯s eyes, the tower structure consisted of multiple increasingly small, uneven and jagged limestone layers relative to height.

    Every single layer had a contraption that spewed out a mist that displayed a name. Some were accompanied by a portrait, but not all. This artificial limestone mountain shrouded in rainbow misty images created a rather dreamy and mystical atmosphere.

    What drew Rein¡¯s attention was the name within the mist cloud at the top of the tower-- ¡®The Blasphemer¡¯.

    To his knowledge, many advancers are referred to by titles, mainly because an advancer may use many different names across realms, or disguise their identity.

    When Rein attuned his senses to that mist cloud, and the whisperings of an ancient voice echoed between his ears.

    ¡°The Blasphemer. He has been under many names and disguises across the ages. He is always hidden under a combination of magical abilities. His face may be hidden between physical alterations. Yet sometimes also hidden behind illusions.¡±

    ¡°Yet that too is, in itself, an illusion. His mastery of many magical paths allow him often to pose as an advancer that might very well, in appearance, be a higher augmented physical warrior. Or perhaps a bowmaster. As such, it is nearly impossible to identify him unless he himself so desires.¡±

    ¡°However, there is one trait that defines him. He will always appear to spoil an advancer¡¯s path from immortality to godhood. Thus, he is known as the Blasphemer.¡±

    ¡°Reward for information to be determined by quality and accuracy.¡±

    ¡°Alarming, isn¡¯t it?¡± Wilo seemed to have attuned to the mist cloud at the tower top as well. ¡°From where I come from, this figure is well-known as well. Feared yet respected.¡±

    Rein frowned at the contradicting details. ¡°More like hunted.¡±

    ¡°Only for those that seek control.¡± Wilo¡¯s tone was that of reverence. ¡°Yes. The Blasphemer can momentarily be your ally, yet become your enemy the very next day. Where I come from, he is one of balance.¡±

    Rein mulled over her words. Frankly, he would not wish to interact with such a being--one that could possibly turn enemy in a single moment. No doubt, that was the reason this advancer was a priority target for the Hall of Heroes. He was thoroughly confused as to why Wilo seemed to have a degree of reverence for this figure, and could only shake his head in reply.

    He continued attuning his sense to the mist clouds surrounding the tower. There were many advancers on the list that had gone down the path of the devil, with the reward being various currencies.

    Other types of targets that were also relatively common were beasts or plants that had gained spiritual awareness-- demons.

    A rather memorable one was an advancer that specialized in blood magic. They supposedly drained blood out of their victims, and only bloodless corpses were found. Their identity was still completely unknown. The reward? A chest of ten thousand lumite coins.

    Rein quickly noticed a pattern. The uppermost mist clouds of this tower had unspecified rewards, followed by a quantity of fictite measured in stones. Further down mist clouds rewarded amounts of lumite coins, and the bottom-most ones rewarded limpite coins.

    There were also miscellaneous rewards littered randomly here and there. Rein recognized some of them to be alchemical produce, but he honestly lacked knowledge regarding most of these items-- something he certainly aimed to rectify.

    Their procession through the many passageways led Rein to develop an understanding of the Hall of Heroes stronghold-- An underground impenetrable defensive labyrinth. Any that invaded the Hall of Heroes would become lost in the passageways. He would not find it surprising if many of these passageways had magical traps that could be activated if the situation demanded it.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    After winding through multiple underground passageways, and following Overseer Jeahz to multiple halls of various uses, Rein found himself assigned an underground small cave that was supposed to be his living quarters.

    Looking around his future accommodation, Rein felt both depressed yet impressed. There was no ¡®proper¡¯ furniture in the small cave. The bed and table inside the cave had literally been sculpted into the ground and walls of the gray stone material of the cave.

    The illumination came from a few glowing metallic balls, the same source of light that brightly lit this whole underground complex.

    For the sake of his own mind, Rein knew that he would need to introduce something of color into his new completely gray stoned lodgings.

    After settling down his belongings, he strapped the soak staff onto his back with a chest wrapping cloth, took out the snapped wooden slab that he had received ever since he applied to the Hall of Heroes, and pressed it against the circular stone door.

    A magical contraption rolled the inscription-covered stone slab into a gap, and once Rein passed through, the stone automatically secured the small cave behind him as a defense inscription blinked upon the closing of the opening.

    He groaned as he turned and twisted his way through the passageways back to the dining hall he had briefly passed through previously. What a monstrous labyrinth. Rein could only inwardly lament-- he had already developed a distaste for the dourness of this place.

    Of course, the Hall of Heroes needed to be able to protect itself against the demons and devils. The internal layout needed to be absolutely confusing. Rein and the new initiates had even been told not to head down certain paths, as those paths were meant to be traps.

    What astounded Rein most was the fact that, supposedly, this underground layout could change at a controller¡¯s whim if they were to be invaded. The current layout was just the default standard, meant to allow its members to be able to conduct their daily activities without getting lost.

    At this point in time, the metallic orbs lodged orderly into the white walls of the passageways had somewhat dimmed, to reflect the nighttime aboveground, and Rein, following both old and new members whose faces he had already begun recognizing, entered an expansive dining hall that immediately dispelled the claustrophobic feeling of traveling through the passageways.

    Contrary to the mundanely colored small gray caves and white passageways, the dining hall was filled with an array of colors, sounds and smell.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡± Rein found himself jovially welcomed by the voice of Chirh. ¡°Only place in the whole place where one can really let loose. This tavern is where people return to after a deathly mission,¡± Chirh then lowered his voice to a fearful whisper, ¡°or to enjoy their final moments before dying on a deadly mission.¡±

    Chirh lead Rein to a table made from amber brown wood. The accompanying seats were also of the same wood, essentially tree stumps with their tops sculpted for more comfortable sitting.

    Being in closer proximity to the furniture, Rein wriggled his nose when he quickly noticed a distinct and rich aroma. It was a combination of sweet, floral and spicy, and obviously came from the wooden material.

    ¡°Maloewood. The most expensive type of wood across all the realms.¡± Chirh gestured at the whole dining hall. ¡°That¡¯s the power of the Hall of Heroes.¡± He tapped Rein¡¯s shoulder, indicating for Rein to stay seated as he strode toward the direction where many seemed to be headed.

    Rein swung his head around. Indeed, the hall was literally plastered with this fragrant wood. Layered on top of this extravagant wood were shimmering bright red as well as deep blue silk-like cloth.

    The lighting of the room clearly came from a similar type of device as the orbs of light commonly used. However, unlike the orbs, these lighting devices, though made of the same material, came in all shapes and sizes. This difference led to the emitted light being less uniform, cascading into each other that made the light flow throughout the hall like waves breaking onto a rocky shore.

    He found his eyes drawn to a maloewood staircase that led to an upper floor, guarded by two intimidating guards. The two guards were dressed in a similar fashion to all Hall of Heroes guards-- fully hooded and cloaked, with a silver sheen of armor peeking out from underneath the cloth.

    Arching his neck backward, Rein could see upwards through the central atrium unique to this hall, glimpses of the upper two floors. In a single glance, he could tell through their clothing, that the occupants dining in the upper two floors were of a higher status.

    The remnant music of a woman singing along with a lute being plucked echoed down from an upper floor, and the tune soothed Rein¡¯s mind, dispersing his worldly troubles and filling his heart with a sense of contentment.

    Rein tilted his head back down to find a soundless Wilo sitting across him at the table. SHe had arrived without his notice, and her head was slightly cocked in Rein''s direction. Rein could not see past that wooden mask, but he was certain that she took some form of amusement at his behavior.

    Although he knew next to nothing of her origin, the fact that her hometown had knowledge of ¡®The Blasphemer¡¯, a wanted man of the Hall of Heroes, surely indicated that she would not necessarily be entranced by this wondrous tavern.

    An artful wooden plank supporting multiple small dishes of delicacies was carefully placed on the table. Chirh had returned.

    ¡°This is¡­¡± he was befuddled by the masked lady¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Wilo...¡± Rein hesitated, unsure of how to introduce the masked lady. She had been tight-lipped about her origin. ¡°A newcomer as well. She expressed a desire to participate in¡­er,¡± he quickly recalled how Hall of Heroes ranked their missions. ¡°... red diamond and above missions.¡±

    He reversed the introductions. ¡°And this is Chirh. Someone I had bumped into on the road to this city half a year or so ago, when he joined the Hall of Heroes.¡± Come to think of it, Chirh never bothered to explain why he came to this place either.

    Wilo acknowledged Chirh with a silent nod, and Chirh sat down. Glancing at the generally talkative figure next to him, Rein could see from his expression that the man seemed rather uneasy, perhaps creeped out by the masked lady.

    Rein inwardly groaned before breaking the awkward silence. ¡°Chirh. Will any of the people you¡¯ve met the last six months be joining? Give us an idea perhaps.¡±

    That was the wrong question. Chirh, now red-faced, muttered, ¡°How would anyone dare to associate themselves with me with that son-of-a-bitch Rekcen of House Larne laying down the law?¡±

    Rein could only pretend not to have heard his murmurings as he picked up one of the tiny dishes. The delicacy appeared to be an assortment of expertly wrapped vegetation into a mouthful. WIth a chip fork, he shoved it between his lips.

    Every single bite caused a surge of rich aurae mixed with a complex unique taste to explode in his mouth. It was bittersweet with a tinge of alcoholic flavor to it. Rein could feel the aurae within his own blood slightly burn with energy as he swallowed the delicacy.

    Chirh had also consumed a dish. That thoroughly dispelled his dour mood. ¡°Amazing, isn¡¯t it? Normally, we have to pay for delicacies in this hall. Today¡¯s just a special day because of you, new initiates. Honestly, only the nobles even bother eating most days. Risers, only occasionally.¡±

    Indeed, Rein had found himself not really having the need to consume much food as he strengthened his body in the inner phase of an advancer¡¯s journey. These delicacies were clearly luxurious, meant to give an advancer a slight aurae boost-- if one could afford it.

    Chirh gradually shifted his body next to Rein.

    ¡°Rein,¡± he whispered into his ear. ¡°Are you sure she can be trusted? Remember, we need to bring enemy heads back to get credit and standing¡­ some advancers¡­ they like to murder their allies to steal kill credit¡­No one can properly prove a murder in the western wilderness after all.¡±

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t shown any hostility. And should have no connection to the Larne Clan.¡± Rein replied in a low tone. ¡°From some far off place. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Rein reached out for another dish, but felt that Wilo should get her pick first. Looking up, he noticed that Wilo had remained completely motionless, displaying zero interest in the delicacies. Perhaps she simply did not want to take off her mask. Rein shrugged, then picked a dish that looked to be some sort of baked snail layered in pungent spices.

    A figure suddenly plopped down in the seat next to Wilo. It was Xeeseir with downcast eyes. The man seemed to have lost even more hair, but it might just be the cascading light in this hall that made him appear more bald.

    Wilo, as if reading the man¡¯s mind, posed the question. ¡°You¡¯ve consumed the vial of psychedelic?¡±

    A nod of his head. ¡°Close to no effect. Barely got a vision out of that vial,¡± Xeeseir grumbled.

    Supposedly, for those ¡®blessed by the heavens¡¯ with a strong elemental affinity, these types of psychedelic would have brought them to the limit of the inner realm, or even past it directly into the shell realm..

    Unsure of what to say to comfort the balding man, Rein could only introduce Chirh and Xeeseir to one another, before picking a random delicacy and sliding the dish across the table to Xeeseir.

    That instantly made Xeeseir forget-- at least temporarily-- about his lack of progress from the psychedelic.

    Absorbed by the unique and extravagant taste of each individual delicacy, with the exception of the silent and unmoving Wilo that maintained zero interest in the food, the group lost themselves to their euphoria.

    Rein returned to his senses from a tugging on his worn black top. Chirh¡¯s sixth sense had allowed him to notice a new group that had arrived in the dining hall.

    This group was incredibly well-dressed in expensive silk. Under the cascading light in the dining hall, their clothing had a shimmering sheen as they strode toward the staircase blocked by the two guards.

    A smaller group broke off and headed right toward Rein¡¯s table-- It was Beincen of House Larne.

 Ch38: Reins Insidious Wedge

    Beincen stomped his way to Rein¡¯s table as if demonstrating his crushing authority. He was, as always, accompanied by his advisor, who had a pensive expression. Rein naturally had no knowledge of the other members¡¯ identities of this small group, but his best guess would be that they were members of other houses that considered themselves allies of House Larne.

    There were quite a few others that broke off from the main group. They kept themselves a distance away, and seemed rather interested in observing the impending conflict.

    Chirh ducked his head as Beincen¡¯s eyes swept across the four individuals. His eyes lingered for an extra heartbeat on the soak staff strapped to Rein¡¯s back, before finally narrowing his eyes at Rein.

    Rein¡¯s mind was as serene as a deep and smooth lake. Ever since his training with Chenhr, the third disciple under his hidden half-master, Rein had found his mind restlessly conjuring different strategies during inconsequential times. In fact, it was during tense moments that his mind now gained an unnatural calmness.

    Unnerved by Rein¡¯s unflinching gaze, Beincen seemed lost yet furious, uncertain of his course of actions until his advisor whispered into his ears. This was of no surprise. Rein already knew that Beincen had to carefully move within the Hall of Heroes and not do anything that would lead to him being seen as a hindrance to their cause.

    Though the nobles of the Minhr Nation are dominant in the nation, they are nothing in the eyes of the Hall of Heroes. That did not mean the Hall of Heroes would not cater to the clans of the Minhr Nation-- they clearly had a desire to build a stronghold in the Green Trout City and needed local support.

    Beincen abruptly turned to the two figures he did not recognize-- Xeeseir and Wilo. ¡°Have you not heard of what this man has done to my younger brother?¡± He raised his voice further to attract the attention of many in the surrounding tables.

    His advisor handed him a wooden vial-shaped contraption. He then raised this contraption, releasing a mist that presented an image of his younger brother¡¯s charred arm. ¡°Took out his whole arm and all!¡± He pointed a finger at Rein in accusation. ¡°Are you, perhaps, an agent of another nation? Of the Zoh Empire?! We have lost many men against the Zoh Empire! We advancer clans are critical to our nation¡¯s strength!¡±

    ¡°Anyone with a mote of empathy would understand your pain and seek justice, not to mention, the desire to protect our nation! So many men sacrificed against the Zoh Empire over centuries!¡± One of the other youth beside him chimed in. The other nobles nodded in agreement.

    This certainly brought a smile to Beincen¡¯s face. ¡°Thank you. As for you two,¡± He wagged his finger at Xeeseir and Wilo, ¡°it would be best to distance yourself from such objectionable folk. Unless¡­¡± his eyes narrowed. ¡°You wish to offend the lot of us nobles.¡±

    Wilo remained as motionless as ever. Rein couldn¡¯t help but squint at the lady, wondering if she would choose to avoid all this trouble. He could already tell what Beincen was attempting to accomplish-- without allies, he would find it difficult to complete any major mission for the Hall of Heroes.

    But, Wilo remained seated. If anything, she completely ignored Beincen, disregarding their whole small group of nobles. It was as if she had heard not a single word.

    Xeeseir stood up as if about to leave¡­ but then planted his butt back onto the maloewood stump, and pointed a finger at Beincen, ¡°Will you be taking on red diamond missions?¡±

    ¡°What¡­ what.. How is that relevant?¡± The noble¡¯s mouth opened and closed a few times like a goldfish.

    ¡°Our group here,¡± Xeeseir cemented Chirh¡¯s participation in dangerous missions, much to the man¡¯s dismay. ¡°We plan to take on red diamond and above missions. Naturally, it is to seek justice and protect this nation from the demons and devils. If you were to participate in many of those, I would happily join you.¡±

    Rein could tell that Xeeseir was trying his best to hold back his amusement, as his facial muscles twitched to control his expression. This gave the balding man a scrunched-up yet serious face.

    Most noble youths avoided putting their lives at risk-- frankly, even if those youths themselves wanted to take on more, most Houses and Clans would limit their own sons and daughters'' involvement with regards to dangerous matters, unless there was no choice.

    Beincen was still struggling to find an appropriate reply to Xeeseir¡¯s words.

    ¡°You are of the Larne Clan, aren¡¯t you?¡± Xeeseir no longer waited for youth struggling for words, and his voice echoed up the atrium to every person¡¯s ears. ¡°Do just¡­ rest easy like a princess to the side, alright? We men will go out and take on red diamond missions!¡±

    Quite a number could not contain their chuckles. Not all here were nobles that saw eye-to-eye with Beincen. Indeed, those chuckles reminded Rein that the Minhr Nation was currently in a succession competition. He imagined that those scions of the Dingien Clan must be lobbying for support from various noble houses and clans.

    There are also ¡®Risers¡¯ here, the common mortals who managed to climb the ranks just by bringing back the heads of demons and devils. Naturally, they rather enjoyed the scene, a few heads peering out the balconies and down the atrium.

    Anyhow, Rein¡¯s impression of Xeeseir was rising by the moment. Beincen and his noble group could only glare at the balding man with unbridled fury in their eyes. Only, they had no comeback-- most nobles do not take on those high risk missions! Only common mortals willing to risk everything to become advancers would do so!

    ¡°I¡¯m truly impressed that the great Beincen of House Larne has time to waste on me,¡± Rein broke the tense silence.

    ¡°What is the death rate for these red diamond and black star missions again¡­? There¡¯s no guarantee I¡¯ll return alive. Why exactly are you wasting your breath on a dead man?¡± Rein shook his head in disbelief. Quite obviously, Rein had his origin ability to escape if it ever came to that. Not a complete guarantee, but if he remained careful and vigilant, his chances of survival would be rather high compared to others.

    He boldly glared into Beincen¡¯s squinting eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t you have the guts to take on red diamond and above missions? Surely, a few successful missions here and that would raise the status of your House.¡±

    ¡°Plus,¡± Rein couldn¡¯t resist beaming as he offered his dodgy advice. ¡°If you were to successfully complete those missions, you¡¯d win the heart of Lyne, the young mistress of the Xuere Clan. Then. Then, House Larne would be guaranteed a high status, and you, the catalyst for it.¡± His tone had become rather similar to that beguiling devil¡¯s voice inside his head during that calamity.

    His words turned the dining hall silent, no doubt due to Rein¡¯s mention of Lyne.

    Based on what Chirh had told him about how many male scions of advancer clans sought to build a romantic relationship with Lyne, Rein had realized that he could use that as bait when dealing with Beincen.

    Would it not be absolutely hilarious if a competitor completed a red diamond mission to impress Lyne, and Beincen had no choice but to risk his body on such a mission to level the score?

    Rein could quite literally see steam coming out of Beincen and his following band of nobles.

    ¡°You--¡± Beincen barked only to be stopped by his accompanying scholar, who had begun muttering furiously into his ears.

    Another unnamed noble also took a step threateningly but Beincen now held out an arm to calm his followers.

    ¡°You had better fight to your death against the demons and devils for the glory of the Hall of Heroes!¡± That scholar must have calmed Beincen down with his words, for Beincen managed to restrain his fury.

    ¡°You really aren¡¯t your own man.¡± stated Rein mockingly. An insidious idea had entered his mind.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°All your decisions are based on the words that scholar whisper into your ear¡­¡± Rein switched to a soft tone. ¡°Are any of your choices your own¡­? Your achievements, your own?¡±

    ¡°In my eyes, you¡¯re just a puppet. You¡¯re not your own man!¡± Rein scoffed. That scholar now glared at Rein with venom.

    ¡°I am loyal to the Larne Clan.¡± Rein finally heard the scholar''s monotonous voice.

    Do not poison the young sir¡¯s mind with--¡±

    ¡°You are the scion of the Larne Clan, are you not?¡± Rein ignored the scholar blatantly and spoke loud over the man¡¯s voice. ¡°When you become the leader of your clan, will you continue listening to his voice on every decision you make? How many decisions of your¡­ current clan head are of his own?¡±

    ¡°Shut your mouth! My clan¡¯s functions are our own matters. Not yours!¡± But Beincen was shaken. He quickly led his small group and stomped up the staircase as its members glared at Rein with distaste. The scholar more extreme with a hateful glare.

    Hah! Rein inwardly snickered. If his guess is right, the Larne Clan must have ordered the scholar to restrain Beincen¡¯s actions, in the clan¡¯s interests. Now? He believed that Beincen would begin ignoring the scholar¡¯s words.

    Unlike Rein, Chirh¡¯s face was pale with fear.

    ¡°Why¡­why did you have to do that?¡± He stammered in a hushed tone. ¡°Now, we are definitely not getting out of t-this!¡±

    Xeeseir instead offered a hand with fingers hooked toward Rein, and Rein gladly hooked his fingers with Xeeseir and they bumped their middle knuckles against each other¡¯s palm as they tightened their grips. This signified a deeper desire for friendship between two in this realm.

    ¡°Expertly done. I¡¯ve had my fair share of¡­¡± Xeeseir managed to clamp his mouth shut in time, realizing that many of the members in the floor above belonged to the nobles houses and clans. ¡°By Xune¡¯s spear, just expertly done.¡±

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Wilo was as inscrutable as ever. Rein instinctively felt that the lady was content with the state of affairs, and perhaps even amused. He was assured that she had not been swayed by Beincen¡¯s threats.

    Looking at the miserable Chirh who seemed to be trying to pull out his hair, Rein felt that he had the responsibility to give the man a peaceful mind.

    To avoid attracting unnecessary attention, he whispered into the distressed man¡¯s ear.

    ¡°If Beincen was to make any major moves against us, he would seem an incredibly petty man to the public, particularly since both members of rival noble houses and clans, and the common members here today, were informed of our group¡¯s goal to take on those deathly missions.¡±

    He continued, ¡°The only downside would be that some that wish to suck up to Beincen¡¯s group might hesitate to cooperate with us.¡±

    ¡°Though, of course, the hope is that Beincen himself, in desire of Lyne, would take on a red diamond mission and end up killing himself.¡± He concluded. It would be best if a romantic rival completed a few of these deathly missions to bait Beincen into taking on one.

    Rein naturally did not wish to further cause Chirh to panic by ending on the idea of Beincen potentially successfully completing those deadly missions. Thus, he avoided explaining that last conditional result to Chirh. This was quite possible if the Larne Clan decided to send a task force to assist Beincen¡­ After that, it was a matter of whether the Hall of Heroes believed Beincen to be deserving of said credit. Historically, the clan would be recognized, not the scion who safely hid within said task force.

    This was naturally an indirect challenge that Rein had made towards Beincen. In Rein¡¯s eyes, he didn¡¯t have much to lose compared to Beincen. Rein believed that his position simply made him fearless-- essential for one to successfully complete those high risk missions.

    Of course, there was also the other possibility that Chirh had stated-- Beincen might attempt to remove their heads in the western wilderness. Yet, that carried a risk for Beincen. The Larne Clan would essentially collapse if somehow, word of their actions were to reach the Hall of Heroes¡¯ higher up, especially if the Larne Clan interfered with an important mission.

    As for why Rein believed that? His study of the Hall of Heroes under his half-senior Chenhr had pointed to one figure that ruled the Hall of Heroes-- the Allfather. His rules are absolute. He is absolute. He governs all. There have been many recorded examples where members that had broken the stated rules were wiped from existence without a word.

    ¡°And what if he was to become aware of your trap?¡± It was a voice that Rein had never heard, and came from a lady that had taken up a seat on the other side of Xeeseir.

    A silvery aurae flowed across the lady¡¯s full body, obscuring her identity, though occasionally there were a few tiny gaps that displayed a jigsaw of her radiant face.

    For a single moment, Rein thought that Baejenh, the Fusion Sect¡¯s representative in the Green Trout City, had sneaked into the Hall of Heroes. But that was impossible and reckless. It was just that, the silvery color of the aurae was just too similar, and Baejenh also had some magical ability to trick the senses-- none of the four present had noticed this lady approach their table.

    Rein shrugged off the question. ¡°The stage was set the moment his younger brother made a mistake. I always planned to take on these deadly missions, and thus would receive some favor from the Hall of Heroes. He is driven by his own desires and thus even if you were to inform him of the game being played, there is nothing he could change about the current state of affairs-- unless he willingly sacrifices his own pride or potentially House Larne¡¯s ambitions.¡±

    ¡°The current state of affairs only exists because the houses and clans in this nation fear the great sects in the Evergreen Mountains. Otherwise, they would not need to stay in the Hall of Heroes¡¯ good graces and you would have no protection.¡± The lady clearly was not a fan of the current system in place within the Minhr Nation.

    ¡°As you say.¡± Rein had no trouble admitting to this fact. After all, ¡°it¡¯s well known that the Hall of Heroes started off as a sect in a higher realm.¡± The lady had no reply to the statement. The Hall of Heroes had evolved, but no one disputed its origins.

    At the same time, Rein reminded himself that he needed to provide worthy information to Baejenh. Technically, he was blackmailed to find such information. But, if he were to provide valuable information, Baejenh may choose to use a measure of resources to protect him, and he would gain another shield against Beincen.

    It is always important to have a backup plan.

    The silvery aurae cover momentarily shifted to reveal the lady¡¯s face to the four, causing Chirh to nearly fall out of his seat in disbelief.

    ¡°Lyne, of the Xuere Clan.¡±

    This young mistress of the Xuere Clan that countless houses and clans wanted to form a connection with-- in order to raise their status within the Green Trout City-- turned to Xeeseir.

    ¡°Do you wish to become a vassal to the Xuere Clan? You¡¯ve clearly failed your ascension with the psychedelic you¡¯ve won. You would have a better life spending the rest of your days in the Xuere Clan.¡± She slipped a wooden strip to Xeeseir. ¡°This would be your yearly benefit. Dwell on it.¡±

    She gracefully nodded to the four before leaving, a rather stark contrast compared to the previous group of nobles. Rein discovered that initially, he could still follow the lady¡¯s figure as she left, but the very moment he lost direct sight due to a body passing in between, he could no longer find Lyne¡¯s figure again, hard as he searched. Her aurae skin definitely had some magical nature that obscured an observer¡¯s senses.

    Rein¡¯s curiosity got the better of him as he sneaked a peek at the wooden strip. Supposedly, if Xeeseir were to join as a vassal, he would receive ten limpite coins daily, totalling four thousand limpite coins a year, in addition to having his living quarters provided for. A year in their world lasted four hundred days.

    ¡°Rumors have it that the Xuere Clan has been giving generous offers to recruit unique talents. If I were to receive such an offer¡­¡± A whimsical Chirh gazed at Xeeseir with envy.

    The masked Wilo knocked her knuckles against her chin. ¡°The clans in this nation are struggling to stand against the sects, huh?¡±

    Xeeseir crushed the wood strip into flakes, and dusted off his palms against the other as he chortled, ¡°Who would want to fight for the clans? It¡¯s not as if you could ever gain an influential position within one as a random nobody. Within sects, however, a random nobody that shows loyalty and results over time could even become its head one day.¡±

    ¡°Plus,¡± he narrowed his eyes. ¡°These nobles have never done right by us. Certainly not to me.¡±

    Rein found himself placed in an awkward position. Technically, he did come from a ¡®House¡¯, though his was more of a rising merchant origin that managed to gain a bit of influence.

    ¡°How reckless. You¡¯ve already failed with the psychedelic once. Your chances would be even lower the second time.¡± Wilo admonished the man for outright ignoring Lyne¡¯s offer.

    Her words only elicited a low grumble from Xeeseir, ¡°Fourth time.¡±

    ¡°The Xuere Clan is of the better noble faction¡­¡± Chirh¡¯s mind was still stuck on the idea of becoming a vassal of the Xuere Clan. ¡°Unlike the damned Larne Clan! Lyne is under Supreme Yirmane of Ziare Clan. They give a lot of benefits to recruit those unique advancers!¡±

    ¡°Fool¡­¡± Wilo expressionlessly belittled Chirh in a somewhat gentle and pitiful tone. ¡°They only wish to strengthen themselves in fear of losing too much influence to the great sects of the Evergreen Mountains. My judgment.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Xeeseir confirmed emphatically with a slap of his palm on the maloewood table.

    At this point in time, a new figure plopped into the stump seat on Chirh¡¯s side. Shockingly, it was the spearman that had his whole spear arm wrecked by Xeeseir during the duel. His right arm was now wrapped in bandages and released a heavy medicinal smell that would scrunch anyone¡¯s nose.

    ¡°You should have killed me. I am a disgrace to my kin.¡± The spearman did not speak with a voice of humiliation. Rather, he declared his own shame in a fierce, adversarial manner.

    The spearman carelessly chucked a delicacy into his mouth with his healthy left arm, then immediately left without even leaving his name.

    The four were left completely speechless by the interaction.

    Chirh then vanished for a few heartbeats, before returning with a head-sized jar of liquor and wine bowls. ¡°Free of charge on special occasions.¡± He joyously poured it out for everyone. Rein couldn¡¯t help but think that this scaredy cat always dispelled his fear when it came to food and beverages¡­

    Staring into the clear liquid in the bowl, Rein noticed something odd. The liquid had uneven ripples dancing across the surface, seemingly growing in degree as he observed.

    Then, he looked up to see the whole tavern shaking as if there was an earthquake, and the silvery inscriptions on the walls lit up, completely safeguarding the underground structure.

    However, this was no underground quake! Rein knew that the tremors in all Hall of Heroes branches always served as a warning sign of impending conflict.

    Once the tremors stopped, a sharp sound squealed in Rein¡¯s mind for a blink of the eye like an alarm, before a deep voice echoed through the whole complex. ¡°All advancers to the outskirts of northwest mountains. Defend with your life. Rewards will be per demon, devil, and great sect member heads! The Great Sects have chosen to impede us. Thus, they are indirectly assisting demons and devils! Rewards will be of black star standard. New initiates participation optional.¡±

    For a heartbeat, the only sound in the hall was the sound of some halfwit crunching on food. Then nearly all the members in the hall reached into a random pouch on their own clothing and withdrew and equipped various mono-colored robes that had the Hall of Heroes sigil-- a emblem of golden skyward spear-- before dashing out the dining hall while securing their robes with a sash.

    Rein peered out the exit, and found that the pathway he had traveled through to enter the tavern had changed. If he were to guess, the earlier tremors were the underground labyrinth being rearranged, and the new pathway led directly to the northwest mountains.

    The tavern soon became empty. Not all who remained were the new initiates. There were some longer standing members that, likely due to fear, decided not to participate, despite knowing that they might suffer for their choice. Based on Rein¡¯s knowledge how Hall of Heroes functioned, these remainers were likely to either have already achieved lofty goals, or already ostracized due to their cowardice.

    Chirh was one of the remaining members that was not a new initiate. He kept his head down, trying to camouflage himself as a new initiate.

    Rein couldn¡¯t help but feel that this was an opportunity. Something major must be happening. Though reckless, if he were to participate, he would cement himself as a potential advancer in the Hall of Heroes¡¯ eyes.

    There are other advantages to his participation. Knowledge of this event would undoubtedly be of interest to Baejenh. He wanted to guarantee another backer, especially with the threat of the Larne Clan, that was for sure.

    As for the risky situation? Rein trusted that Master Yirn and Chenhr had specifically ensured he had developed the skills to survive these types of situations.

    He examined Chirh, and found that Chirh had a pouch around his hips. He stuck his hand in and withdrew a gray-colored Hall of Heroes robe.

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Chirh protested in disbelief.

    Rein ignored the man, and put on the robe. The robe was made of a paper-thin fabric. With the sash tightened around his waist, the fabric clung tightly over Rein¡¯s own clothes. Clearly, it was designed to be worn over whatever clothing the Hall of Heroes¡¯ members might already be wearing.

    Amazingly, upon wearing the robe, a woman¡¯s voice drifted into Rein¡¯s ear. ¡°Individual aura recognized. Hmm, a new initiate? Don¡¯t be overly impulsive, Rein of House Hehr.¡± Though the watcher that monitored the robe users admonished Rein, the inscriptions on the robe lit up nonetheless in acceptance of the user. Rein could immediately tell that this light robe was at the very least, as tough as heavy metal armor with its magical augmentations despite its seemingly delicate appearance.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Xeeseir roared with joy, ¡°I made the right choice!¡± He snapped his fingers at two figures that he was certain were not at the initiation ceremony. Those two fearfully handed over their own robes, one of which Xeeseir handed to Wilo.

    Wilo wordlessly put on the gray robe over her own hood, as if it was predetermined that she would participate.

    Chirh groaned. But he beckoned with his hand at a slightly overweight member still eating a delicacy and promptly received a robe to replace the one that Rein had stolen from him.

    Feeling slightly guilty for dragging the man in, Rein patted Chirh¡¯s shoulder and comforted him. ¡°Think of it as gaining protection from House Larne. Better to die against a demon and devil than to get stepped on daily by one supposedly of your own, yea?¡± Frankly, that was similar to what Rein told himself during his lonely nights when he struggled with his memories of his lost home.

    Rein received not only a nod, but also a small smile.

    And so, the four exited the Tavern of Reverie directly onto the new path created by the controller of the labyrinth. They jogged up the newly-formed white-stoned tunnel that ramped up towards the northwestern exit into the mountains.

 Ch39: Team Roles

    Without the maze controller adjusting the paths, Rein doubted they would have been able to find the route leading to the northwest mountains, new to the underground labyrinth as they were. Or, perhaps Chirh had long figured out all the twists and turns.

    Now, it was just a simple straight thousand step path sloping upwards, and soon, the four found themselves staring at the cloudless starry night sky that allowed a full moon to blanket the canopy of the woods with a platinum hue.

    All they could hear were the sounds of buzzing crickets and cicadas. If not for the summon to battle, these mountains and forests would have seemed peaceful. Instead, the knowledge of the underlying danger made this calmness seem strangely eerie.

    The first to complain was Chirh. ¡°Ugh, I forgot it was night time. How, in twelve hells, are we supposed to fight demons and devils in the dark? They¡¯re much more suited for such an environment!¡±

    Demons relied more on smell, and many had nighttime vision. Devils sometimes adopted similar methods, but also relied on other odd methods. For example, wights raised by a devil advancer could easily sense the living energies of a body. In those cases, the five senses wouldn¡¯t even be relevant.

    As if to make it worse, a deep male voice resounded in their heads again. ¡°There will also be members of the great sects from the Evergreen Mountains. Do not hesitate when in combat against them. They have chosen to be against us on this day.¡±

    The night was certainly turning out to be eventful, and Rein felt vindicated with his choice. There was certain to be something worth witnessing tonight.

    Xeeseir immediately took charge. He did seem to be rather experienced.

    ¡°We need to have an idea of what each of us can do. I can handle the close-ranged defense and ranged attack.¡± He raised his bow and quiver. ¡°I¡¯ve got thirty arrows, a few with unique inscripted magics.¡±

    Wilo withdrew a long wooden needle from her sleeve, and threw it at a nearby maple tree. Surprisingly, the wooden needle was of a significantly tougher type of wood, and easily penetrated deep into the tree trunk.

    Chirh couldn¡¯t help but make a squeamish face as the area around the long needle turned blackish brown as the tree rotted from the inside.

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure what to display. He wasn¡¯t about to reveal his origin skill. Thus, he resorted to the soak staff. He coughed embarrassingly, not wishing to actually demonstrate the inscription skill in the staff. ¡°There¡¯s a¡­ huge water droplet shield that will wash everything outwards from where I stand upon activation, so¡­¡± The activation of the skill always drenched him in water.

    Then he stuck the staff into the ground, drawing just a bit of the aurae in the environment to strengthen his body. He demonstrated a few of his staff moves. All-in-all, rather underwhelming compared to Xeeseir and Wilo. The effect of physical augmentation was not at all obvious to the naked eye.

    Then, there was the ¡®aura restraint¡¯ skill¡­ another skill rather difficult to demonstrate¡­ It was now that Rein realized Master Yirn and his half-senior Chenhr had made an effort to keep him skills of a subdued nature.

    Master Yirn and Chenhr had also actually taught him how to set a few of those inscriptional formation traps. But those required materials and preparations, not at all useful in the current situation.

    The three turned to Chirh. What would this timid man bring to the table?

    Chirh drew out a thick shortsword, a weapon that Rein could faintly recall from the first time he met Chirh outside the gates of the Green Trout City. Surely, it would have a few unique offensive magical effects.

    He sheepishly performed a slide-slash with the shortsword. Rein half-expected some sort of magical crescent wave to burst forth. Instead, the slash pushed Chirh backwards ten feet.

    A disengage skill. Rein sighed as he closed his eyes for a moment. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising, given Chirh¡¯s nature. And he thought his own skills lacked flashiness.

    ¡°Oh, this one¡­ this one¡¯s going to be useful for sure!¡± Chirh directed the fuller of his board shortsword at the three. The inscriptions within the fuller seemed to be gathering moonlight, and Rein suddenly found himself blinded for a few heartbeats before his vision gradually returned to normal.

    Another type of magic to be used to escape. Rein could already imagine Chirh blinding his opponent before dashing away in fear. At least, this skill could also be used offensively. Rein felt rather relieved by this fact.

    Chirh then proceeded to do a few stabs and slashes with his shortsword, but Rein himself honestly lacked in-depth knowledge regarding most sword arts passed on within the Minhr Nation. All he could tell was that Chirh was well-versed in his particular sword art, based on a few ones he had studied--but blocked from seriously practicing-- under Master Yirn.

    Master Yirn certainly was rather picky with regards to weapons, ensuring that Rein spent most of his short six months time mastering the staff.

    Xeeseir rapidly divided the roles. ¡°I will be a bait target as an archer. My melee defenses are near impenetrable.¡± Rein recalled the memory of Xeeseir blocking that spearman¡¯s thrust with no harm to himself. It was certainly an impressive origin skill.

    ¡°As such, I will require you, Rein, to parry any ranged attacks. But it is unnecessary to defend for me if an enemy sneaks past you into melee range. However, you may need to cooperate with Wilo and Chirh to cover each other.¡±

    ¡°Wilo, with your long poisonous needles, can cover enemies close to mid-ranged.¡±

    ¡°Last of all, Chirh, you will mostly be using that light skill of yours to blind and distract any enemies.¡± His tone turned grave as he warned Chirh, ¡°Do not use that sword inscription skill to step back ten feet or so. If you split from us as a group, it¡¯s highly likely you¡¯ll be an easy target for the enemy.¡±

    Chirh was nervous with sweat. Rein could immediately tell from Chirh¡¯s face that the man very much regretted having this skill available to him at this moment. It was obviously something he picked due to his natural desire to flee, but could very well be a cause for his death in group combat.

    Xeeseir¡¯s instructions were brief, and rather inadequate for exceptional teamwork. But with the short time available to them, it was the best he could do.

    ¡°Rein in front, lead the way. Wilo and Chirh proceed side by side behind Rein. I will cover the rear.¡±

    ¡°Rein,¡± Wilo added a suggestion. ¡°These mountains are bountiful in aurae, but do not absorb too much aurae from each individual region. I need it as well.¡±

    Rein nodded. Her needle art must also rely on drawing certain types of aurae from the earth to activate the poison. In some respects, similar to how my soak staff¡¯s magic imitates the process of a tree drawing energy from the ground to strengthen itself.

    It was always interesting to encounter different magics. It was also important that the two do not end up negatively impacting each other¡¯s magical source as a team.

    Rein too added a suggestion. ¡°Chirh should be the main person to monitor the environment as a lookout.¡± The skittish Chirh would certainly be most suited for such a role.

    Rein darted his eyes around, surveying the landscape to get a general idea of where the northwest end of these mountain ranges were.

    In a diamond formation, the four entered a casual jog toward that direction with Rein at its head and Xeeseir at the back as a commander.

    Although the special tunnel had led them relatively close to the northwest exit of the mountain range belonging to the Hall of Heroes, it still took over a thousand heartbeats before the four started hearing faint sounds of battle.

    They were now at the northwest foot of the mountains, in dense and dark woods.

    ¡°Hide.¡± Xeeseir ordered. Rein immediately bolted behind a thick trunk, and jabbed the soak staff into the ground, gathering aurae from the earth to augment his body. Wilo had started climbing a tree. Chirh was the slowest of them all, frozen in spot swiveling his head in all directions before diving into some bushes.

    Xeeseir¡¯s simple instructions are going to be difficult to carry out, Rein inwardly grumbled. He wasn¡¯t sure how he was going to defend both Wilo and Chirh in their different positions. Then again, his half-senior Chenhr had always emphasized adapting and improvising during battle.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    In the time it took to take a few deep breaths, the sound of weapons clashing grew louder. A spearman with a heavily bandaged right arm appeared, backpedaling against two demon beasts. One was a lynx, and another, a rhino.

    It was obvious that these two beasts had gained spirituality. After all, under no normal circumstance would normal animals of these two types cooperate. Moreover, their movements displayed an abnormally high intelligence relative to non-spiritual beasts. The rhino was slower but used its mass and charge to threaten the spearman, whereas the lynx speedily leapt back and forth, attempting to inflict wounds to bleed the spearman out.

    One would think that the rhino would struggle to charge in these woods. But the rhino easily mowed down each tree in its path every single charge. It was clearly supernatural in nature.

    The spearman certainly was a madman. He clearly had yet to recover from his wounds acquired in the duel with Xeeseir, and yet, here he was. Due to his injury, he was now using his left arm as his main spear arm.

    He simply could not afford to clash with the rhino¡¯s mass, thus he rolled and sidestepped to dodge the rhino¡¯s charge, all the while parrying the lynx¡¯s movements, which was timed perfectly to prevent him from attacking the rhino once he dodged each charge. A single mistake and he would be a piece of dead meat.

    The sound of a branch snapping interrupted the fight. Rein could only shake his head in disapproval at the bushes-- the source of the sound was Chirh¡¯s hiding spot.

    To make it worse, a bright light suddenly burst forth from within the bushes, aimed at the large rhino¡¯s eyes. Evidently, Chirh had panicked.

    The two demons could sense easy prey, and the dark lynx immediately darted towards the bushes. The rhino was slower than the lynx, but it did not seem to be much impeded by that flash of light. Relying on an unknown method, it easily located and stormed toward Chirh¡¯s direction, flattening all vegetation, razing down trunks, and kicking soil into air.

    That injured spearman was clearly spent, for he was panting heavily and had to lean against a tree for a short respite instead of giving chase. However, he remained fully alert, eyes darting back and forth just in case that dark lynx decided to sneak back under the cover of darkness for a surprise ambush.

    Good luck, Chirh. Rein muttered as he was simply not in the position to block the rhino¡¯s charge, and could only hope that Chirh had already moved position. Chirh¡¯s fate was not sealed. A whistling sounded through the wood as an arrow sped past Rein¡¯s ears, striking the rump of the rhino.

    The moonlight peeking through holes in the canopy also illuminated shadows of multiple needles immediately descending onto the rhino¡¯s butt following the arrow.

    The dark lynx¡¯s intelligent and gleaming eyes flashed as it immediately pivoted and zigzagged to escape, before the rhino could even bellow in pain. It had quickly recognized that it was being ambushed and was also outnumbered.

    Rein saw his opportunity, and after a few strides, thrusted forth with the soak staff at the rhino¡¯s eyes. He wasn¡¯t quite sure whether his staff would do much harm to the rhino on other parts of the body.

    The rhino swiveled his head and saved his eye, and it was Rein¡¯s turn to receive a short ranged charge. To the rhino¡¯s surprise, Rein leapt up with exceptional quickness and height, performed a forward shoulder roll mid-air, using the spin to gather strength into the staff swing to strike down onto the rhino¡¯s head with vengeance.

    Without the dark lynx covering, the rhino was much too slow to react, and received a resounding smack on its skull. It tottered unsteadily on its feet, before crumbling onto its side.

    Surely, a strike to its thick skull wouldn¡¯t be enough, right? Rein was rather confused about the turn of events. He delivered a few more overhead whacks to the rhino¡¯s head to confirm that the rhino had truly been taken down.

    A sword tip poked and failed to pierce the rhino¡¯s tough hide-- Chirh had appeared, and he had recklessly activated a light orb in his other hand to illuminate the rhino¡¯s body.

    ¡°By Xune¡¯s spear. Its hide is a thick plated armor. This is not a weak demon.¡± The sweaty and pale Chirh exclaimed in relief.

    Beastkin that had gained spirituality had a slightly different path compared to humans in the advancer world. Chenhr had taught Rein this knowledge. Due to their lower intelligence but significantly higher physicality as a starting point, beastkin initial aurae gains had a huge augmentation effect to their physical abilities, to a much more significant degree than the humans.

    Even now, humans had yet to fully understand the growth of the demons, particularly since different types of demons had distinct strengthening processes. On the other hand, the human advancer pathway had long been established and organized into different stages of mastery.

    As for this demon, It properly had attained some level of power similar to the second advancer human realm-- the shell realm, under which a body should have undergone significant transformation.

    By now, Chirh was examining the rhino¡¯s rump. Amazingly, Xeeseir¡¯s arrow was easily retrieved. Only parts of its tip had pierced the rhino¡¯s skin. It clearly had done little to no serious damage.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Chirh¡¯s astonishment attracted Rein to the back of the rhino. Rein nearly keeled over, unsure of how to feel. A few of Wilo¡¯s poisonous needles had stuck themselves into the rhino¡¯s anus.

    An accident? No. Wilo seemed like she had a vast reservoir of knowledge. Rein acknowledged his comrade¡¯s competence. This was the likely explanation as to why the rhino had fallen over from a single staff strike to its thick skull. The poison was probably already taking effect.

    A timely exasperated whisper from Xeeseir frightened Chirh into deactivating his light orb.

    ¡°Cut down on the stupid acts. You need to keep calm and avoid attracting attention, boy. We¡¯ve only got one life.¡± Chirh nodded with his head down. He knew Xeeseir was only critical because of his own foolish decision-making.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Rein also was not sure whether he could trust Chirh to handle himself. But then, an idea occurred to him. ¡°Let¡¯s adjust our strategy,¡± he whispered with mirth. ¡°We will instead use Chirh as bait. He will abuse his light blinding inscriptional skill to enrage and draw attention. We will adjust and adapt around his shenanigans. We can maintain the diamond formation in open areas.¡±

    That was enough to make Xeeseir relax and give a chuckle. ¡°That would work.¡± Wilo similarly acknowledged the change.

    Only Chirh disagreed with the notion that he would be bait. ¡°I know I messed up, but surely¡­ I¡¯m not sure a bit of light would really attract much attention, I mean--¡±

    Rein placed a hand on Chirh¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It will. No enemy would like being repeatedly blinded. Plus, I can tell that your inscription works by gathering light from environmental sources. Within these woods, that skill will have time to gather that light while we¡¯re hiding. Supposedly, there¡¯s open grasslands in the northwest once we leave the foot of these mountains. You¡¯ll be able to use that sword''s other inscriptional skill to backstep, what was it¡­ about ten feet? Just make sure you flip backwards behind us.¡±

    ¡°But I--¡±

    Chirh¡¯s continued protestations was cut off a second time by Xeeseir. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll adapt to your movements and protect you.¡± Xeeseir gripped and gave a few squeezes to Chirh¡¯s shoulder to indicate that there was no way out. ¡°Plus. Remember. House Larne is very much after you.¡±

    A familiar voice interrupted this exchange. ¡°Why bring a wimp to the battlefield?¡± The injured snake-spear man had overheard their conversation. He seemed quite recovered from defending against the two demons.

    Rein immediately gave out a command. ¡°Flash him¡±.

    ¡°What¡­?¡± Chirh was confused by the sudden request.

    ¡°Do it.¡± Rein was adamant. He was starting to feel a bit peeved by this spearman.

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Chirh directed his sword¡¯s fuller and in a few heartbeats, a sheet of light burst forth onto the spearman¡¯s eyes.

    At the same time, Rein thrust his soak staff forward, only stopping when the tip lightly bumped against the spearman¡¯s nose.

    The spearman could only stumble backward, unsure of what had touched his nose when blinded by a sudden onslaught of light. He could only bluster in surprise, ¡°Alright. By the fallen gods, I need honor. Let¡¯s kill some demons and devils!¡±

    ¡°You overheard how we plan to do combat. In addition to all that, make an effort to defend me and Wilo.¡± Xeeseir brandished his bow as he quickly inserted the spearman into their formation.

    ¡°Name¡¯s Dahk. And you don¡¯t need my defense.¡± Dahk had a clear memory of Xeeseir¡¯s origin defense skill.

    Xeeseir rubbed his eyebrows in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s called laying a trap, you fool.¡±

    A squint of the eyes, and Dahk accepted his role.

    Rein couldn¡¯t resist staring at the rhino corpse, which was incredibly tempting. He still had a large batch of hidden beast cores for his consumption, but collecting more was always helpful.

    There was just one problem-- this rhino was probably filled to the brim with Wilo¡¯s rather fearsome poison.

    ¡°The core?¡± Wilo intuitively knew what Rein wanted.

    Caught out, Rein could only shrug his shoulders. It wasn¡¯t as if the rhino died by his hands. But Wilo, probably immune to her own poison, drew a fully wooden javelin from her sleeve. Amazingly, this wooden weapon easily sliced open the rhino¡¯s hide. It was definitely a much higher grade weapon compared to Chirh¡¯s broad shortsword.

    She stuck her hand into the rhino¡¯s guts, and her hand returned with a grayish beast core that was covered in purple blood. The blood transformed red again in Wilo¡¯s hands-- the poison was being reabsorbed by Wilo.

    She threw the beast core into Rein¡¯s hands, before quickly moving to the rhino¡¯s head, and with surgical and precise movements, detached the rhino¡¯s horn.

    ¡°Anyone?¡±

    Dahk tentatively raised his arm. ¡°I didn¡¯t get the kill, but if you¡¯re generous, I--¡±

    Wilo immediately lopped the horn to the spearman. Even if it was not his intention, Dahk had drawn those two demons into their midst, and somewhat contributed.

    Perhaps normally, there might be more discussion on these materials, but they were short on time.

    ¡°The heartblood?¡± Chirh wondered. That was the most valuable part of literally all corpses in the advancer world.

    ¡°It¡¯s filled with poison¡­¡± Wilo held up a vial that contained a stone of fluid. ¡°I need much more time to purify it before sharing it with you all.¡± She must have collected it while retrieving the beastkin core for Rein.

    ¡°We¡¯ll handle that after.¡± Xeeseir ordered. ¡°Go, go, go.¡±

    The five continued forward, this time with Rein and Dahk leading the way. Very soon, they spied the edge of the woods. They would soon enter the open grasslands of a plateau in between the Hall of Heroes¡¯ northwest mountains and the Evergreen Mountains, the supposed main area of the conflict.

 Ch40: A Chaotic Battlefield

    Dashing out into the opening, the group was greeted by a limp body flung into the woods. They swerved and avoided it, before coming to a stop to assess the state of the battle.

    The most striking image that Rein first noticed was a number of unmoving hovering figures high in the sky. There are many different methods to ¡®fly¡¯ with magic, but to do so pretty much require either an nigh-unaffordable piece of armament with the right combination of inscriptions, or for an advancer to reach the so-called outer advancer realm-- the level at which an advancer could start manipulating the aurae in the environment.

    The advancers hovering in the air were split into five groups.

    One group was dressed in the color scheme and sigil of the Hall of Heroes. Instead of the standard robe, each of them seemed to be a variety of customized armor. One of the hovering Hall of Heroes members had a completely golden chestplate littered with an intimidating mess of complex inscriptions.

    A second group was levitating humans dressed in a myriad of colors that Rein lacked knowledge on. At best, he could discern a number of different sigils. One looked to be a hand clawing at the sun. Another had a mountain with a crescent hole punched through on one side. Another was a simple depiction of a cerulean whirlpool.

    There were three more distinct parties. One was of the demons, many of them in half-metamorphosed state. A form somewhere in between humanoid and beast. This matched Rein¡¯s knowledge of how beastkin climbed the advancer realms. For one reason or another, the humanoid form had always been considered the desired outcome of transformation. As such, these floating beastkin had gained a metamorphosed state.

    Then there was a group, clearly of devils. Contrary to expectation, its members were not entirely gory, bloody, or corpse-like. In fact, one member was a handsome male that queens would desire to make a personal servant of. This group was an allotment of various sigils. They were clearly members of various sects considered to be devilish, deep into the western areas of the Evergreen Mountains.

    The last group in the air was dressed in shimmering clothing that blinded the eyes. Even without close examination, one could tell that these figures were clearly the nobles of the Minhr Nation. Though, unlike House Larne, these were true nobles from significantly more influential and established advancer clans.

    All these groups had one major similarity-- they all remained motionless in the sky, glancing at each other but not willing to participate. They were at a complete standoff, none willing to make the first move and potentially escalate the situation.

    Unlike the situation in the air, the grassland was chaotic beyond imagination. It was essentially at least a fiveway fight. A Hall of Heroes member cooperated with a sun clawing sigil member to crush a devil  who was sporadically licking blood from his axe. Yet, the moment the devil fell, the two turned on each other, simultaneously snuffing out the opposite¡¯s life.

    Despite the chaos, it was quite obvious to Rein and his allies what the main focus was. Charging across the grassland was a Hall of Heroes member carrying an ancient black chest. The most notable features on the black chest were a collection of ancient symbols strewn across its surface.

    Rein knew they were not inscriptions, but rather, ancient runes from a long lost past of the gods. He had randomly come across that information under Master Yirn. To his knowledge, runes were the magics of the fallen gods, and frankly, modern advancers have yet to rediscover how to employ said ancient runes in their magics.

    An army of automations surrounded this scurrying figure. Two other accompanying members looked as if they were about to drop dead-- their Hall of Heroes¡¯ robes were ripped in various places, breaking the inscription pattern on its surface, and thus disrupting its protective mechanism.

    The fighting was heaviest surrounding the wall of escorting automations. Many increasingly fell as attacks continuously sneaked through despite multiple Hall of Heroes members attempting to hold off the enemies. It wasn¡¯t as if any would sacrifice their own bodies to prevent an automaton from being hit.

    ¡°This¡­ This is a fucking suicide!¡± Chirh was despondent before things had even really started. ¡°We are just meatbags! These are mostly shell realm enemies!¡±

    He wasn¡¯t wrong. The great sects of the Evergreen Mountains had an advantage on recruiting the talented individuals, who at similar age to them would have at least become shell advancers. And, many of the nobles who had entered the Hall of Heroes, unwilling to concede to the great sects, weren¡¯t willing to sacrifice their bodies in such a chaotic battle!

    The result? The Hall of Heroes had much higher numbers of inner advancer but not the comparable power of the shell realm.

    ¡°Stay in formation. Anyone not dressed in a Hall of Heroes robe is automatically an enemy. Now, follow my target instructions. Our goal is to snatch off the outermost enemies. It would be reckless for us, a newly formed group, to jump into the midst of that chaos.¡± Xeeseir as the archer at the back was definitely well suited to direct the group.

    Rein stuck his soak staff into the ground, absorbing as much aurae as possible to augment his own body in preparation.

    Xeeseir pointed at a head-height rock lying a good five hundred feet away towards the left hand side. ¡°Curl around the rock and be ready to charge. Chirh. Take your shot at blinding them right when we come out from behind the rock. Now, go!¡±

    Behind that rock was a pair of Hall of Heroes members barely surviving against four figures, all under a sigil of a fiery fist. All four seemed to have a full aurae skin that provided augmentation to their bodies, visible under their sleeveless vests, as well as their exposed calves and bare feet. They definitely had achieved a high mastery of magic compared to Rein¡¯s group, as well as the two they had surrounded.

    As for those two Hall of Heroes members? They appeared to have a slightly higher mastery compared to Rein¡¯s group. Those two had partial aurae skins that seemed to meld with the magical Hall of Heroes'' robes, exposing the two¡¯s mastery level. Generally speaking, those able to generate incomplete aurae skins over fifty percent of the body should be peak inner advancers.

    His observation allowed Rein to realize that the Hall of Heroes¡¯ robes had the ability to allow an advancer to extend the unique qualities of their aurae skin to mesh with the already inscription-strengthened robe.

    The two Hall of Heroes members could extend their aurae skin to half-cover their robes in a watery sheen, which seemed to somewhat successfully ward off the fiery blaze that each of the four enemies threw at them.

    It was clear that they were struggling as increasingly, that water aurae layer dissipated into steam and the two had to rely on the Hall of Heroes robe¡¯s own defense. The inscriptions on the robe appear dim though, as if they were about to exhaust their internal power.

    Rein observed no power gem source when he equipped the magical robe. However, based on his own basic knowledge, he instinctively knew that a type of aurae source must be hidden somewhere in the robe. Perhaps, it had some ability to draw aurae from the environment, similar to his soak staff. Or, the material of the robe might have the ability to store aurae.

    The serene voice of the lady that acknowledged Rein¡¯s participation when he donned the robes temporarily postponed the group¡¯s movement. ¡°The javelins are coming. Hold out. All members capable of analyzing inscriptions and deploying these true Spears of Heaven make ready.¡±

    Javelins! His half-senior had trained Rein on these. They are the Hall of Heroes¡¯ ace-in-the-hole weapons! His attention was definitely piqued, as he was capable of using those javelins. After all, Chenhr had grilled him on understanding inscriptions and manipulating such a device for a whole cool six months.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Focus on the here and now.¡± Xeeseir redirected the group¡¯s attention.

    It was a timely reminder. The group¡¯s plan was to curl around that rock, yet once they got close to it, a shadow popped out and flung a flying dagger at the group, and Rein whirled his staff in a wheel, managing to divert the dagger to the side.

    The shadow smartly dashed away, not intending to fight five at once.

    ¡°That dagger had a whiff of poison on it.¡± Wilo commented. Rein trusted her senses-- she herself had used poison to rot a tree inside out.

    He took a quick glance at his staff, but could not see even a dash of poison-liquid on it. He probably had knocked the flying dagger in an area that wasn¡¯t tipped with poison.

    Regardless, whoever that shadow was, they clearly were testing their luck in taking one of their lives.

    As they curled around the large rock, Chirh could not remain silent as his anxiety got the best of him. ¡°That¡¯s the School of Burning Flesh. Their iconic fist magic punches a hole through the body by incinerating your flesh,¡± he whined in fear.

    Rein couldn¡¯t help but beam. The great thing about Chirh was his fear of dying to every single thing led to him seeming to have knowledge of even those semi-threatening to his life.

    ¡°Rein.¡± Xeeseir did not need to explain further.

    ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Rein prepared his soak staff.

    Right as the group curled past the boulder, Xeeseir let fly an arrow that bounced off one of the fiery skinned individuals, its tip sizzling as the metal melted in heat. Their aurae skins definitely had high defensive qualities, but it was never Xeeseir¡¯s goal to actually pierce them with a normal arrow.

    The four Burning Flesh Sect members simultaneously turned their heads in surprise at the new arrivals, only to receive a blinding flash of light that made them swear and bluster. One even threw a fist in empty air, worried that an enemy had taken the chance to ambush them.

    An unfortunate result, however, was that the two Hall of Heroes members originally by themselves against the enemy, both equipped with a seven-sectioned bronze whip, had also been blinded as their eyes had also been drawn to the new arrivals.

    Rein took his chance, and activated the water droplet inscription of the soak staff. His skin felt the surroundings grow drier in a blink of the eye, as a ball of water as wide as triple that of Rein¡¯s height appeared above his head.

    ¡°Brace yourselves,¡± Rein warned, unable to contain a tinge of embarrassment at the nature of the skill.

    The water droplet then fell onto the group, and cascaded outwards in all directions as a huge wave. Xeeseir, at the back of the group, the group member farthest from Rein¡¯s position, barely maintained his feet. As for Wilo, Dahk and Chirh, other than getting drenched, they had no issue maintaining their position-- the water waves had yet to gather momentum when washing past them.

    The water wave reached a fifteen feet height as it crashed into the four enemies, and their flaming aurae skin fizzled as they were fully smothered by the huge wave that washed them a good hundred plus feet.

    Once again, there was a case of friendly fire. The two allies they had wanted to assist-- two raven-haired ladies that looked to be twins-- had also been sent rolling by the huge water wave.

    Though imperfect, one could say it worked splendidly. Their two allies were no longer knocking at death¡¯s door in the current situation.

    The six struck by the water wave recovered at the same time, sputtering in rage. As the four Burning Flesh members warily observed Rein¡¯s group, the two raven-haired ladies picked up their identical seven-sectioned bronze whips and darted beside Wilo.

    Though saved, the two were obviously not happy, soaked as they were. Their eyes glowered at the five, attempting to identify the ones who indiscriminately blasted them with both light and water.

    ¡°What now?¡± Chirh spluttered.

    ¡°You¡¯re bait.¡± Rein motioned with an arm backwards at Chirh. Without looking, he already knew that Chirh was probably peeing his pants. But it was their best plan. After all, they were against four that had entered the so-called shell advancer realm. Already, the four Burning Flesh members had started to reform their fiery aurae skin.

    ¡°Chirh. Flash them as often as possible.¡± Xeeseir ordered.

    An audible whine, but it was too late for complaints at this stage of the battle. Within a few heartbeats, a flash of light struck the four Burning Flesh members again, recommencing the battle.

    Unlike last time, only one of them was stunned by the light. Three of the figures, now completely shrouded in a semi-translucent fiery aurae skin, had covered their eyes in preparation when they saw Chirh point the fuller of his broad shortsword at them.

    What they were not prepared for, however, was a rain of wooden needles that Wilo had stealthily launched, camouflaged by the night sky.

    Yet, these would not have the desired effect. The wooden needles simply burned and dissipated upon coming into contact with the four¡¯s fiery aurae skin.

    ¡°I knew this would happen,¡± The masked Wilo mumbled. For the first time, she seemed to lose a bit of composure. ¡°I really don¡¯t like flames.¡±

    ¡°Two groups!¡± Xeeseir commanded. ¡°Rein and Dahk with Chirh. The rest with me. Remember. Everyone is to adapt to Chirh.¡± Chirh would have to continue his role as bait.

    The group immediately split into two groups as they dashed forward. The two raven-haired twin ladies reacted a bit slower, but intuitively knew who Chirh was based on their movements.

    Their enemies seemed momentarily undecided as to which group to target.

    ¡°Keep them at bay for us.¡± Those were Xeeseir¡¯s simple instructions to their two new teammates. Seeing the bow in Xeeseir¡¯s hand, the two ladies understood their roles. Their two bronze whips were well-suited for such a task.

    Rein and Dahk positioned themselves on the two sides of Chirh, ready to defend this annoying ¡®fly¡¯. As they peeled away from Xeeseir¡¯s group, Chirh released another blinding flash.

    The strategy was simple. Chirh would move around and try to flash the four enemies from different angles in an attempt to surprise them and he would be defended by Rein and Dahk. Meanwhile, Xeeseir and Wilo would fire projectiles while protected by the twin ladies.

    The four School of Burning Flesh members seemed to be only equipped with knuckles for weapons. Despite the four enemies being shell advancers, Rein believed that in theory, they had a slight advantage provided Xeeseir did not run out of arrows.

    As if to confirm his expectations, after an echoing twang of a bowstring, an arrow struck one of the enemy¡¯s chest. However, unlike last time, this was no normal arrow. The arrow was enchanted with a type of ice magic, and the Burning Flesh Sect member found himself not being able to circulate his aurae into his defensive skin around the front area--his chest--for protection.

    A second arrow swiftly struck in the same position after the ice arrow. This second arrow had instead a type of explosion inscription that knocked the man clean off his feet, forming a hole in his aurae armor around the sternum. A third wave, and this time Wilo¡¯s poison needles landed, successfully penetrating into the body thanks to Xeeseir¡¯s unique arrows creating a hole in the fiery aurae armor.

    The Burning Flesh man¡¯s hesitation had caused his impending death under the quick three waves of projectiles.

    Sensing his imminent death due to the poison coursing through his veins, this Burning Flesh member took control of their group. ¡°Behind me! This group first!¡±

    He had managed to reform his aurae skin, but Wilo¡¯s poison was already in his system. He could sense that the strength of Wilo¡¯s poison was beyond him. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he would drop dead. He dared not escape, unsure of losing his life for nothing in the surrounding chaos.

    He charged with courage at Xeeseir¡¯s group of four.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    A timely flash from Chirh from the side caused one of their enemies to lose his footing and tumble in a few body rolls, but the other three kept storming toward Xeeseir¡¯s group.

    The man who had been poisoned fearlessly hurtled forward, his aurae skin cracking under pressure as his body was struck by the twin ladies¡¯ bronze whips. However, he was successfully relieving pressure on the two allies behind him. The fourth that had been surprised by Chirh¡¯s flash was only just getting to his feet, and at this point, stranded by himself.

    Another arrow from Xeeseir pierced through a chink in the charging man¡¯s aurae skin, and blood spurted out of the man¡¯s abdomen.Yet, that did not even impede their progress one bit.

    Rein swore as he realized what this man was attempting. This poisoned man was clearly using the last moments of his life to unleash some sort of suicide attack at the individuals he deemed most dangerous!

    Unfortunately, there was nothing Rein could do-- or at least, he wasn¡¯t willing to expose the fact that he could employ an origin skill to rapidly teleport himself to aid Xeeseir¡¯s group. Doing so in this wide open plains, his secret would be remembered by all! He could only hope the outcome would not be too devastating.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± he ordered his group, and they themselves dashed forward to engage the stranded fourth Burning Flesh member.

    Yet before they could surround this dazed fourth member, Rein saw the two Burning Flesh members accompanying the poisoned member, put flask-to-lips to consume some sort of liquid, then the very next moment, spew two magical torrents of black liquid directly at Xeeseir¡¯s backstepping group!

    The black liquid showered onto the four. For the final blow, the poisoned man¡¯s orifices turned a fiery red as his whole body burst into flames. His allies suddenly stopped charging, and then his whole body lit up in a blaze and accelerated like a meteor toward Xeeseir¡¯s group!

 Ch41: Combination Arts

    Truly the School of Burning Flesh. The man imploded in a rain of fire upon crashing into the two raven-haired twin ladies.

    As he engaged the foe that had just regained his footing, Rein had already reached the conclusion that the black liquid was probably oil. Out of the corner of his eye, he could notice Wilo¡¯s figure burning brightly as she escaped wailing behind the boulder. She seemed to have somehow borne the brunt of that explosion.

    The twins rolled on the ground, a majority of their bodies covered in a blue shell, while Xeeseir appeared to be the only one completely unaffected by the suicide attack as he fired rapid arrows at those two remaining oil-spewing enemies in an attempt to give his allies time to recover.

    Chirh timed a flash perfectly as the stranded Burning Flesh member targeted by Rein¡¯s split-off group immediately lost his vision again upon regaining his bearings.

    Their blinded foe was easy prey. Rein, trusting that Master Yirn had given him a reliable weapon, performed a cross strike directly at his foe¡¯s head with full force.

    The soak staff was much more powerful than he imagined, as the strike completely shattered the aurae skin defending his foe¡¯s head. Amazingly, the surface of the staff that became somewhat charred upon contact with the hot protective shell of the enemy, visibly repaired itself using the aurae it had absorbed from the environment.

    Dahk was quick to move, immediately taking full advantage of this opportunity. He left nothing to chance, as he thrust his snake spear forward with his left arm while the inscriptions on the weapon lit up. The snake spear tip seemed to twist slightly right before drilling into the man¡¯s head.

    Dahk¡¯s final strike was so devastating that he struggled to remove his spear from the man¡¯s skull. He had to step onto the body¡¯s neck to hold the man still in order to forcibly wiggle and drag his snake spear out of the head. The spear had created multiple pathways through the enemy¡¯s brain.

    Some might think that this shell advancer lost his life too easily, and to inner advancers at that. This couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. The reality was that Rein and his allies had simply piled onto the Burning Flesh man relentlessly. The eyes remained a weak point-- a shell advancer would literally obscure their own vision if said advancer layered his or her own eyes with a thick aurae defense!

    Thus, Chirh¡¯s inscripted weapon of the flashing effect turned out to be rather effective and repeatedly blinded their foe at inopportune times. As such, it was far easier for a physically augmented Rein to damage their foe¡¯s shell defense, allowing Dahk to deliver a final blow.

    At this time, the two remaining Burning Flesh advancers began repeatedly shooting oil into the air as some form of magic shaped the oil torrents into rain, showering Rein and his allies in a greasy layer. They then withdrew tens of spherical orbs-- Rein recognized these as similar to the ones he had used while raiding a caravan with Chenhr--, and proceeded to half-haphazardly launch them in all directions.

    By now, the twin ladies had recovered their footing, and spun their bronze whips like dancing snakes, deflecting all the bombs thrown in their direction to the side. Rein inwardly commended them for their exquisite skill-- the two perfectly whipped the many ignition bombs away.

    Under his direction, Xeeseir¡¯s group carefully maneuvered themselves toward Rein¡¯s direction-- he probably believed that there was a need for the group to come back together.

    Rein and Dahk also leapt sideways, in a manner that extended their distance from their two enemies while allowing them to reform their original formation with Xeeseir. Chirh swung his shortsword, accelerating his body a good ten feet away from the bombs¡¯ landing spots, though his direction was slightly off, and he had to desperately sprint back into the group.

    For his part, Rein raised his soak staff and tried to use his water droplet skill again. However, he had already drawn water from air in this area, not to mention, all the heat from the Burning Flesh advancers had further expelled any moisture left in the area.

    Rein groaned in his mind, resorting to drawing aurae from the soak staff¡¯s inlaid power gems-- personally, refilling those power gems with aurae was a strenuous task, and he very much wanted to avoid doing so unless forced to.

    Even by activating those power gems, the water drop was forming above his head at a much slower pace.

    Xeeseir quickly delivered his instructions once the two groups reformed. The twins stood in front, using their long bronze whips to fling and ignite the flying exploding spheres at a relatively safe distance in front of them.

    ¡°Rein. The ladies have informed me that they need an extensive amount of that water for their magic.¡± Xeeseir squinted at the water drop forming above Rein¡¯s head, as if urging a newborn babe to quickly climb out of a mother¡¯s womb.

    Rein could not resist complaining in his own heart. Wouldn¡¯t it have been far better if those two ladies had mentioned such a potent advancer art from the get-go? Somehow, this information had come late.

    Perhaps the twins were mad that they got hit by the friendly fire of the expanding water wave, and failed to mention it on joining the group. Or, Xeeseir had delivered his orders and they had wanted to act quickly, so the twins never had a chance to deliver such information.

    Another flash of light struck their two enemies, as Chirh once again attempted to daze their foes. But these two Burning Flesh advancers were prepared, and honestly, they did not need to have a clear sight with the way they were aiming their bombs, hoping that a single one would get past the twin¡¯s whips and ignite Rein¡¯s party.

    ¡°It¡¯s not enough!¡± One of the twin ladies yelled as she took a darting glance at the floating water sphere before refocusing onto the incoming barrage of airborne bombs.

    Rein, frustrated that he had to resort to using the inlaid power gems, fumed back, ¡°Twelve hells! There¡¯s no water in the air, and the power gems won¡¯t have enough to last through future battles at this rate.¡±

    ¡°Just draw water from the bloody corpses around, you fool. Those dead bodies no longer have their innate magical protection! You can easily use them as a source for the water!¡± The other twin lady huffed back as she barely managed to knock away the endless number of bombs. Those Burning Flesh advancers must have a type of spatial magical pouch to carry so many bombs on their bodies.

    To the side, Xeeseir had stopped firing arrows. There were only three arrows left in his quiver, and he clearly did not want to use these three at this juncture.

    Rein felt slightly sick in the stomach, but there was no choice. Maintaining the activation of the soak staff¡¯s inscription, he willed the spell to instead draw moisture from the various bodies surrounding them. Some of these corpses were long dead before they had even arrived.

    He felt he wasn¡¯t much better than that corpse-devil that had ¡®resurrected¡¯ the dead mercenaries to fight against him and Chenhr previous to him coming to the Green Trout City.

    Disgustingly, Rein could swear that a pink tinged mist swum through the air, enlarging the water drop above his head. But that was perhaps just his imagination, for when he turned his eyes upwards, he saw that the water sphere was as clear as crystal. Chirh, unsurprisingly, had begun retching with bile flowing from his mouth at Rein¡¯s actions.

    ¡°Now!¡± Rein indicated to the twins as he let loose the water drop that had grown to a diameter quadruple his height.

    Unlike last time, all members of the ground were fully prepared to get drenched. However, that did not happen, for at the very same time, the inscriptions on the twins¡¯ two bronze whips glowed, and the water sphere split into two streams, each flowing to one of the ladies, rapidly forming into twin water serpents.

    With a flick of their wrist, the two sea serpents launched forward, spinning around each other as they formed a water vortex that spun all the bombs to the side as it twisted at the two Burning Flesh advancers.

    Upon impact, the vortex curved downwards, and the water vortex pounded their two enemies repeatedly against the ground.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Intoned Xeeseir, a warning that gave most of the group time to brace themselves against the water wave that now crashed toward them from their foes¡¯ location, the remnants of the water serpent vortex art.

    They all, with the exception of Chirh, who was still busy being nauseated, glued their bodies flat to the ground as they jammed their fingers into the ground soil to avoid being washed away. Chirh, unprepared, was instead banished from the group to some unknown realm.

    Once the surge was past, Rein was the first to dash toward their two enemies, with Dahk closely following behind.

    He found their two foes down on the ground, their aurae skins broken, and their eyes bleary and barely conscious.

    He exhaled, before swinging his staff down onto one head over and over again, until the man¡¯s skull had been thoroughly crushed.

    Dahk, on the other hand, had simply pierced his snake spear through the other¡¯s throat.

    Rein was impressed with the strength of these twin ladies. Perhaps it was because they were at the cusp of entering the shell realm, but it was only because of their successful and meticulous transformation of Rein¡¯s water drop into their large water serpents that the advancer art of their bronze whips could have this effect.

    Combining advancer arts is also a way to overcome stronger and dangerous foes, but only if done so effectively and efficiently. Their advantage in numbers certainly helped as well.

    The group observed their surroundings. Honestly, the repeated expanding waves Rein had used caused both allies and enemies to move a good multiple kilofeet away in wariness. None of them wanted to have the outcome of their battle determined by a random water surge.

    Xeeseir took the opportunity to scavenge for extra arrows to refill his quiver. The rest began harvesting the heartblood of the Burning Flesh individuals. Perhaps they would be able to trade such heartblood for something-- none of them within the group seemed to have any advancer art relating to fire.

    Soon, Chirh returned from some unknown realm that he had been flushed to, and he, though rather pale, was at the very least physically unharmed.

    Rein¡¯s guts told him that he had missed an important detail. The sound of a cracking dead branch caused him to spin around. Right! Rein suddenly recalled that there had been a shadowy assassin!

    But it was just Wilo returning. To everyone¡¯s astonishment, she seemed none the worse for wear. They had all noticed her burning the most brightly when that Burning Flesh advancer detonated himself.

    She was also dragging a body decked out in a black cloth outfit-- only the eyes and bridge of the nose could be seen. ¡°When I sought a reprieve to put out the flames behind that boulder, the shadowy assassin had returned. Probably to reap the weakened combatants of this exchange.¡±

    She flung the body with venom onto the two Burning Flesh advancer corpses after taking the assassin¡¯s heartblood. This advancer¡¯s black outfit had a sigil of a crevice across his chest.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Sirin Sect,¡± Chirh¡¯s voice quivered. ¡°It¡¯s said that all they need is an open wound, and the poison in the air would kill their foes!¡±

    Rein inwardly sighed. If that was true, this Sirin Sect would probably have killed everyone on this battlefield by now. He reminded himself that Chirh¡¯s information might often be exaggerated relative to the man¡¯s faintheartedness.

    Instead of examining this assassin, Rein closely observed Wilo. Her wooden mask was still fully intact. The Hall of Heroes robe appeared fine, if its surface inscriptions appeared slightly less resplendent. Her own hood, too, had sustained no damage.

    ¡°I might not like flames, but I¡¯m not that easy to burn down.¡± Wilo, somewhat irked by such close examination, stated. ¡°You know my weapons, many long needles, are of wood. Naturally, I needed to dispose of many of them, which had been ignited by that sudden heat.¡±

    Rein, slightly embarrassed, could only nod and turn his attention back to surveying for their next target.  However, he was not the only one bewildered. Xeeseir and the twins, both closer to Wilo, had seen and heard her excruciating screams during the incident. Wilo¡¯s current nonchalance was of stark contrast. Still, they were all relieved that she was absolutely fine.

    The group ruffled through the corpses of the Burning Flesh advancers finding thick brass knuckle weapons in addition to the already seen flasks.

    On closer look, the flasks seemed to be made of clay and layered with inscriptions designed to give certain magics to the liquid residing inside, and also seemed to augment the user in some way. Rein lacked the knowledge to fully discern the method in which it worked.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in taking those flasks. They¡¯re a School of Burning Flesh specialty protected by blood enchantments, and being made from clay, simply cannot be broken down and remade into other weapons,¡± one of the twins said.

    However, to the twin¡¯s confusion, Rein still pocketed one of them-- his goal was to further figure out how this flask worked.

    They then distributed the collected four brass knuckles to the twins, Chirh, and Wilo, the four that had yet to receive any spoils. Xeeseir also had yet to gain anything, but he rejected the brass knuckles, while offering a reminder. ¡°These weapons have a protective enchantment. Be careful not to accidentally use them, and find a blacksmith to break down the weapon.¡±

    Seeing these weapons, Rein inwardly chuckled. They had struck these four Burning Flesh members so rapidly that they never even got the chance to use their close-ranged magical skills.

    The lady¡¯s voice sounded through the Hall of Heroes robe again. ¡°The javelins are ready. If you are capable of using them and have basic comprehension of inscriptions, head to the edge of the trees.¡±

    Xeeseir, having more or less refilled his quiver, only needed a single glance at Rein to discern that Rein believed himself capable of using these so-called javelins.

    ¡°Back to the woods.¡± He gestured with an arm.

    One of the twin raven-haired ladies hesitated as if she wanted the two to go their own way. But, the other had no intention of leaving and a single menacing look ensured that the two would stick with the group.

    Both ladies wrapped their seven-sectioned bronzed whips around their own arms. Only now did Rein realize that of the twins, one was right handed, and one left-handed.

    Perhaps his old habits as a member of the merchants got the better of him, and he couldn¡¯t resist running his eyes over their form and facial features as the group jogged back towards the woods, their formation loose and changing as each individual varied their pace.

    Under the pale moonlight and with assistance from the lingering flames created by the now dead Burning Flesh advancers, Rein could see that although these two ladies were twins, and naturally, both had raven hair, there were obvious differences. For one, one of the ladies was half a head taller. Two, the taller twin had a long and deep scar over her cheek that looked to be from a knife.

    Outside of these differences, both ladies had identical unblemished soft beige skin, hazel eyes, dark and long eyelashes, upturned nose, rosy lips and heart-shaped chins. They were clearly beauties, though the taller one might be considered by some to be maimed due to that scar.

    ¡°Have you finished observing?¡± The taller twin lady asked. Her tone was bland-- Rein could not perceive her feelings, if she had any.

    Thus, he politely bowed his head. ¡°I saw that some oil had been ignited on the two of you. I am relieved that there has been no harm done.¡± Rein did feel somewhat guilty that he had chosen not to use his origin skill to rapidly offer assistance during that perilous point in their battle.

    Part of him wanted to blame Master Yirn and Chenhr for ¡®forcing¡¯ him to adopt such careful use of his origin skill. However, at the root of it, it was really his fear of being hunted by those crazy origin skill research organizations, such as the infamous Bloodline Genesis, that motivated his choice of action. Thus, he felt apologetic in that regard, but only a little-- he needed to preserve his little life!

    The shorter twin activated her defensive magic and covered half her face with an aquamarine aurae skin, making Rein feel rather silly for his concern. ¡°Easy.¡± She declared, her voice slightly softer compared to her older twin.

    Rein quickly introduced all the other members, though the two twins already had accurate guesses based on their communication in the previous battle.

    ¡°I¡¯m Suxeire and,¡± The older lady gestured at her twin, ¡°my younger sister is named Joxeire.¡±

    Rein¡¯s earlier examination clearly had an effect on her though, for she quickly backtracked the conversation after their introductions. ¡°What do you think of my wound?¡± She lightly brushed her fingers along the long and thick scar that stretched across her right cheek.

    Her tone was ambiguous, making Rein pause as his mind branched into multiple possibilities. Did she want him to ask about the scar? Or is she self-conscious about the scar and he should avoid the topic? Or¡­

    In the end, Rein just went with what he felt was somewhat of a positive note. ¡°I¡¯ve always had trouble telling twins apart back when my hometown had yet to be razed to the ground. So, I¡¯m quite relieved that with you two, I would avoid embarrassing myself and be able to reliably identify you and your sister from one another.¡±

    Both twins simultaneously snorted at his words. Though, Rein wasn¡¯t sure whether it was in annoyance or suppressed amusement. Thus, he quickly added, ¡°Plus, if you truly wished to, you could make the scar disappear once you enter the shell realm of magic.¡± All advancers, to some degree, are able to slightly modify their appearance as their bodies grow with the aurae they absorb.

    Their conversation was interrupted by a unique ox-like beast that rumbled out of the woods-- they had returned back to the edge of this grassland plateau.

    This beast, which had the body of an ox, had oversized horns that spanned the whole width of its body. Those horns also had multiple pointed ends-- it could be best described as an enlarged ox horn with a hint of stag horn branching patterns.

    Attached to this beast was a maloewood carriage with both sides emblazoned by a golden Hall of Heroes sigil.

    A group of gray-robed Hall of Heroes members leapt to the back of the carriage and deftly manipulated a wooden contraption that locked the two doors together.

    A few movements of wooden rods and slots after, the doors swung open to reveal racks upon racks of long metallic javelins.

    These javelins are the true modern day ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯! Rein found his fingers itching for the opportunity to use such an armament. His half-senior Chenhr had allowed him to practice with the initial activation of one somehow stolen from the Hall of Heroes. Now? He would have the chance to truly use this heaven-shattering weapon!

 Ch42: Modern Javelins of Heaven

    The gray-robed members dragged racks out of the carriage, and also withdrew a type of carrying pack made of black leather.

    ¡°Quickly! Attach five javelins of the same rank to each jolster!¡± The gray-robed member expertly separated each javelin into two sections--head and tail end-- and attached them to these so-called jolster packs. A total of ten sections were thus strapped tightly to each jolster.

    Rein was the only one of his group that approached-- the others hadn¡¯t had the chance to learn the art of inscriptions. If not for Blacksmith Tiehr and his unique encounter with Master Yirn, he, too, would never have had the chance to develop such a skill. Inscription masters required many years and time, not to mention, an analytical mind.

    ¡°A new initiate? One moment.¡± A stocky gray-robed figure indicated.

    A few heartbeats later, the stocky gray-robed figure brought forth a full decked-out jolster to Rein¡¯s side. ¡°Rein, is it? The watcher has stated that you have reached the level of some understanding of initial shell realm inscriptions.¡±

    The watcher¡­ Rein sifted through his memories-- this watcher is likely the woman who he met when signing up to join the Hall of Heroes, and precisely the lady who spoke through the Hall of Heroes robes.

    The stocky gray-robed figure detached two ends of the same javelin from the jolster, and held up one such that Rein could see the cross section of the javelin.

    ¡°See that? It¡¯s made of five concentric layers. On activating the inscriptions, depending on the order, you can create different types of combinations, though it¡¯s advised to use the outermost layer first.¡±

    What an impressive mastercraft. Rein could see that every single one of those layers had interlocking inscriptions through its metallic material, though obviously, he could only see hints of these inscriptions in the inner four layers through gaps in the surface layer.

    Now, Rein had long learnt from his half-senior Chenhr on how to manipulate these javelins, the true modern day ¡®Spear of Heaven.¡¯ However, the Hall of Heroes constantly renewed their designs, so Rein patiently waited for the gray-robed figure to explain the system.

    The stocky gray-robed figure then attached the two ends of the javelin together, and rotated the top pointed end until the two segments locked into place. It was a full fifteen plus feet in length.

    He then held the now complete javelin in the middle, and flapped his wrist like a grounded flopping fish.

    The javelin amazingly bent and swayed in accordance to his movements, yet did not break. ¡°A unique metal alloy. The javelin was sent to our branch fully made, from the home realm of the Halls. Allows the javelin to maneuver through the air without breaking and strike targets like thunder.¡±

    Rein was not given any additional time to ponder the information, as the stocky fellow immediately followed that up by putting the javelin to the side and opening a rough paper scroll.

    The scroll had diagrams of all the five concentric layers of the javelin, depicting every single interlocking inscription per layer.

    ¡°Do you understand all these?¡± The gray-robed man questioned.

    Rein scanned rapidly over the diagrams-- the inscriptions were all below the shell realm, and completely basic in nature. They were simple spells, similar to the box of bombs he once used-- simple explosion type spells of various elements. These being inner realm inscriptions meant one thing-- the javelin would be destroyed once deployed, as it would need to sacrifice its body as a source of attack.

    Rein could guess that some of the other javelins from the racks probably had much more advanced magics inscribed. Unfortunately, he only had an initial understanding of shell realm inscriptions, and he himself would not be able to supply the necessary aurae for higher realmed inscriptions anyway.

    ¡°For simplicity¡¯s sake, all these five in your jolster are one and the same. Take a moment to refresh your understanding of javelin control,¡± the gray-robed man said as he pointed at a specific part on the scroll that demonstrated how to change the javelin¡¯s direction mid-flight.

    Rein took a moment to quickly examine these controls-- they were all inscriptions pertaining to qualities of the wind, that act to slightly shift the tail-end of the javelin to redirect its flight.

    Last of all, Rein received a bottle of five pills. The stocky gray-robed man wasted no more time. ¡°Pills that will give you the temporary ability to influence your surroundings with your aurae, like an outer advancer. Lasts around twenty heartbeats. One per javelin such that you can activate its magics during its flight. No lasting damage unless you ingest too many of them in a short time.¡± He paused then clarified. ¡°And by too many, I mean more than ten.¡±

    How succinct. When Rein heard of the effect of these pills, he remembered how that dragon-in-human-form Mystrygon had ¡®assisted¡¯ him in reaching out with his aurae to form Mystrygon¡¯s escape portal.

    He wondered whether these magical pills could be abused for combat, but the limit was around ten. That wouldn¡¯t be a particularly long period a lower ranked advancer could augment themselves-- though certainly useful in a life-threatening moment.

    He bound the jolster with the eight sections-- the four remaining javelins-- to his back, and then picked up the already complete javelin. The weight slightly leaned towards the tips, no doubt, in order to help it fly true.

    ¡°Ready?¡± Xeeseir¡¯s eyes ran over the length of the javelin. The moonlight gave it a soft dark metallic sheen with glimpses of bright reflection from the many shallow indentations of the inscriptions. Definitely a technological marvel.

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Rein was somewhat nervous with anticipation. These javelins were truly the de facto ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ that he had learnt about.

    The group of seven reformed their positions. However, this time, Rein stood at the back along with Xeeseir-- he was likely to get targeted since he now held a rather intimidating and visible javelin.

    Rein strode back to battle with his head held high. The javelin in hand made him feel like an ancient god of war marching to victory!

    Their surrounding environment soon brightened, but not because the sun was rising. Though the battles had been stressful, barely any time had passed since their dinner. No-- the brightness came from the amount of magical arts being thrown around on the battlefield!

    ¡°Defensive positions. Focus on defense and we will shift our position as necessary.¡± Xeeseir clearly had a fair amount of experience with advancer battles.

    Rein observed the scene in front of him. Although they had dispatched those four enemies, in reality, the chaotic battlefield had barely changed, except for the fact that the ancient chest layered with archaic runes and escorted by a dwindling number of automatons was now mired in the central area of the plateau, surrounded by small-scale clashes between different factions on all sides.

    Rein hefted the javelin onto his shoulder and took a deep breath. When he gazed upwards at those figures floating into the sky, he felt himself burned by multiple glares.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Immediately, a few of those figures withdrew at a speed invisible to Rein¡¯s eye. One figure belonging to a race of beasts let out an echoing yowl, leading all members belonging to the demon faction to withdraw from both the sky and ground battle. Many of these half-human forms darted away on all-fours.

    Rein was under no misconception that they feared him. It was the javelin resting gently on his shoulder-- and many other shoulders-- that they feared!

    His companions waited patiently, while darting their eyes around to ensure the group would not receive any sudden ambush. Xeeseir, instead, looked up at the sky, wary of the powerful figures that remained floating in the sky.

    A square-faced man in a bright silver plate armor set polished to have a wavy pattern hovered at the front of the advancers from the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ great sects.

    A rather odd detail that Rein noticed was that this burly man seemed to be wearing multiple layers of this same thin armor on top of each other. Normally, this would be difficult to tell, but the man¡¯s movement had caused those layers to shift their positions slightly, thus revealing a hint of the underlying layers. In the front of his chest was the sigil of three circles, each larger than the other, creating a sort of hypnotizing effect.

    Upon seeing the appearance of many javelins of heaven, this man immediately let off a voice that reverberated within all ears like a pounding drum in a narrow street.

    ¡°Target the javelin users! Limit their influence. Ensure they have no chance to even focus on their javelin control for even a single breath of time!¡±

    His words had an immediate effect, as many of the advancers on the ground that carried the sigils of the great sects immediately regrouped and began identifying and targeting the Hall of Heroes¡¯ javelin users. Except Rein!

    Rein had already begun circulating the aurae through his veins to operate the ¡®aura restraint¡¯ skill! With so many bodies around, and many on the ground being only shell advancers, Rein had practically turned invisible! He knew early on that of course, the users of these javelins would be targeted.

    ¡°Wait! Where¡¯s Rein?¡± Chirh twisted his neck left and right with a pale face.

    ¡°He¡¯s right here.¡± It was Wilo who pointed directly at Rein at the back of the group. Chirh wide eyes seemed to drift past Rein¡¯s body. Then Chirh narrowed his eyes and followed Wilo¡¯s finger to finally find his sight filled with Rein¡¯s figure. It was as if his eyes had previously created a blindspot that obscured Rein!

    Rein had to admit, he was somewhat alarmed that his ¡®aura restraint¡¯ skill seemingly had no impact on Wilo.

    Many other members of the team also needed help to focus their gaze onto Rein, with the exception of not just Wilo, but also Suxeire. Unlike her twin sister, Suxeire had no interest in Chirh¡¯s confusion and simply kept scanning for any approaching enemies.

    ¡°Let''s choose this spot.¡± The team now stood on the edge of a row of trees slightly elevated on the edge of the plateau.

    ¡°Prepare your defenses,¡± Xeeseir ordered as he chopped down his arm with determination. ¡°We will kill any that attempt to attack Rein. If the enemy is too strong, we will delay them such that Rein can carry out the javelin attacks!¡±

    Rein took a deep breath and exhaled to refine his focus. He then popped one of those special unnamed pills into his mouth. With a single bite, the pill completely melted into a burning liquid that diffused through the gums of his inner mouth. Rein felt the same sensation as when that human-formed dragon poured his aurae into Rein¡¯s body. His eyes could now see waves of colored aurae cascading around in the air like an ink painting

    He extended a string of his aurae into the javelin, and immediately felt a magical connection to the armament. The javelin now became essentially an extension to his arm!

    Identifying an area where he could see no Hall members in the line of fire, Rein lunged forward on one leg and with a twist of his torso, let the javelin fly!

    He then sat down cross-legged and held out his right arm with three fingers pointed, using his temporary aurae connection to control the javelin. He scrunched his eyebrows, barely able to maintain his focus-- it was no easy task maintaining the connection with the borrowed power of the pill.

    He had already planned a course of action. A blast of green wind aurae swirled at the tail end of the javelin as if further accelerated in its speed of flight. The inscriptions at the front then lit up, turning the front half of the javelin white-hot.

    The enemies Rein had targeted did not even have time to react as the javelin tore through the air at chest height parallel to the ground, and punctured through one torso after another, with all the wounds forming cylindrical carbonized flesh!

    Rein had to marvel over the strength of the javelin. For it to even puncture through the skin-armor of a shell advancer, the weapon must either be made of a unique material, or the combination of the inscriptions on the javelin must be immaculate. Or both!

    Rein then clapped his hands together, and the outermost layer or the javelin shattered, shelling a whole area with deadly micro-blades. This was simply a combination of a shatter spell that broke the outer layer into bits, and an exploding spell that sent the sharp bits through the enemies on the battlefield.

    At this point, the javelin had already gone through tens of bodies and injured a crowd with its shatter spell. Still, the javelin with its four remaining layers bolted through the air unimpeded. Only ten heartbeats had passed.

    The same green aurae activated at the tail end of the javelin again but slightly to the side, causing the javelin to bend as Rein readjusted its direction, aiming at yet another section of enemies.

    The fourth layer had a slight variation. Once again, the layer shattered, flinging bits everywhere in the battlefield. A heartbeat later, each of these individual bits also exploded, each with different elemental qualities.

    Some were a type of metallic spell that delivered a million micro cuts onto the bodies of those in range. Some seemed less deadly, only temporarily encasing and freezing individuals within their blast range. However, on such a chaotic battlefield where multiple factions are competing, such a situation was equivalent to death!

    There were still three remaining layers on the javelin. With some layers gone, the javelin seemed to fly with even greater speed, as Rein controlled it to curl around in a wide loop to redirect it to another location. This time, he aimed at a group in the process of harassing and disrupting a javelin user¡¯s control.

    By now, the situation had completely changed. The Hall of Heroes¡¯ escort unit was making ground again. Many of the enemy combatants caused some javelins to suddenly drop to the ground before A second layer could even be activated. Still, the deaths caused by the javelins were rising by the moment. Some had even started zigzagging away, hoping the movement would allow them to avoid any of these javelins¡¯ flight path. After all, Rein was not the only one wielding such a javelin.

    Rein¡¯s position remained thoroughly undetected due to his ¡®aura restraint¡¯ and thus his javelin was not impeded in any shape or form. This was of no surprise. Shell advancers are only in the process of developing the ability to interact with the environment through aurae tendrils, and so simply do not have the ability to see through Rein¡¯s ¡®aura restraint¡¯ that blended him in with his surroundings!

    Thus, Rein¡¯s unimpeded javelin shone the brightest in a devastating fashion among the number of gleaming needles that swam through the battlefield, dropping flies to the cold hard ground.

    One obvious question came to Rein¡¯s mind. Surely, these other factions have a comparable ¡®spear of heaven¡¯ in their arsenal? If so, there must be a reason why they have yet to, or are unable to use them at this juncture. His guess? The great sects did not have many due to the number of inscriptional and blacksmith masters required to craft these weapons.

    His slight mental distraction was costly, as Rein suddenly found his javelin frozen in space, unable to move even a fingernail forward--A burly hand had clamped onto the javelin from the sky!

    Rein instantly knew his course of action. All three remaining layers of the javelin shattered into its component bits and shortly exploded in a cacophony of elemental colors directly in front of the man.

    However, none seemed to have struck their mark, for an invisible wave radiated out from the man, washing the explosions outward away from the body. Once the aurae chaos dissipated, the man reappeared untouched, his plate armor a shining star as ever.

    This person was none other than the squared-jawed burly man that had called for the advancers of the great sects to target the javelin users!

    He wished to glare at the user of this javelin and was astonished to feel as if something was preventing him from locking onto Rein¡¯s location. He closed his eyes and opened his arms, attuning to the world. A few heartbeats later, the man¡¯s eyes locked directly onto Rein¡¯s location!

    He stomped mid-air and flew at a leisurely pace towards the seven. Rein had to admit that his heart nearly jumped out of his chest at this great sect leader¡¯s movement. It is an unspoken rule in the advancer world that higher-realmed advancers should not target a much lowered-realmed advancer.

    As for why? If two sects or clans went to war, without this rule, the two factions would simply specially target each other''s new generation in order to cut off the opposing faction¡¯s future! The issue was that in a large-scale war, this type of action would lead to an escalatory massacre, completely cutting off the future of a whole region, if not a nation! As such, this type of action is somewhat taboo.

    It was then that Rein realized-- the great sect advancer might have deemed him a priority target due to the ¡®aura restraint¡¯ skill that made it difficult for others below the outer realm to target him, especially in such a chaotic crowd! This man might be the unscrupulous type that ignored unspoken rules when necessary!

 Ch43: Battling an Outer Advancer

    The approach of this bulky man with layered armor plates with three hypnotic rings for a sigil was stopped by another javelin. This javelin was clearly of a higher grade compared to the ones in Rein¡¯s possession, as it transformed itself into a snake before curling and wrapping itself around the advancer¡¯s position in the air, as its tip repeatedly attempted to bite and poison the outer advancer!

    If Rein were to guess, this had to be a shell-realmed javelin of heaven. Shell advancer arts sometimes had the ability to transform the exterior of the user after all.

    Yet, Rein saw no concern in this bulky man¡¯s eyes-- only derision! He knew that the man would soon shatter the javelin that currently bound him in place. The bulky man¡¯s mouth opened wide in an invisible shout.

    ¡°Run! It¡¯s the--'''' Rein looked to his front left to see Chirh¡¯s mouth moving at the other members, yet he could no longer hear his voice, or anything for that matter. There was only a soft ringing buzz in his ears.

    Looking up, Rein could see a hint of white and half-transparent aurae emanating from the burly layered man¡¯s open mouth that seemed to radiate towards their location. This outer advancer¡¯s image then blurred in the same position in the air, and the green snake that had imprisoned his body shattered into a thousand useless pieces that dropped onto the plateau!

    Rein and Xeeseir simultaneously glanced into each other''s eyes before sharing a sly smile. Despite having just met, they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

    Rein¡¯s ears were still filled with that soft buzz that drowned out all sounds when the bulky-layered-armor man, with a silent clap of the hands, formed three hypnotic half-transparent white circles. The three circles seemed to come together and combine into a foot-sized sphere that the burly man stepped on, shooting him directly at Rein!

    His speed was imperceptible to Rein, or any inner advancers for that matter. However, Rein had zero need to know the bulky man¡¯s position. Rein rolled behind Xeeseir, who immediately wrapped himself around Rein as a form of protection.

    Beyond that, Rein aso instinctively activated the wood type spell of the soak staff to strengthen his body while holding out his staff in front of his chest with both hands, hoping to protect his heart and block any incoming attack that might slip through Xeeseir¡¯s defenses.

    ¡°Idiots. You think I can¡¯t pierce through flesh and bone? You¡¯re nothing but paper to me!¡± A derisive snort mocked Rein and Xeeseir.

    The flitting form of the burly plate-layered man rammed into Xeeseir¡¯s body with a crushing force using his left shoulder. Only then did the bulky-layered man discover something to be wrong!

    Despite Xeeseir activating his origin skill, Rein was shocked to find that the impact sent both him and Xeeseir flying like kites with their strings cut into the woods behind their backs!

    Unfortunately for Rein, he crashed directly through a broad and sturdy tree trunk, causing the soak staff placed in front of his chest to crush his sternum and knock his breath away. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he had already begun the body tempering arts of the draconic body, he might have died from such a collision! The soak staff was certainly of a tougher material than his body.

    Things were much worse for the bulky-layered man. The aurae he had used to augment his ramming motion seemed to have reentered his body. Xeeseir¡¯s origin skill had reflected the magic back to the user.

    ¡°What are the chances¡­¡± Those were the words he muttered as a turbulent release of aurae consumed his left shoulder! He very much regretted thinking that he could simply kill that javelin-throwing youth through the balding middle-aged man!

    ¡°You fucking origin advancers!¡± The bulky-layered man roared in pain and fury. ¡°By the fallen gods, I¡¯ll have your fucking heartblood and secrets mine!¡±

    Rein was still dazed and skidding to a stop into some part of the woods when he heard this declaration. He groaned as he came to a stop underneath a bush, then coughed, unable to even draw breath, only feeling a throbbing dull pain in his chest. Tipping his chin to his sternum, he found his chest a caved-in bloody mess, and he gave a hacking cough as he spitted up blood. His injuries were much more significant than he thought!

    He finally understood the pain of the inner realm that depended on drawing aurae through breath. His lungs were clearly punctured, and he found himself unable to even stand and recover without being able to breathe properly.

    Rein did his best to crawl and roll onto his side in a bid to have a better look at his surroundings. He immediately saw the figure of that burly man had lost his left arm, and his left shoulder was a disgusting fleshy wound that sprinkled blood. Yet, the man flew to and fro in a deranged and erratic manner, gradually meandering toward Rein direction with an absolute disregard for his mangled left shoulder.

    These were desperate times. Rein realized his life was truly on the line now. He forcefully activated the flow of his aurae and formed a circular blackish-purple sphere between his palms. His low vantage point underneath the bush allowed him to teleport to another point under cover.

    In a heartbeat, his original hiding spot was crushed by an invisible white sphere that expanded outwards, forming a crater in the ground of his last location.

    ¡°Huh? Were my senses off?¡± The sound had returned, as Rein heard the outer advancer exclaim in surprise. Rein knew that outer advancers had only begun developing the telekinetic sense. Only when one entered the telekinetic realm would one fully sense those in close vicinity.

    On the other hand, outer advancers needed to intentionally reach out with aurae tendrils to sense the environment, and even then, it would be not dissimilar to one grappling and identifying objects by hand in a dark and enclosed box.

    Even so, Rein knew that his secret would be out if he used his origin skill one or two more times in a similar manner. For now, he had barely escaped the wrath of that outer advancer!

    Rein¡¯s teleport sent him quite close, back to the edge of the plateau again. Is that advancer still in pursuit? Rein cocked his head, but saw no shadow of white spheres or the form of that burly man. He still wasn¡¯t sure on how he had been thrown so far in a single clash, but he knew he was in trouble.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    He got on his feet and was relieved to see Xeeseir¡¯s face and form appear under the dim moonlight. Unlike him, Xeeseir¡¯s body had no injuries. Rein could only surmise that Xeeseir¡¯s origin skill thoroughly protected the man. Though Xeeseir blocked the bulky-layered man¡¯s attack, some residual power must have been transmitted through to Rein.

    Once closer, Xeeseir¡¯s eyes widened as he took notice of Rein¡¯s extensive injuries along with his struggling breath.

    ¡°Look out!¡± Xeeseir abruptly shoved Rein to the side that sent him rolling in pain.

    That burly plate-layered man had not given up after all! Twelve hells, why is that man so bent on killing a little ant like him?! Rein lamented his own misfortune. Surely, this burly-layered man should retreat and heal his left arm? Why go so far to pursue him?

    Amazingly, Xeeseir had blocked their foe¡¯s godly punch. The burly man¡¯s flesh seemed to ripple a force down his right punching arm on contact with Xeeseir¡¯s body. However, once that ripple met Xeeseir¡¯s body, it reversed its direction, the force pulsating straight back up their foe¡¯s right arm.

    ¡°So. This is the origin, Rebound. Hmph.¡± The man¡¯s voice was derisive. This was another common name used for Xeeseir¡¯s origin magic that appeared way too often in the history books.

    He controlled another wave of flesh that flowed down his right shoulder and clashed into the returning pulsating flesh. The man grimaced as the two pulsating waves traveling through his arm clashed, causing a white sphere to explode in his right elbow. His right arm remained fully functional.

    Unlike the previous time, this outer advancer seemed to have controlled his strength. If Rein were to guess, this man now ensured that he only used a power strong enough to kill an inner advancer, but not strong enough to cause damage to himself as an outer advancer.

    Xeeseir was also completely unharmed by this exchange.

    The burly man leaped backward and slapped his remaining right hand to the ground. Rein felt the ground vibrate lightly as Xeeseir found himself sinking. Somehow, the burly man had turned the soil into fine grains of wet sand that functioned like quicksand.

    Noticing the events occurring, Rein willed himself through his pain to move as he detached his jolster, and while coughing up more blood, assembled another javelin. He discovered that when he was previously rammed flying, he had somehow lost the sections of two javelins. Thus, he only had two left that he could use.

    Breath using your skin pores! Rein internally psyched himself up as he took quick shallow breaths while doing his best to practice what the mantras taught as absorbing magical aurae through the skin-- a practice that all who have reached the shell realm would have mastered.

    With a click, the javelin was assembled, and Rein popped one of those special pills, necessary to control objects at range, into his mouth as he struggled to stay upright to launch the spear.

    Deeply inhaling and forcing down a cough, Rein launched a javelin directly at the burly man, dropping down onto his knees as he barely kept his head looking in the right direction, with three fingers raised to control the javelin.

    He focused all the strength of the javelin into its tip. With this burly man¡¯s defenses, the only way his low grade javelin would cause any harm was if he could first pierce it through the body. And the tip of the javelin was designed to be the strongest.

    The burly man under the sigil of the three hypnotic circles derisively rolled his eyes, leisurely throwing a few flying daggers that stabbed into Xeeseir¡¯s two thighs with his remaining right arm.

    Xeeseir, though his feet were sinking and glued to the quicksand field, managed to twist his body, firing an arrow from his bow that amazingly clashed with a flying dagger aimed at his chest. None of these daggers had any inscriptional patterns on their surface, nor were there any magical attacks activated as a follow-up.

    With a satisfied smile, the burly man easily side-stepped Rein¡¯s thrown javelin. The lack of space in the edge of these woods made it difficult to change the javelin¡¯s direction. Frankly, it was not as if Rein¡¯s low grade javelin could make flexible directional changes to threaten this man anyway.

    Thus, Rein activated all five layers of the javelin, and the inscriptions flashed as the whole javelin shattered and burst in a shower of elemental bombs. Once again, the burly man easily defended against this style of attack. He snapped his fingers a few times and a transparent white sphere expanded and blocked the elemental explosions, creating a safe zone surrounding his body.

    He then shifted his position in the air and slipped three flying daggers between his four right fingers. He casually flicked his wrist. Xeeseir grunted as another struck his thigh, one in his abdomen and another on his right shoulder. By now, Xeeseir had sunk down to the knees, making it impossible to properly turn his body and fire any arrows toward the position that the foe had moved to.

    Rein understood the dire situation that Xeeseir was in. By now, he could see exactly the method that the burly plate-layered great sect advancer was using. Quite obviously, Xeeseir¡¯s origin skill worked by rebounding magics. The enemy had chosen to simply limit Xeeseir¡¯s movement while mobilizing mortal weapons to slay the man!

    Rein once again assembled another javelin-- his last remaining one. He consumed another magical pill-- there was more than enough time remaining on the magical effect from the last one, but Rein needed to be certain of his link to this last javelin! WIth a deep lunge, he let the javelin fly again, barely maintaining his consciousness, particularly with his increasing loss of blood and struggles breathing.

    He collapsed onto his knees again, only able to keep one eye open to keep track of the flying javelin.

    ¡°Fool,¡± smirked the burly man. He had three daggers between his fingers again, and regarded Rein¡¯s javelin as nothing but an inconsequential attack easily to dodge and circumvent. Yet, at the exact moment when he was about to flip his hand to launch those daggers at the motionless Xeeseir stuck in the artificial quicksand, Rein smiled.

    Now! Rein formed a circle with his two hands. The blackish-purple spatial aurae filled the interior of the javelin and the javelin teleported directly above the burly man¡¯s left shoulder, aimed at the man¡¯s mangled wound, at a diagonal angle from left shoulder to the right hip!

    The burly man still had a smirk on his face when the javelin easily broke into his body through the unprotected flesh that is his left shoulder and then through his chest and to the right hip.

    ¡°You¡­ also--¡± Those were the only words the burly man managed to get out before Rein activated the bits of the javelin. The man¡¯s defenses were nothing with the shattered javelin bits erupting from within his torso. The bits of the outermost layer first detonated followed by the second and so on. A total of five chain explosions of many simple elemental magics augmenting each other completely decimated the whole torso of this outer advancer in a rainbow cloud!

    Rein¡¯s vision flashed white as he tried to confirm the kill. The burly man¡¯s torso had been frozen by ice, slashed with wind blades, boiled under heat, pierced by a thousand insidious metallic sand, its vitality stolen among many other effects! Truly a spear of heaven, so thought Rein.

    This was the only winning move he could think of. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, but since the origin skill worked on his body, he assumed that with the help of that pill connecting him to the body of the javelin, he should be able to exert the origin magics on the javelin as well!

    Luckily, the man had not seriously tempered his body in any way. Rein knew that the javelins of the Hall of Heroes must be made of some unique metal alloy that made them dangerous even against incredibly high-realmed advancers, but still, they would have been in far more trouble if the javelin failed to penetrate through the whole torso!

    He finally collapsed onto the ground, his vision fading. Shockingly, the last thing he noticed was that the head of that burly man¡¯s body had somehow started flying away with the limp lower half of the body floating behind.

    His last thought was his lamentation of his failure to keep his origin magic a secret.

 Ch44: A Vision of the Past

    Rein found himself floating in a completely white blank space. He knew not if he even still drew breath. After all, that outer advancer must have escaped with the knowledge of his origin magic. Soon enough, a multitude of forces would come hunt him down for their own nefarious purposes. Perhaps he had already been captured.

    ¡°Hahaha,¡± a deep guttural beastly chortle vibrated Rein¡¯s eardrums, and he spun around to find an enormous dragon lazing behind him. The dragon¡¯s scales were of an ugly gold color. It was ugly to Rein because the gold had more of an earth brown color rather than that of the pure metal valued in the mortal world.

    ¡°You¡­¡± It was obvious who this dragon was. ¡°Remnant will? Remnant soul of the draconic metamorphose bead?¡±

    ¡°Just so.¡± The earth-brown gold-tinged dragon transformed in a flurry and shrunk into a humanoid form. This dragon¡¯s humanoid form was also rather unappealing to Rein¡¯s eyes. Rein had seen the appearance of Mystrygon after the incident at Wolf Syrup Town, and that served as a point of comparison.

    This dragon had a rough and deep tan skin with two uneven vanilla-toned crooked horns. His messy mane was also of a dirty brown, closer to black in tone. The only feature that Rein appreciated of this dragon was his eyes. Now, those shone with a vibrant lion gold, majestic beyond compare.

    ¡°We¡¯re not done yet, Rein,¡± the dragon¡¯s coarse voice roughened Rein¡¯s ears. ¡°Your healing from the injury allowed the bead to fully meld with your body. Thus, this remnant will awakened¡­ Sometimes when you¡¯ve done your best, you might just catch a lucky break.¡±

    ¡°Now,¡± the dragon roared. ¡°Become me!¡±

    Rein stumbled backwards in fear. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re attempting to take over my body?!¡± He had expected that the draconic metamorphose bead might hold certain dangers. Yet now, he wasn¡¯t quite ready to lose it all.

    ¡°Hah. Perhaps if I was younger, I might have attempted such an action.¡± The dragon-in-human form shook his head with his arms clenched behind his back. ¡°But I am a failure. I was insufficient. ¡±

    ¡°No no no no no! You must become not just me, but a better me!¡± He declared as his golden lion eyes pierced deep into Rein¡¯s soul as light poured out. That golden glow completely filled Rein¡¯s sight and he found his surroundings a twisting storm of colors that transformed the scene.

    His sight was now filled with a slightly washed out scene. It appeared that ¡®he¡¯ was sitting in a dark gray stone room, but not just any ordinary stone structure. The walls were completely smooth with no structural lines, and the table in front of his eyes seemed to be attached to the room, with no gap between the legs of the table and the ground that suggested it could be shifted around in the room.

    The only reason this room could have such an unbroken surface was that someone had taken a humongous boulder the size of a small hill, and meticulously carved that whole interior from that single massive boulder.

    ¡®He¡¯ raised a hand forward, picking up a flower-patterned clay cup, bringing the tea within to his lips. His hand had long claws and his arm was layered in a dirty brownish-gold scales, and the tea itself reflected his similarly scaly and double crooked-horned head.

    A gray stone door swung open and a dark-haired human male teen walked in. His hand held a flat stone with a carved rune that emitted a blazing yellow light that brightened the gray interior.

    ¡°You, too, were sent to these servants¡¯ quarters?¡± The dark-haired boy gazed curiously at ¡®him¡¯.

    ¡®He¡¯ let out a few roars.

    Rein had no idea what ¡®his¡¯ roars meant, but the dark-hair boy nodded with understanding.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re the dragon that earned the favor of visiting this first heaven. One of the Gods was impressed with my intelligence and thus decided to bring me here as a¡­ well¡­ something. I¡¯ll be staying in these servants¡¯ quarters too. You¡­ what were you brought here for? Surely not your looks? Forgive me for saying this, but I have to say¡­ I don¡¯t know what a good-looking dragon is supposed to look like, but you are one ugly thing.¡± The teen chortled as he, too, poured himself a cup of tea.

    Rein found himself releasing a few low guttural roars again.

    ¡°Really? You¡¯re a malformed dragon with only affinity to wood and lightning, yet somehow beat the shit out of your fellow dragons? Impressive¡­ impressive!¡± The teen¡¯s eyes were bright with amazement.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He asked the dragon that Rein seemed to be inhabiting, yet had no control over.

    A few guttural roars emitted from ¡®his¡¯ mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯ve yet to receive a name? Hmm.. I¡¯ll just call you Gent for now then. You dragons look pretty scary. I¡¯d like to think you¡¯re a gentleman.¡±

    The dark-hair teen laughed at his own naming methods, before introducing himself.

    ¡®As for me? The God that brought me here gave me a name. I am Yirn. Nice to meet you, new friend.¡±

    Then, the vision faded into nothingness.

    Rein awoke to find himself on a white clothed stretcher. His chest was wrapped in bandages, and he found himself able to breathe again. A hand appeared directly in front of his nose, causing him to be cross-eyed, and Rein found himself choking down some disgusting foul liquid. A firm rough hand on his chin kept his mouth closed, forcing him to swallow the liquid.

    ¡°Ahahaha!¡± A man merrily laughed in joy.

    Rein forced himself to sit up. Although he was on a stretcher, he had yet to be moved. As such, he was really sitting on the ground.

    His eyes focused onto the laughing figure, the same man who had forced that foul liquid down his throat. It was a handsome man, with a chiseled jawline and stubble. He had short dark brown hair that spiked towards one side.

    Most strikingly was the fact that he wore a custom armor set of the Hall-- a gold-plated armor consisting of interweaving thin plates that intersect each other. As per the Hall¡¯s custom, a pearl white cloth peeked out from underneath the armor. This same pearl white cloth was also used to form a half-cape over the man¡¯s right shoulder. Clearly, he was one of those figures floating in a stalemate in the sky during the battle!

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Rein instinctively bowed his head at this realization. After all, this man had literally fed him medicine. He had no desire to make a bad impression on such a bigwig. In his eyes, this man must at least be an outer advancer if not higher, and truly had influence, unlike Beincen.

    ¡°No need, no need.¡± The man waved his hand. ¡°Do you see this?¡±

    Rein dared to unbow his head, coming face-to-face with the head of that burly plate-layered man that he had fought. Except, well, just the face. His head had been detached at the neck, and was now held up by this handsome halls elite by the hair.

    ¡°This is the picture of victory, my friend. A key promising elite of the Convergence Sect, slain. An annoying prideful fellow that would never let anything go. He was so weakened that with a single knife hand-strike, I punctured his skull and destroyed his brain! His head was already decapitated, I assume, by you two. Those sects are going to be occupied with each other with the shift in power!¡± Once again, the man burst out in an open joyous laughter while slapping Rein¡¯s shoulder.

    Rein nearly flinched to brace himself, but he did not feel the pain he thought he would from the shoulder slap. Did he already recover from his injury? Rein tentatively felt over the bandages in front of his chest. He felt no pain or soreness over his bones in any way.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re completely healed. A young man like you deserves to walk back into the Halls tonight upright with a head held high. Not on a stretcher!¡± This unnamed Halls elite was certainly a degree too impassioned for the current Rein, who was still confused as to the current state of affairs.

    At the very least, he felt relief that the burly man from this Convergence Sect had fallen. There would be no end to his troubles if somehow this Convergence Sect elite survived with knowledge of his origin skill.

    The other question was if Xeeseir recognized Rein¡¯s actions as well.

    ¡°You¡¯ve awoken.¡± Speak of the devil.

    Xeeseir had fully recovered before Rein. He approached, sipping some sort of liquid from a mug. He handed a second mug to Rein.

    ¡°We were quite lucky, weren¡¯t we? That man idiotically prioritized me and failed to notice the other javelin that you had thrown through an indirect hidden flight path.¡± Xeeseir¡¯s eyes twinkled as brightly as his balding head under the moonlit night.

    The hall''s elite shook his head. ¡°Luck is made, my friends.¡± He briskly walked off, beckoning with his arm. ¡°Come!¡±

    Rein intentionally bowed his head again as he sipped the liquid in the mug. Frankly, he had no desire to attract attention by moving around with such a conspicuous Hall elite. However, it would not do well to reject such an important figure¡¯s invitation. Thus, he had no choice but to follow.

    As for the liquid in the mug, it was a thick and sweet type of alcohol. Clearly meant to celebrate the Hall¡¯s victory. By now, based on the mood of the elite he was following, Rein knew that the Hall had more or less achieved their goals tonight. They must have successfully retrieved that chest layered with ancient runes.

    Rein could tell that they were retracing their path back to the tunnel through which they had left the Hall of the Heroes¡¯ underground maze.

    A light breeze blew, thoroughly painting the elite in front of them in a majestic light. The pearl white half-cape danced in the wind as the thin golden plates shifted over the man¡¯s sculpted body so smoothly that there was barely any sound of metal gliding over metal.

    Rein had to shake himself to divert his eyes away from the figure under the platinum glow of the moon.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already notified the others about what had happened,¡± Xeeseir told Rein. ¡°Initially, we spread out to try to search for you. Luckily, my sixth sense guided me to the right place.¡±

    Rein nodded. Indeed, Xeeseir was the only one who could take a proper attack from that outer advancer. This outer advancer was truly significantly more powerful compared to the corpse-man that Rein had once faced. He distinctly remembered how simply Chenhr had dealt with that foe.

    ¡°You probably know how my ability works by now¡­¡± Xeeseir mused.

    Once again, Rein nodded. In the battle, the burly man had ceased using any direct magical abilities on Xeeseir, and had resorted to simply transforming the ground, and throwing daggers that carried no magical spell with them. Rein easily drew the conclusion that Xeeseir¡¯s ability very much depended on whether the opponent was activating an advancer art to go along with their attack.

    He had one question though. ¡°How did you defeat those bandits that attacked your travel carriage then?¡± Rein recalled that this was the reason Xeeseir gave as to how his origin skill got revealed. The bandits should be of the inner realm, with limited magical ability. Xeeseir should, in theory, struggle against a group of such foes.

    ¡°Once you take down the biggest wolf, the rest follows.¡± Xeeseir¡¯s reply was really the only reasonable answer. The head bandit must have had inscripted armaments, and once Xeeseir defeated said leader, the others must have sought to escape.

    As he gazed at his soak staff, which was probably recovered for him by Xeeseir after he fainted in the battle, Rein now understood why most simply called weapons such as his soak staff, armaments. Perhaps, in a time long past, this soak staff might be considered a ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. Now, only something crafted at the level as those javelins he had thrown could be considered as such.

    The sense of desperation during the earlier battle did not give him time to consider the strength of these javelins. Following the Hall elite back down the uniform white-walled tunnel down to the Hall of Heroes underground labyrinth, Rein could not help but mull over these javelins.

    That stocky Halls javelin distributor had said that it was a special metal alloy. Rein¡¯s analysis? Since there were no power crystals attached to the javelin to unleash the advancer spells, the source of power could only be imbued within the metal alloy itself.

    His conclusion only demonstrated the depths of the Hall¡¯s strength. It was likely that many other powers across the realms had extremely limited quantities of such weapons. Or perhaps they were unable to even produce the unique metal alloy itself.

    It was increasingly clear to him why Master Yirn had wanted Rein to involve himself with the Hall of Heroes, and why Baejenh had wanted him to leak information to her of any unusual events in the Hall.

    Soon enough, they reached a luxurious underground cave. One might think that vegetation would struggle to grow in such conditions, yet there was a healthy yard in front of the cave entrance that contained a pond with some type of carp blowing bubbles to the surface. The garden had many vibrant strange-looking plants that Rein had never seen before. Naturally, all of this was only possible with the use of magical inscriptions that were camouflaged and difficult to see through the decoration.

    ¡°My personal quarters. If any of you keep delivering results, one day, you too shall have such a domain.¡± The Hall elite ejected a blast of aurae from his palm, which harmlessly scattered upon striking the circular stone door to the cave. The hidden inscriptions flashed in recognition of the aura signature and momentarily became visible as the door rolled open.

    Rein found himself inside a war room study. There was a rectangular maloewood table with maps of various landscapes strewn over the top, and many of these maps had wooden sculptures representing different forces.

    Surrounding this middle table were maloewood shelves filled to the brim of books and scrolls. Of the titles Rein had the opportunity to scan past, he identified that most of these books are on battle tactics, inscriptions, history of various topics, different advancer arts, magic origins and more. He was slightly surprised by this-- the hall elite did not seem like the type to hoard knowledge within his personal space.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to business,¡± The man said as he waved his arm to indicate that all should sit down onto the extravagant maloewood seat stumps.

    ¡°First off, I am Supreme Jensure. Oh. I¡¯m also fully aware of the two of you, so there¡¯s no need to introduce yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Say. I¡¯ve always favored those who deliver results. Under my name, you would have significantly more access to certain resources. Naturally, there may occasionally be a bit of¡­¡± His eyebrows gave a few twitches. ¡°Mild disagreement with some members among the other major players within the hall. Nothing that would even come close to destabilizing the Hall¡¯s strength, mind you. But I¡¯m ever so honest when inviting those such as yourselves. So, the choice is yours.¡±

 Ch45: The Five Supremes

    Rein could only groan in his mind at being invited into Supreme Jensure¡¯s camp. His issue with the invitation? Attention that he wished to avoid! Joining a camp was certain to attract eyes. He had not forgotten that he was sent here by Master Yirn, and had also been strangled into spying for the Fusion Sect¡¯s Baejenh.

    Master Yirn was his benefactor, and Baejenh¡­ betraying her would be making enemies with the Fusion Sect, ruler of this Fusion Realm!

    Yet, when Rein thought more about it, he realized that perhaps this was inevitable.

    In order to effectively find traces of his younger brother Jein, he needed the power of the Hall of Heroes. In order to avoid the trouble of Beincen of House Larne while staying alive, he would needed to be successful in some high stakes missions.

    That success would inevitably lead to him being invited into the internal politics of this branch of the Hall of Heroes. He would be forced to join a camp, because not doing so would be an insult to all the internal camps.

    Honestly, Rein felt as if he never had a choice in the first place.

    He secretly hoped that the invite would be withdrawn. ¡°I¡­ I am not sure if I have done enough to be worthy of such honor. Without Xeeseir here, or the javelin provided by the Halls, it would have been impossible for me to accomplish anything of note.¡±

    Another factor that Rein had to take into consideration was that such a Halls elite overseeing his movement could make things more difficult for him.

    Jensure was completely undeterred. ¡°Hah! I¡¯ve been around a long time. As they say, talent can only take you so far.¡± He glared at Rein. ¡°You think I lack perception?¡±

    Rein could only keep his eyes to the ground and shake his head emphatically.

    ¡°You were clearly targeted because you were identified as a troublesome javelin user. Indeed! You could have just abandoned your javelins and ran. Or,¡± he gestured at Xeeseir, ¡°escaped while this companion of yours that you had only known for a day engaged your foe.¡±

    Rein kept his mouth shut and his head down. Attempting to shirk off contribution, too, could be suspicious. Especially in the Halls, where most participants only joined in hopes of ascending.

    ¡°Are you perhaps concerned about your conflict with House Larne?¡± Jensure snickered with glee. ¡°He¡¯s nothing. But he does pay allegiance to another supreme that I don¡¯t quite get along with.¡±

    Xeeseir, perhaps not as concerned with ¡®staying hidden¡¯, asked the key question. ¡°What would  paying allegiance to you mean?¡±

    The Halls elite nodded. ¡°A proper but unnecessary consideration. As I have previously said, this is just a Halls branch. All members are only able to vie against each other through that brings about results against demons and devils. Any direct ¡®interference¡¯ that can lead to direct conflict among the members will get crushed down by the main branch. And the main branch answers to the Luminaries, and they to the Allfather.¡± His eyes shone with reverence at the mention of the Allfather.

    ¡°And Xune?¡± Xeeseir himself was curious. Many that associated with the Halls often used the phrase ¡®Xune¡¯s Spear¡¯.

    Jensure waved the question away. ¡°Too long of a tale. As I have said, you will have access to increased resources if you so join. An extra ten contribution points a day. Naturally, your success will also add to my own. I take it that you, Xeeseir, agree?¡± He received a nod as a confirmation.

    ¡°And Rein. By joining, Beincen will be even less of an¡­ annoyance. Previously, he could still have attempted some underhanded method to sabotage your missions. But once you pay allegiance, any conflict would be seen as one between me and the one he pays allegiance to. And any conflict between us would be managed by the main branch.¡±

    Under Xeeseir¡¯s somewhat amused smile, Rein no longer had an out. He would need to somehow ¡®stay hidden¡¯ under the nose of Jensure. He could only reassure himself that at the very least, there were benefits.

    As for why Xeeseir seemed to look at him with amusement, Rein¡¯s best guess was that Xeeseir believed that Rein was concerned about Jensure becoming aware of his origin skill.

    This is for the best, Rein concluded. Although Xeeseir had not definitively clarified whether he saw Rein teleport that javelin to strike their foe, it was still best for them to be on the same side. At least, that would decrease the possibility that Xeeseir would leak this knowledge.

    The two men each received a matte golden token from Jensure. The token was circular, with a completely flat back. The front was convexed in a slight curve, with a flying crane embossed into the smooth surface of the token. Simple yet elegant.

    ¡°The symbol I am known by in this branch. Wave it and they will give me face. Naturally, there is a limit to my share of the pie, and well,¡± his tone became more threatening. ¡°Although it is part of my pie, if you take advantage of my influence but fail to produce, ultimately, the hall will come for you. After all, I am only a part distributor of that pie.¡±

    Supreme Jensure then withdrew a vial, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Now. Do you wish to have this heartblood? That convergence sect elite protected his own heartblood within his skull.¡±

    Rein was certainly tempted. That outer advancer was powerful. If he could gain a bit of what that advancer had comprehended¡­

    Yet, a heartbeat later, he shook his head. Xeeseir similarly rejected the heartblood as well. Jensure was the one who got the killing strike, a supreme of this halls branch, an outer advancer and the leader of their camp!

    Supreme Jensure beamed and consumed the vial of heartblood.

    ¡°Let no one say I stole your contribution,¡± he commented. ¡°But this is for the best. The two of you may not know, but a common method for hunting down enemies is to rely on the heartblood. The Convergence Sect will sense that I have consumed the heartblood of Dunzkr. If the two of you dared to consume it¡­ not even I would be able to protect you.¡±

    ¡°Let me give you two an additional warning. Many on the field saw me take Dunzkr¡¯s life. But they also saw that Dunzkr was already on his last legs.¡±

    Rein and Xeeseir both widened their eyes at this information.

    ¡°That means,¡± continued Jensure, ¡°that the Convergence Sect might very well identify the two of you as priority targets. After all, they can¡¯t exactly come after me. Best of luck, my two new friends.¡±

    Jensure became less jovial and cordial now that he had accomplished his target. ¡°I hope I will feel the need to bring you two as guests here again. Your team will naturally also receive a bit of support, but it really is getting late.¡±

    The stone door rolled back open, and the two were summarily dismissed with a flick of Jensure¡¯s sleeves, to retrace their steps in the confusing maze.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Luckily, Xeeseir and Rein had kept an eye on their twists and turns while following Supreme Jensure, and quickly managed to reorient themselves. The fact that the underground stronghold had also returned to its default layout certainly helped as well.

    ¡°We¡¯re lucky,¡± a pleased Xeeseir noted. ¡°Jensure is one of the less eccentric hero elites in this branch. The other ones are much more¡­ unpredictable. Though, there are definitely some rumors about a few disconcerting incidents here and there.¡±

    It could be said that the more unpredictable, the more dangerous an advancer could be. After all, who was to know if a seemingly harmless action could be perceived as a threat to those more eccentric?

    Rein had a certain understanding of how the Halls operated thanks to Chenhr and Master Yirn¡¯s library collection, but of course, he had no knowledge of any new methods or specific personnel of this branch. ¡°The others?¡±

    ¡°Mmm. Yes. I lacked the necessary time to learn them all, but I do know two more.¡± Xeeseir slightly frowned, recalling the information he had managed to collect through his sources. ¡°Beincen and many of the Houses and Clans pay allegiance to a Supreme named Guihnes.¡±

    ¡°Guihnes is said to himself to have ties to the Dingien Clan currently in control of this Minhr Nation. Supposedly, he would take any opportunity to use the Hall¡¯s influence to hamper the sects¡¯ actions. An incredibly--¡± Xeeseir suddenly stopped speaking as he suspiciously observed the white walls of the tunnel they were traveling through.

    ¡°Authoritative man.¡± Xeeseir picked his words carefully, concerned that the walls could have ears.

    ¡°Then, there¡¯s Suyein. Supposedly a lady that rarely speaks, but when she does, she more or less gets her way. At least, that¡¯s what I was told. There are rumors that her followers have been thoroughly hypnotized by her based on how they behave. Though, perhaps you could simply say that they¡¯re incredibly loyal. Still, they¡¯re a crazy bunch and have supposedly taken action in outlandish fashion for Suyein.¡±

    Indeed. Jensure seemed comparatively normal to interact with. Though, Xeeseir¡¯s descriptions weren¡¯t necessarily ¡®eccentric¡¯. Sensing Rein¡¯s doubts, Xeeseir only shook his head with a sigh. ¡°Better not to speak of it. You¡¯ll eventually meet them.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a total of five?¡± Rein recalled a foggy memory of seeing five figures floating on the Hall¡¯s side during the battle.

    Xeeseir nodded, but then sought to add some extra information. ¡°Yes. And Overseer Jeahz is, well, just one of the collection of individuals overseeing this branch for the main Hall of Heroes.¡±

    Rein was rather curious as to how the other two remaining hero elites positioned themselves within this branch of the Halls. Perhaps Chirh or the twin ladies would be able to answer that question on another day.

    He had split from Xeeseir and returned to his cave, discovering the wondrous shower within a corner of his new lodgings. A press of his palm against a stone block that sunk into the walls caused that small corner to rain, thoroughly cleansing the gore and filth off Rein¡¯s body.

    The water was fully reabsorbed by the ground, disappearing into nothingness.

    By now, Rein no longer needed to use the pestle and mortar to crush the beast cores. He casually flicked one into his mouth and shattered the core with his ever strengthening jaws, and swallowed the dust. He had thoroughly gotten used to the taste of his daily ¡®meal¡¯.

    He then went through his nightly habit of recollecting his thoughts. His main consideration tonight was simply comparing the man he and Xeeseir had battled against the corpse-man he and Chenhr had fought a while ago.

    From what he could tell, both were outer advancers. Yet, it was apparent that the one Xeeseir and he fought tonight was significantly more powerful. Chenhr had long told Rein that even advancers of the same advancer realm could have a difference between heaven and earth.

    Rein never quite fully believed that until today. Their opponent, when opening his mouth, had somehow blocked off sound. Rein could clearly recall not being able to hear his companion¡¯s voices and communication during that battle.

    The man also seemed to be incredibly explosive with a varied style of attacks. It must have something to do with those ¡®rings¡¯ of aurae. Whenever they combined, that man would unleash an unparalleled burst of strength.

    Though, Xeeseir seemed to have negated that with his origin ability. He further understood why origin abilities are considered innate and absolute. But then he laughed at the description, thinking of Xeeseir¡¯s achilles¡¯ heel. Can¡¯t truly be said to be absolute if it proved ineffective against ranged weapons that had no magical effects applied to them, right?

    But that only proved one thing. Origin abilities were always pure in nature. And thus always had a certain glaring weakness. That was a point that Chenhr had drilled into Rein¡¯s mind at the very start of their six months of accelerated learning.

    His mind then turned to the vision that the remnant will of the draconic metamorphose bead had given him. That vision meant that the dragon was alive during the Age of Gods during an ancient era! Unfortunately, it was but a short vision. Rein wasn¡¯t sure exactly how to trigger those memories of the dead dragon, or if said memory would even be useful.

    His considerations complete, Rein passed the rest of the night muttering through the mantras he had long practiced under Master Yirn.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    Larne Mansion, Northeast district of Green Trout City.

    The Larne Patriarch sighed at his son kneeling before him.

    ¡°Uncle Naohr said you¡¯re beginning to ignore his advice.¡± The scholarly man that accompanied Beincen everywhere had informed the Larne Patriarch of how Rein had poisoned the Larne scion¡¯s mind.

    ¡°I am my own man!¡± Beincen was unrepentant.

    ¡°Even I need advice from the Larne elders.¡± The Larne Patriarch felt incredibly concerned. He knew his son was lacking when it came to the mind. Yet Beincen is a shell advancer, and the best candidate to inherit his position in the future.

    He found himself somewhat regretting not having spent much time educating his two sons when they were still children. Influence during that past growth period was most important.

    During that period, the Larne Patriarch had spent his full efforts on developing many aspects of House Larne, in a bid to ascend to the status of an advancer clan. Thus, he had completely left his two sons to his wife. A mistake he could no longer correct.

    It was only now that his thoughts recalled the many ruling clans within the Minhr Nation. Often, the first line of kings were majestic, powerful, noble. Yet their focus on being effective rulers always meant their children received minimal attention from the father king. More often than not, every generation that followed would only weaken. So the cycle goes.

    Well, quite obvious, there are many factors in such a scenario, but the Larne Patriarch couldn¡¯t help but entertain the idea that if he had laid down the law on his sons at an early age, and thrown them into the wilds, they might have developed into better inheritors of this future Larne Clan.

    Better late than never.

    ¡°Very well, son.¡± The Larne Patriarch had summoned his son for the upcoming reason. ¡°Have you ever read the family registry?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ well yes, but¡­¡± Beincen was thoroughly baffled as to why his father had raised the topic of the family registry.

    ¡°You¡­¡± The Larne Patriarch sighed, but accepted the nature of his son. ¡°If you had analyzed it properly, you might have noticed that some powerful members are still alive yet no longer with us here in the Green Trout City.¡±

    ¡°Father¡­ you mean¡­¡±

    At least his son could catch on if given enough clues.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the Larne Patriarch nodded with a smile. ¡°Some of our ancestors are in fact members of the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ Great Sects. Now, they might have ceased contact with us to give off the appearance that they have given up on the clan system¡­ but¡­¡± He mysteriously stroked his goatee.

    ¡°The man who harmed your younger brother. I¡¯ve received news. The Convergence Sect wants his head.¡±

    The Larne Patriarch words sent Beincen¡¯s brain spinning in ecstasy. He had felt himself¡­ restrained by the rules of the Hall of Heroes. This cross-realm organization was too powerful for him to behave unrestrained as he wished to.

    ¡°Will those ancestors give us a hand? The sects¡­¡± That was his concern. The Great Sects always ensured none of them would be controlled or influenced by the Minhr Nation¡¯s clans.

    ¡°Hah. You are still too young. The Great Sects only use that as a method to spread goodwill and recruit talents from the mortal population. Do you think the elders that rise to the top of these sects won¡¯t pull strings for their own families? Their own people?¡±

    ¡°And,¡± the Larne Patriarch continued. ¡°Now that the Convergence Sect wants that man¡¯s head, do you think they will consider it a bad thing if our hidden ancestors pulled a few strings?¡±

    Beincen was growing increasingly excited, his lips in a contemptuous sneer. He could already imagine Rein¡¯s head resting in the palm of his hands.

    ¡°Son. I will inform you of our secret channel. You wish to be your own man? Execute this well. Both I and Uncle Naohr will be watching.¡±

 Ch46: Instructors of the Halls

    The next day was supposedly the new initiates¡¯ introduction to the instructors of the Halls. These instructors really spent most of their time innovating for the Halls, and beyond a month of training the new recruits, functioned as simply advisors in the various established members¡¯ pursuits of magic.

    However, this important event was somewhat delayed due to the conflict of the prior night. Upon exiting into the northwest mountains again, Rein came upon numerous rows of white and gold tents.

    He was beckoned to one of these tents by none other than Chirh. He found himself standing among the members that he had fought yesterday¡¯s battles together.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen those devices spurting out mists of pictures, right?¡± Chirh could barely contain his excitement as he twitched on his toes. ¡°We¡¯ll need to submit those as proof of our accomplishment. And we¡¯ll receive a reward!¡±

    Suxeire rolled her hazel eyes. ¡°In his six months here, it¡¯s his first time. Truly embarrassing. I, myself, cannot believe I¡¯d be submitting proof alongside him.¡±

    Xeeseir approached and lobbed a metal egg sideways into Rein¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Remember,¡± Xeeseir said in a low tone to ensure the secrecy of his words. ¡°Only envision what you desire to show.¡± A cheeky grin with a wink. ¡°And nothing else.¡±

    Rein nodded, and turned his focus onto the metal egg. As he stared into the hole at the top of the egg, his vision spun. A blink of the eye, and Rein found himself in a sea of white.

    As he focused his thoughts, the mists rolled with colors, twisting the surroundings into the field on which they had battled the four Burning Flesh Inheritance members. It was as if he was watching the whole fight pan out again.

    Feeling a slight headache in the center of his forehead, Rein directed the mists to paint their encounter against the rhino and lynx they had first battled in the woods before entering the grass plain.

    Then, the events of his use of the javelins gifted to him by the stocky gray-cloaked Halls member. Heeding Xeeseir¡¯s words, he intentionally ceased his manipulation of the mists before he used his teleportation skill on the javelin.

    Normally, this might be suspicious, but at that point in time, Rein was already struggling to stay conscious due to his injuries, thus his vision wasn¡¯t particularly clear anyway. Naturally, the mists that painted that section of the fight, too, roiled about in haziness.

    The magic of the vision egg clearly relied on the user¡¯s own vision. Rein made sure to muddle his projected vision, and concealed the events of the teleporting javelin in darkness. Under examination, this could easily be interpreted as a momentary loss of vision of one who had lost too much blood.

    If Xeeseir witnessed the teleporting javelin¡­ Well. Seeing as Xeeseir had pointedly informed him to obscure the ending of the previous night, Rein imagined that Xeeseir had no intention of revealing Rein¡¯s origin ability. As for why? Only Xeeseir himself knew. Rein was thankful nonetheless.

    Once he stopped transmitting his vision, the device became aware that he was done. When he blinked again, he found himself in his original posture back in the tent with the egg in his hands.

    ¡°Won¡¯t someone potentially cheat their contribution?¡± These devices didn¡¯t seem to have reliable security. Even Rein, a new user, could obscure some information in a convincing manner with just a few words from Xeeseir.

    Xeeseir seemed to have experience with these vision eggs before, and had an inkling of Rein¡¯s doubts about the egg.

    ¡°Nah.¡± A shake of the head. ¡°The magics inside rely strongly on the mental vision of events. It¡¯s impossible to make things up. A random object conjured by the mind will stick out like a sore thumb in a true vision.¡±

    As if to demonstrate his point, Xeeseir moved the metallic egg back and forth, causing the light reflection on its metallic surface to occasionally blind Rein¡¯s eyes. ¡°The mind simply isn¡¯t quite capable of crafting the million intricacies of the world in a detailed egg vision.¡±

    ¡°Now, obscuring a few details here and there is rather easy. But obviously, we¡¯re trying to prove our contributions in battle today. The hall is naturally unconcerned with obfuscation. Why would anyone hide their own contributions?¡± Xeeseir¡¯s laugh was full of mockery.

    ¡°You¡¯ve had to use these vision eggs before?¡± Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder about Xeeseir¡¯s history.

    ¡°Mmmm. I¡¯ve taken jobs as I traveled across the nation. These vision eggs are commonly used.¡± Xeeseir stopped there, having no interest in elaborating more on his experiences.

    They all handed their vision eggs to a gray-robed attendant.

    As they left, Chirh thought to add to the conversation. ¡°All our visions will also be compared against each other. It¡¯s quite impossible to fool anyone using these vision eggs in most cases.¡±

    Chirh current tone conveyed his jubilant mood on this day, his normal insecurities completely imperceptible. One would even think him a confident man. Except, Rein knew Chirh would soon revert back to his usual self. He knew that Chirh was only ¡®hyper¡¯ today because it was his first time accomplishing anything of note in the Hall of Heroes.

    The group split, with Rein, Xeeseir, Dahk and Wilo heading off to attend the introductory procession with their month-long instructors. Rein¡¯s personal opinion of the Hall of Heroes is rather mixed. This halls branch is clearly intentionally taking advantage of the desperate souls willing to sacrifice all to become advancers.

    Most of the initiates became nothing but meatbags sent to the western front. At the very least, they had the decency to provide some form of training¡­

    They recognized familiar faces upon joining up with the other new initiates, though many of those faces were filled with puzzlement. Often, their eyes would switch between Xeeseir and Dahk, wondering how in the twelve hells these two were now side-by-side in a cordial manner.

    Rein, on the other hand, felt fully content remaining out of the center of attention. It was troublesome enough with Beincen¡¯s unwelcome scrutiny, not to mention, many would soon become aware that he had joined Supreme Jensure¡¯s ¡®little party¡¯.

    A gray-robed figure led the way. Before they began, the man opened a scroll and announced a decree. ¡°Reminder. It has been decreed that this group of new initiates will only have one month. This is non-negotiable. You may leave the Halls if you so desire, but you will never be able to return again. The overseer has given a simple reason: The battle yesterday has led to chaos in the western wilderness. That is all.¡±

    Although the new initiates seemed fearful of this statement, none left.

    Little was said through their short trek. Many seemed lost in thought regarding their lack of preparation time. Rein himself was content hearing the morning sounds of nature, while Dahk and Wilo never seemed like the talkative sort. Xeeseir was thus left moving his legs in a bored daze.

    The procession followed a narrow rugged dirt path that climbed upwards, reaching the very top of a mountain that looked to have its top sliced off.

    Upon reaching that height, Rein discovered a bowl-shaped area that sunk into the top. Either something large had punctured this crater into the top of the mountain, or perhaps the mountain was but a dormant volcano.

    Rein believed it to be dormant, because the whole bowl was now thoroughly layered with a thick layer of lush green vegetation, surrounding a clear mirror-like lake in the center of the crater that could not be differentiated from the sky.

    The group winded down toward the edge of the waters, and finally found themselves in a man-made opening next to the serene and peaceful lake.

    A dark-hair woman wrapped in white robes with the freshness of morning dew turned to welcome the new initiates. Her hair glimmered a tinge of brown under the early sun rays as she sternly asked the question, ¡°What do you know of mythology? Of aurae? Of the fallen gods?¡±

    This woman was clearly their instructor. And her question? Perhaps only proper scholars would have an adequate answer.

    The instructor did not expect any of the newcomers to provide even a partly satisfactory answer, for she proceeded to answer the question herself without any pause.

    ¡°It is said that before the birth of the realm, all was once one. A being called Uni. They were born of the source, and the being that brought order to chaos.¡±

    Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Their many limbs each controlled a different aspect of truth. The wind, the sun, and even time itself.¡±

    ¡°Yet, one day, the limbs sensed each other and wondered why they were being controlled. Thus, they split themselves from the mind of Uni, and, together, crushed Uni¡¯s body into the earth itself, fragmenting the body of Uni into a myriad of realms to ensure their own newfound freedom.¡±

    ¡°Each limb grew its own form, and thus rose the gods.¡± The lady instructor paused, before adding, ¡°Well-- fallen gods now.¡±

    ¡°Such a simple myth. Yet it is the very basis of our understanding of magic. In hindsight, even the terms we use-- aura and aurae-- were derived from this myth.¡±

    ¡°We as beings are capable of magics that control different elements. And the combination, mixture of all these aurae form our individual aura, just as the limbs of Uni together defined the very being of Uni.¡±

    ¡°However, what I will next say may perhaps be a slight interpretation. You would even be justified in accusing me of excessively reading into a myth.¡±

    ¡°Scholars have long determined that aurae is that which creates. And that which can be created by aurae can also house a volume of aurae to a variable degree. One could argue that the tale of Uni, very much implied this fact, for they were described as an orderly being created from the chaos of the source of aurae.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, we humans would have advanced much further if the ancient scholar had made that guess much earlier in our history, and not suffered during the Age of Darkness, Age of Beasts, or Age of Chaos.¡±

    Rein wasn¡¯t completely sure what that last point meant. However, he was more than happy to learn of this background of the world he lived in. His half-senior Chenhr very much focused solely on only the ¡®necessary¡¯ knowledge that Rein needed to obtain during his six months under Master Yirn.

    The lady instructor then brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear as she lifted her other arm.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure all of you have at least used an advancer art inscribed onto an armament. But magics change over time. They develop.¡±

    She formed a fireball on her palm, and threw it at the ground. The fireball spread slightly, setting aflame the grass in the landing spot. A flick of her sleeves, and the fire vanished.

    ¡°That is a simple, ancient form of magic. A simple manifestation of fire aurae from the body.¡±

    She once again, formed a fireball in her palm, but this time, the fireball reduced in size as its color deepened into a crimson, and its flames spun within the fireball in a torrential manner.

    The instructor lopped this new condensed fireball, and when it struck the ground, a small explosion punched a hole into the soil while similarly setting the grass aflame.

    ¡°Slightly more advanced ancient magics,¡± was the instructor¡¯s commentary. ¡°To create this effect, one has to envision the heat collecting in a volcano, ready to burst, and integrate this understanding into the fireball.¡±

    Next, the instructor pivoted to another form of magic. A wave of her palm, and a soft green aurae with a slight hint of wind elemental shift formed into a hawk. The complexity of the magic was apparent, with strings of greenish aurae burrowing into each other, giving shape to the hawk.

    As the instructor brought her arm back and forth, the silvery-green hawk followed her motion, flapping its wings to rise, glide, and perform amazing dives from great heights.

    ¡°We observe and imitate the hawk, and weave magic to give the spell not just the shape, but also the characteristics of the hawk.¡± The stern instructor finally leaked a small smile, as with another wave of her hand, the aurae hawk was dyed in flames.

    ¡°Now. We combine the characteristics of the hawk with the advanced fireball.¡± The fiery hawk followed the instructor''s guidance as it flew over the new initiates¡¯ head. Rein could feel the condensed heat radiating onto his sweating forehead as the hawk gilded overhead.

    Finally, the instructor sharply pointed her hand at the ground, and the fiery hawk dived, accelerating as if to catch prey, and stabbed into the earth before flinging soil with an almighty explosion.

    ¡°And that, my dear fledglings, is what we today call a true advancer art. I hope one day, you will show me one of your little creations. Only unique advancer arts deserve a name. Now, for a variation!¡± A wave of her white sleeves and a man stood forth.

    This man opted to demonstrate the advanced fireball art, but his fireball constantly flickered with flares that seemed to lash and whip at the surrounding air.

    ¡°My disciple here formed a creed that has an underlying rage. One¡¯s nature can have different effects on the very same advancer arts.¡±

    The man threw the fireball onto the ground. Compared to the instructor lady¡¯s advanced fireball, this disciple¡¯s fireball had a smaller explosion, and yet the flames seemed to spread and radiate outwards in wilder rage.

    The lady snapped her fingers and the spreading flames were sucked directly into her white sleeves. The ground was now somewhat charred with the repeated demonstrations of the fire-based art.

    ¡°I am a scholar, interested in the delicate and fine control of advancer magic. My disciple is different, his creed belonging to his own self. Thus the difference.¡±

    ¡°Allow me to leave you with this knowledge. Anything that can be observed in nature can be imitated, many combined. Certain interactions are possible, but may never be observed in nature simply because the requirements for that interaction are never met in the natural environment.¡±

    ¡°Good luck!¡± She singsonged, and abruptly vanished. She never even introduced herself properly.

    ¡°Ahem,¡± the gray-robed figure who had led the group throughout the trek bidded everyone to follow him to the next location, and the procession swindled back out of the mountain crater.

    Rein next found himself descending into a valley blanketed with fog. His skin felt warm with moisture, and the trees he was moving past were considerably taller, thicker, and more luscious.

    As the ground leveled off, he entered a zone that looked like a wetland farm. Numerous odd looking plants of dangerous bright colors shone on the procession. Finally, they reached a cave with a cerulean stream flowing out from the opening. On top of that opening, were rows upon rows of a terraced mountain farm, once again, filled to the brim with exotic vegetation.

    A gaunt man with a messy hair bun stirred soup inside a large chest-high cauldron that simmered above a red and green flame. He wasted no time fulfilling his instructor duties.

    He patted his chest. ¡°What is an alchemist? In the advancer world, they are doctors, poison specialists, battle state augmenters, and of course, providers of magical tinctures such as psychedelics helpful in advancing in the magical realm.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, coming from a mortal world, this may seem confusing. But an advancer¡¯s body has been fully conditioned by the aurae of the world. It is therefore immune to mortal poisons. Higher-realmed advancer bodies even recover limbs by itself.¡±

    ¡°Thus,¡± he raised a finger. ¡°It is us alchemists, masters of crafting ingenuous mixtures, that can influence such powerful and stable advancer bodies to either go into a deathward spiral. Or return from one.¡±

    The gray-cloaked guide had picked up a tray with finger-sized cups of a thick bloody liquid. The alchemist instructor waited for all the new initiates to have one, before holding up one himself and toasted the crowd and swallowed the small mouthful of liquid.

    Rein did the same, and found his body heating up. His ears seemed to pick up sounds he had never heard before. He could hear the quivering jaws of insects that were hidden underground. His vision sharpened as well, and somehow, he found himself seeing through the fog blanketing the valley. His skin raised goosebumps as he felt the most minuscule amount of each new initiate¡¯s breathing through the air.

    Yet, after a few heartbeats, Rein heard the simultaneous collapse of nearly all the initiates onto all-fours. Comparatively, his own head and heart only slightly throbbed in discomfort. Looking around him, every single initiate was now sprawled onto the ground. Only him and Wilo remained standing. Even Xeeseir was down on one knee.

    Not wishing to stand out, he quickly bent over with his hands on his knees, and did his best to act out shaking legs, a loud choking and vomiting noise before sprawling himself onto the ground. All the while, his jumbled thoughts could only draw the conclusion that his body had irrevocably strengthened after the draconic metamorphose bead had fully melded with his body, if that remnant will¡¯s words yesterday night were to be believed.

    This meant that his flesh and bones were now similar to a newborn dragon whelp! It is well-known that beastkin, or demon beasts had significantly stronger and durable bodies.

    ¡°Ahahaha!¡± The alchemist maniacally mocked them all, taking an extra glance at Xeeseir and Wilo, then a suspicious look at the limp Rein. ¡°The body, too, is a cauldron. Its components are normally in balance. But the right poison can temporarily remove those controls to bring forth a burst. Well, with a cost that can be temporary,¡± he paused. ¡°Or permanent.¡±

    The gray-cloaked man beckoned with his arm for the stumbling crowd to move again. He seemed fearful of the alchemist and was in a hurry to leave.

    The alchemist instructor yelled at the leaving  procession, ¡°Oh yes! If any of you find some unique and rare exotic plant out west in the wilderness of the demons and devils, I¡¯ll pay a king¡¯s ransom for it!¡± He chuckled, taking joy in watching the reeling forms of the new initiates.

    ¡°Oh!¡± The alchemist wasn¡¯t done. ¡°All of you will have no choice but to return with something. Otherwise I will not teach you the very basic necessary skill of crafting a heartblood potion with your enemy¡¯s heartblood! You will not be able to absorb the strength of your enemy!¡±

    That certainly ignited a row of grumbles with the floundering initiates crowd. They knew how important such a skill was. Even those not interested or had the time for alchemy needed to at least learn this. Heartblood is difficult to preserve, and can be stolen if handed over to another person.

    Similar to the lady instructor in that crater-capped mountains, this alchemist instructor also did not bother leaving his name.

    Rein suspected that these instructors probably found no point in having their name known by the new initiates, most of whom weren¡¯t likely to survive for long¡­

    His guess was likely true, as many of the following instructors that the new initiates visited also did not bother to give their names.

    To Rein, many of these other instructors were much of a bore, and not memorable. The words they spoke simply did not pique his interest. More accurately, the knowledge they presented was something that he had long learnt under Master Yirn.

    Eventually, the group found himself in an environment with geysers that shot boiling streams to the skies. As he squinted his eyes to see through the steam, he could swear that there were some areas where hints of lava were even leaking up to the surface.

    Following a path that went underground, Rein found himself traveling through a tunnel supported by wooden beams that echoed with the sound of hammer on steel. Soon, he entered a large cavern that glowed red with forges.

    He could not resist reminiscing about Blacksmith Tiehr, the one who had first enabled him to come this far.

    However, his reminiscence was cut short as his eyes met those of Beincen, of House Larne!

 Ch47: Repeatedly Harassed

    Rein groaned inwardly at the pest that is Beincen. Part of him had hoped that Beincen would simply back off and leave him alone. Perhaps they¡¯d never be friendly, but he would very much prefer the man to pine for him to die on a dangerous mission than to be a daily annoyance.

    As for why Rein was certain Beincen wasn¡¯t going to leave him be? Well, the scion of House Larne was conversing with a bare-chested blacksmith, all the while shooting smirks at Rein as well as pointing his figure out to the blacksmith, who was undoubtedly, the main man of this forge.

    The procession moved in front of this bare-chested blacksmith, who gave off the animalistic impression of a bear, his hair spiking out sideways and his beard, a pair of thick mutton chops on two sides of his square jaw.

    Already, Rein¡¯s gears were whirling as he fully confirmed that Beincen was never going to leave him be-- not even if Rein tried to keep things relatively civil, so to speak. Yes. Even taking half a step backwards will only encourage this blasted noble.

    Unfortunately, that very much meant that he would not be able to stay as discreet. Rein could only hope that Xeeseir¡¯s light would shine so bright that his fire-play with Beincen would go relatively unnoticed.

    The bare-chested blacksmith immediately motioned Rein to the very front, and Xeeseir, also having noticed the events, whispered urgently, ¡°Show him the token of Jensure.¡±

    But Rein pretended not to hear Xeeseir¡¯s advice, and quizzically lumbered up beside this blacksmith, the instructor for advancer armament forging.

    ¡°Young whelp. What do you know of smithing, hmm?¡± the bare-chested instructor rumbled. Although influenced by Beincen, the instructor was rather careful in his approach, giving off the impression of a kind instructor, and Rein the lucky one to be dragged to the front.

    Best to just stay within his area of knowledge, Rein thought. Frankly, he was unsure of what this instructor was trying to do. Assuming that Beincen had wished for the instructor to humiliate him, then perhaps, it would be best for him to humiliate himself first. That was Rein¡¯s conclusion.

    ¡°As an inexperienced youngling stepping foot into the advancer world, I know next to nothing. At best, I know of some mortal forging techniques, and some basic inscriptional techniques, but no more.¡± Rein calmly downplayed all that he knew.

    ¡°Pathetic!¡± The bare-chested blacksmith spat spittle flying into Rein¡¯s face, ¡°You entered the Hall of Heroes with no knowledge of advancer forging techniques?!¡±

    Rein, unperturbed by the sudden onslaught, bowed his head and emotionlessly stated, ¡°And I am happy to learn. As did all those working the forges behind you when they first started, sir. As do some of my peers in this new group of initiates, sir!¡±

    The Hall of Heroes recruits initiates every quarter of the year, and these initiates are usually lacking in observable talent and thus rejected by the advancer sects. Frankly, everyone at the forge knew that at all. The workers of the forge had a conflicted expression on their face-- they clearly knew something odd was afoot. The group of new initiates were instead mostly confused.

    Judging by the instructor¡¯s slight frown, Rein knew that his approach was effective. Perhaps some instructors might not care about face. This instructor clearly did as he could not help scanning the faces of the Halls members running his forge.

    If Rein had given the indication that he actually understood advancer forging techniques, then the instructor would likely question his holes in that knowledge and satisfy Beincen¡¯s request through that method.

    If Rein reacted emotionally to his insult, it could be seen as an affront to the instructor. Yet he had instead calmly indicated his desire to learn.

    The only doubt Rein had on his approach depended on whether this bare-chested blacksmith was firmly in Guihnes¡¯ camp, which Rein suspected House Larne to be a part of. His educated guess was that it was unlikely. Surely, the Hall of Heroes would not allow a major blacksmith of its halls to only serve armaments for one single faction-- one-fifth of this branch.

    Yet to give up on his objective, the bare-chested blacksmith pivoted. He ordered a worker to ¡°bring mortal steel to the anvil,¡± and gestured for Rein to fold and strengthen the material. ¡°Hah. Who says mortal forging is completely irrelevant?¡±

    That statement certainly made Rein somewhat nervous. He wondered what benefits Beincen might have promised this instructor.

    However, he had once been ordered to practice some of these things under Blacksmith Tiehr. Only problem was, it had been more than six months since he had done anything of the sort.

    He could only pray to the fallen gods that his arms would still execute the movements required.

    A worker brought a whitish-red piece of glowing rectangular steel bar to the anvil, and Rein picked up a pair of tongs, a chisel and a hammer. With the chisel, he separated the piece of steel in the middle, leaving the bottom surface unbroken to allow the front section to bend under the back section.

    Once done, he began hammering away to combine the two pieces. His nervousness quickly dispelled as he found the action easier than ever. His body had become stronger under Master Yirn-- his advancer realm had risen due to the magic that had further imbued his body.

    Moreover, after the past night¡¯s events, the draconic metamorphose bead had fully transformed his body. He began even worrying that he would strike the metal with too much force.

    ¡°Quicker, you fool!¡± The bare-chested blacksmith was now fully animated, roaring at Rein to speed up. A Rein from the past would not be able to do it much quicker. But now, he discovered that his strength and deftness was at a much higher level.

    Thus his rhythm increased. Occasionally, the blacksmith instructor would yell at him to even a spot out, to reheat the piece of metal more or less before performing another fold, to slightly speed up or slow down his hammering.

    At this point in time, Rein had entered a trance, and completely forgotten that the blacksmith instructor was supposed to be causing trouble for him at Beincen¡¯s behest.

    But then the clinking sound interrupted his rhythm. Rein¡¯s token that signified his allegiance to Supreme Jensure¡¯s faction had dropped out of his pocket during his folding of the steel.

    ¡°Oops.¡± Rein placed down the hammer and tongs and gingerly bent down to repocket the golden crane token.

    The bare-chested blacksmith¡¯s eyes followed the token back into Rein¡¯s pocket. For a single heartbeat, the new initiate and the instructor gazed into each other¡¯s eyes. Then the blacksmith broke into a wide smile, as he applauded, ¡°Well done, I say!¡± He picked up the folded steel, and presented to the new initiates.

    ¡°See this wavy pattern in the steel? A signature of a blacksmith himself! Many areas for improvement, but not bad for a new initiate! I hope all of you will desire to craft armaments. Blacksmiths are the origins of the Spears of Heaven!¡± He declared.

    The blacksmith waved Rein aside, whispering in annoyance, ¡°You little fucker. Why didn¡¯t you first show me Jensure¡¯s token? You definitely knew what Beincen was up to!¡±

    Rein, sweaty from his earlier exertions, could only cough to suppress a chuckle. ¡°Sir, I simply forgot.¡±

    ¡°You little bastard. I bet you also knew that we instructors aren¡¯t allowed to take sides in the faction conflict either. You¡¯re making my job hard!¡± The blacksmith¡¯s statement fully confirmed Rein¡¯s guess. The Hall of Heroes certainly operated in a manner of strict rules that sought to elevate the best combatants.

    ¡°Sir. It is Beincen that is making your job difficult,¡± Rein quipped, but still addressing the blacksmith respectfully.

    He paused for a heartbeat, before offering his deal-- one that he had wanted to offer ever since he was reminded of Blacksmith Tiehr by these forges. ¡°I¡¯ll say nothing of today¡¯s events to anyone. I simply wish to be taught to craft these armaments.¡±

    From their procession of meeting one instructor after another, all neglecting to even mention their name, Rein had determined it was probably difficult to receive guidance from any instructor in these Halls. This was an opportunity.

    ¡°Gifts are customary for such occasions.¡± Surprisingly, the blacksmith instructor easily accepted Rein¡¯s offer.

    Rein pulled out a long rectangular box from a light sack that he had carried around with him along with his soak staff.

    Opening the box revealed two shortswords. The ones that Rein had obtained from the two assassins that Rein suspected were hired by House Larne, in a bid to get rid of him prior to his entrance to the Hall of Heroes.

    ¡°The best that I, Rein, can offer. However, I am more than happy to return with valuable materials from dangerous missions.¡± Rein paused for a moment, before adding, ¡°Though, if I do retrieve those materials, it is likely that Supreme Jensure would prefer that to stay within the faction.¡±

    The blacksmith instructor seemed slightly disappointed by the two low grade shortswords, then scoffed, ¡°That is, if you survive those dangerous missions. I¡¯ll hold you to that promise.¡± That lack of rejection meant Rein had been accepted.

    All this occurred under the watchful eyes of the initiates, all wondering about the whisperings between Rein and the blacksmith instructor. To his inner glee, Rein could see Beincen recognizing the two shortswords. Indeed, it was House Larne that had hired those two men to ambush Rein prior to his induction into the Hall of Heroes!

    Beincen, with clenched jaws and a taut body could only watch as Rein essentially used the two shortswords-- weapons that Beincen had given to the hired assassins-- as a gift to the blacksmith instructor.

    The blacksmith instructor turned to the curious watchers and stated the ¡®result¡¯. His booming voice declared, ¡°All of you should know, I have a knack for identifying talent! I, the renowned blacksmith Rahr, tested Rein to ensure his suitability to work in my forge! He is hired and will be under my tutelage!¡±

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Oh. Rein suddenly realized that it was quite likely that he would be worked to the bones. That must have been why this blacksmith Rahr had nonchalantly accepted him as a disciple.

    Then, he grinned inwardly. A good opportunity to train his fully-transformed body!

    Rahr now had the two shortswords in his hands. ¡°Many of you surely wonder how armaments are made. On how it differs from the mortal art of blacksmithing.¡±

    ¡°There are three differing aspects: Aurae conduction, material creation, and inscription enchantment.¡±

    ¡°Work the bellows.¡± He ordered Rein. Then he waved over another and ordered, ¡°Fire.¡± The other worker¡¯s palms held fireballs and the man started throwing these fireballs into the furnace.

    ¡°Wait, blacksmith!¡± Beincen stepped forth. ¡°These weapons are--¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the rule?! Don¡¯t interrupt a blacksmith¡¯s work!¡± Rahr gave House Larne no face, and stuck one of the shortswords into the inferno.

    Rein closely observed Beincen-- from his interactions with the noble, he expected Beincen to explode anytime, especially without that scholar whispering words to calm the man¡¯s mind. Instead, Beincen surprisingly reined in his anger and stomped off!

    This set the alarm bells ringing within Rein¡¯s mind. He had observed many situations during his merchant days. From his perspective, a man like Beincen could only calm himself and walk away from such a situation if he already had other nefarious plans in place!

    After a short moment, Blacksmith Rahr withdrew a white-hot blade.

    When he brought the hammer to the blade, a sudden red inscription lit up, causing Rahr¡¯s whole arm to tense as he tightened his grip. Next, Rein saw the blacksmith cover his whole arm in a fiery red aurae skin.

    The hammer¡¯s inscription also lit up. ¡°All advancer weapons at least have a protection spell of some sort to keep it only usable for the owner. It is like a lock that one needs to pick in order to destroy the weapon.¡± He explained.

    What followed was a flurry of hammer blows that struck at the white-hot shortsword at different angles and rhythm. The red inscription that protected the weapons abruptly shattered with an ear-piercing shrill. That sight certainly filled Rein with exhilaration.

    With a hammer and chisel, Rahr promptly separated the blade of the shortsword into small squarish sections.

    The blacksmith lopped all of these pieces into the blast furnace.

    He slapped a hand against the base of the blast furnace, and an inscription lit up. ¡°Just speeding up the process,¡± explained Rahr. Indeed, the involvement of magic made the process blindingly fast to what Rein had experienced when he had to perform the same task under Blacksmith Tiehr.

    Soon enough, Blacksmith Rahr released an opening, and a molten liquid flowed out. He then slapped the base of the blast furnace again, and an ice spell activated. Surprisingly the sudden change in temperature did not stress the furnace in any shape or form.

    Rahr, seemingly tolerant of a large range of temperatures, easily detached and lifted the top half of the blast furnace. What was revealed was a grayish chunk of material. ¡°Now, that, my dear young whelps, is what we call limpite.¡±

    He pointed at the lump of material that had been expelled by the blast furnace. ¡°And that is just simply whatever the base material of the shortsword was.¡±

    Rein squinted his eyes in thought. Limpite¡­coins?! His mind naturally began connecting the dots. One of the main currencies used in the world of advancers was limpite-- it seemed like the reason for it was also that the material is critical in creating armaments.

    ¡°Yes. Limpite.¡± Rahr smiled in satisfaction. ¡°It is one of the very best materials that conduct aurae. Not only that. It is a material that can be easily fused and merged with nearly all materials. Thus, it essentially increases the quality of an advancer armament¡¯s ability to quickly and precisely activate any advancer art inscribed upon the weapons or armor.¡±

    The blacksmith then pulled up a jade-green coin from his sleeves. ¡°And this is lumite. The higher currency relative to the limpite coin. A superior aurae conductor to limpite. To date, these are two of the three main materials that are workable for us advancers in terms of modifying aurae conduction.¡±

    ¡°Both easily float to the top when in molten form within the blast furnace. Lumite will rise to the highest, followed by limpite. Most, if not all of the base materials, will likely fall to the bottom. This material, once merged with a metal, needs to be evenly distributed through folding such that the armament has a relatively similar aurae conducting nature throughout its body.¡±

    ¡°There are some other materials that naturally have aurae conduction qualities, whether that be unique types of woods, bamboo, or grass that can be weaved into armor, just as an example.¡±

    The blacksmith then picked up a bar of unidentified type of metal from a side-desk.

    ¡°Now for material creation. Many of you surely have been taught that advancer arts are essentially imitating nature and combining various effects.¡± He activated his fiery aurae skin, and the thin piece of metal bar between his palms soon glowed white, its temperatures sky-high.

    ¡°Pour the freezing oil.¡± A helper stepped forth with a large jar that had an icy-blue inscription activated on its surface. Uncorking the jar, she poured a misty black liquid waterfall that rinsed the white-hot piece of metal bar.

    ¡°Such a process never occurs in nature. Our increasingly complex magics allow us to combine various processes to create unique materials with unique properties. Including growing unique types of woods.¡± The original metal had gained a lustrous black sheen. As for what exactly had changed, the blacksmith did not explain.

    Rahr then yawned, growing bored. Unfortunately, compared to his colleagues, his specialty required much more effort in terms of delivering an understandable demonstration.

    ¡°Finally, inscriptions. Well, you all already know, so I will not bother explaining the importance of it to armaments. However, you all do need to understand that a larger surface area and inner layers of an armament allows more intricate and number of inscriptions to be etched into the material.¡±

    He then waved the new initiates away. ¡°Rein, is it? I expect a quarter of your day to be spent here when you are not preparing or on Hall missions.¡±

    Rein bowed his head in acknowledgement before rejoining the procession that winded away. Xeeseir clapped a hand to Rein¡¯s back, and wordlessly chortled in amusement at the outcome of the incident with the blacksmith.

    In some ways, one could say Rein had paid a price to subvert Beincen¡¯s desired goal, but frankly, Rein had always desired to understand more of Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s passion. Perhaps, that was a reflection of his own interest as well.

    Rein had in fact gained a degree of respect for Blacksmith Rahr. Though the instructor had initially attempted to cause trouble for him, Rahr had immediately pivoted and abandoned any promised benefits and instead accepted Rein under his tutelage.

    Dahk had dragged out the horn he had looted from the rhino¡¯s corpse in their battle the night before. He kept glancing at Rein and back at the horn.

    ¡°Unfortunately, I doubt I¡¯ll be able to craft a weapon for you anytime.¡± Rein knew precisely what Dahk was thinking.

    ¡°I know.¡± Dahk shook his head. ¡°It is said that a trade needs to be fair and just. That is a law of my kin. I am only measuring the worth of this horn.¡±

    Rein opened his mouth but then immediately closed his lips again. Initially, Rein felt Dahk was, well, simple. But he realized that such an impression is inaccurate. Dahk¡¯s minimal speech created that impression, but Rein now realized that wherever the man came from must be some place with unique practices.

    He had adjusted his impression of Dahk. ¡°Our missions into the western wilderness will be dangerous. When that time comes, having you wielding a quality weapon at our side would be more than enough payment.¡±

    Xeeseir nodded in agreement, while Wilo remained her inscrutable self.

    Very soon, they found themselves in a large arena with an oval-shaped hard flat ground surrounded by spectator rows. The space could probably seat a good hundred thousand crowd.

    Standing in the middle of the arena was their next instructor-- a suave, young bare-chested man in a pair of billowing white silk pants. Beincen had arrived here while the new initiates received Rahr¡¯s instruction! Once again, Beincen whispered into the instructor¡¯s ear before leaving to watch on the side.

    And once again, Rein was called up to stand beside the instructor. Growing tired of playing with Beincen¡¯s games, Rein flashed Jensure¡¯s golden crane token, only to have it rejected.

    ¡°Please,¡± the instructor¡¯s falsetto voice contrasted his appearance. ¡°That thing isn¡¯t as useful as you think.¡±

    He turned to the crowd. ¡°I am a sparring instructor. It¡¯s quite simple. We spar and improve our ability to do combat. In general, it is agreed upon that most spars remain within the same advancer realm. However, exceptions can be made if agreed upon by competitors. Additionally, you will be punished for severely injuring an opponent. Now, for proper competitions--that is another matter entirely.¡±

    ¡°Some of you may already be aware of this, but all Hall of Heroes members are to compete against one another if not on a mission to the west! As long as you are here, you must accept a challenge once a day! At the end of every month, those at the top will receive more contribution points! We of the Halls reward those with high combat ability!¡±

    ¡°Once again, I repeat. You are not to kill each other. If you fall, you must fall battling demons and devils! But! The Allfather demands you all to polish yourselves against each other!¡±

    He pointed at Rein. ¡°Pick your weapon.¡±

    Rein knew that Beincen must be hoping to use this spar to inflict a few injuries. Not that he could avoid it. Rein frowned, before picking up a black metal staff. The instructor picked a similarly-lengthed halberd.

    Their first few trades were more of ¡®testing the waters¡¯. But soon enough, the ringing clash of metal pole on pole echoed through the vast oval arena.

    Frankly, Rein was incredibly surprised by how well he himself was doing. In truth, he had only ever sparred against his half-senior Chenhr under Master Yirn. And Chenhr, even with that bamboo fan of his, had a perfect impenetrable defense. Any momentary lapse in focus, even a single blink of the eye, would lead the Chenhr counter attacking.

    Against this instructor, Rein initially expected it to be the same. Yet, Rein found himself gradually pressing the advantage as the instructor took half, then a full step back every few clashes of the staff and halberd poles.

    His confidence surging, Rein quickly understood where his advantage was from. First, the unnamed staff techniques from Master Yirn must be special. Second, sparring against Chenhr who used his aurae cloud to suppress opponents, had ingeniously elevated his ability. Last of all, his body was now the state of a young dragon¡¯s superior flesh and bones!

    The instructor was now positively scowling. As a sparring instructor, he was supposed to be the most experienced. Not to mention, he had selected Rein to satisfy Beincen¡¯s requests.

    Initially, the instructor had avoided using any magic. Those of the inner realm, the level of all these initiates, were generally not capable of any magic unless assisted by weapon inscriptions. Yet now, he discovered Rein¡¯s staff techniques to be unknown to him, and the initiate¡¯s body to be surprisingly quicker, more forceful, agile than his own!

    Rein had even begun landing a few strikes onto the instructor¡¯s body, greatly embarrassing him in front of the others.

    The instructor had originally stated that when sparring, it was considered apt to stay within the same advancer realm. But Rein intuitively knew what this instructor was contemplating.

    Rein reflexively leapt backwards as the instructor suddenly covered his whole body in an aurae skin of soft metallic. The aurae skin weaved into each other to form a pattern, activating a spell that likely gave the user increased combat augmentations.

    The combat instructor had a dark and gloomy face. He knew that going this route was embarrassing for his reputation. Yet, his reputation was already under question since Rein had a visible advantage in their spar while staying within the inner advancer realm.

    He couldn¡¯t understand why he was unable to match Rein in terms of the physical body. Yes! These initiates have been stuck in the inner realm for a long time. He reasoned that some oddballs stuck as inner advancers must have simply had more time to master the intricacies of the inner realm-- the realm of transforming the body.

    He faintly recalled the knowledge that each advancer realm had certain degrees of mastery. Those who used psychedelics might lose out on some of that mastery, but who didn¡¯t use psychedelics? The instructor was quite naturally flustered at the current events.

    He inwardly cursed again at his decision to accept Beincen¡¯s offer. If news of this event were to reach Overseer Jeahz¡­ his position was threatened! The only way for him to retain any influence was to crush this new initiate before him, here and now!

 Ch48: Clarity of Mind

    Rein was confused as to why this combat instructor had chosen such a course of action. It was his understanding that the Hall of Heroes preferred instructors to not overly favor those belonging to certain factions.

    ¡°Sometimes, combat between higher realmed and lower realmed advancers can occur. It is best for one to get a taste of such a situation during sparring.¡± The instructor righteously stated in an indisputable tone. He didn¡¯t sound all that convincing-- not even to himself. After all, this was supposedly just a demonstration.

    A few snorts among the crowd of initiates brought a rising heat to the instructor¡¯s face. However, his eyes were on Rein, thus he could not identify the sources of mockery.

    All knew, for this instructor to use shell advancer arts against Rein, a new initiate of the inner realm-- that reflected poorly on said instructor.

    Rein had no opportunity to mull over the mind labyrinth of this instructor, for he had to defend against the man.

    The instructor''s speed and strength had vastly increased with whatever spell he had weaved the aurae skin into. Rein could still perceive the man¡¯s movements, but his reactionary speed was unable to dodge every attack in time.

    Yet, his unique body composition allowed him to block what he could not dodge, and Rein found that his strength was fully capable of halting the instructor¡¯s charge. Once again, Rein¡¯s staff met the instructor¡¯s halberd, and the two weapons simultaneously shattered-- they were meant for inner advancer to spar with, and could not absorb the impact of their current display of strength.

    The two dropped the broken weapons to the ground and turned to their fists. Again, this unnamed combat instructor found himself unable to make any headway, finding Rein¡¯s fist arts to be new and indecipherable to his eyes. The intricacy of mortal arts normally wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble for him, but the toughness and strength of Rein¡¯s body ignited a deep fear in his mind.

    He began wondering of another possibility-- perhaps this new initiate had awakened some ancient bloodline instead of some certain mastery insight in the inner realm. He could only grit his teeth as he activated another advancer art.

    The instructor charged again. He dropped his left shoulder and the aurae forming the skin shell of his body gathered together into a shadowy form of a crimson bull with his left shoulder as its epicenter.

    Rein recognized this as something that only a higher-ranked shell advancer art could perform-- a form transformation of sorts!

    Thanks to the instructor¡¯s activation of this magical art, Rein suddenly gained a clarity of mind. He wasn¡¯t sure his elevated body would be uninjured receiving this attack, but at the same time, he recalled his half-senior Chenhr criticism of him not being able to restrain himself.

    Rein had to begrudgingly admit his half-senior was right-- he had so far opted to not give any satisfaction to Beincen or this combat instructor, and now, they among others would be absolute numbskulls to not recognize the strength of his body! That would lead to him having an unneeded higher profile!

    This clarity of mind led to Rein making an important decision. He relaxed his legs and only braced his upper body to receive the combat instructor¡¯s charge.

    At that very moment, the combat instructor¡¯s crimson bull shoulder struck the cross-armed defensive Rein, with a raucous moo that shook the air above the arena.

    Having relaxed his legs, Rein was flung over five hundred feet into the air towards a row of trees. His back broke through a number of trunks until he skidded to a stop on the soft grass and soil.

    His body was no longer visible to the crowd, and many believed him to have been badly wounded.

    ¡°Healers. Do your duty.¡± The instructor believed he had completed his task, and was rather relieved. For a heartbeat, he thought he would have to activate a complete shell advancer art, if not more, to deal with the new initiate. A number of healers came out of a sidehut with a stretcher. This area is a combat arena, so these healers essentially resided here.

    A leader in a verdant robe yelled and the trainees dressed in gray robes ran with rapid steps to the area where a few trees had been splintered into an opening.

    Rein sighed as he remained laying on the ground. That shoulder charge had shuddered his bones for sure. But he had received no more than a bruise, and it was not even from the instructor¡¯s charge, but rather, the landing.

    When the two gray-robed trainees arrived, they were wide-eyed at the perfectly healthy Rein.

    ¡°Hey. Come closer,¡± Rein gestured for the two. He was certainly curious how these two had become healer trainees, but a far more important matter had to be resolved. The two trainees crept right next to Rein.

    ¡°You two should understand that it would be embarrassing for¡­¡± Again, Rein found himself met with the concealment of said instructors¡¯ identities. ¡°The combat instructor if his attack was not effective. Do you understand what you must do?! The combat instructor might be embarrassed and hold a grudge if you spout a hard-to-believe story.¡±

    The two trainees nodded their two heads in agreement. Yes! If they delivered the news that Rein was hale and hearty, that rash combat instructor might hold a grudge against them! They had been around a while and knew the nature of this combat instructor.

    ¡°Stay still.¡± Rein was rolled onto the stretcher, and then the gray-robed trainee intentionally placed a large white sheet that covered Rein¡¯s whole body.

    Rein felt himself being lifted up by a finger before dropping back onto the ground.

    ¡°Fuck.¡± A male-trainee¡¯s voice. ¡°Why in the twelve hells are you so heavy?¡±

    Rein had not weighed himself after his body had transformed¡­.

    ¡°We need a third! Henre! Come over!¡±

    A moment later and finally, Rein was lifted up while thoroughly covered in a white sheet. A second sheet was placed over the first to further obscure Rein¡¯s body.

    ¡°Sir! We¡¯ll need to carry the new initiate to the main healer ward! His injuries are severe with many broken bones and internal bleeding! Why did you go so overboard?!¡± The trainee yelled in a rather exasperated voice.

    The combat instructor opened his mouth only to close it again. Had he gone overboard¡­? Maybe he overestimated that new initiate¡¯s intimidating physical abilities.

    Rein, covered as he was, noticed none of this. He wondered if Beincen might have a psychotic grin of satisfaction plastered on his face.

    Despite having gained a clarity of mind to obscure the nature of his body from too high a degree of suspicion, Rein¡¯s heart was certainly bubbling with indignation.

    He inwardly swore that he would return the favor. How? Rein already had an ¡®easy¡¯ target in his mind: Rekcen, the younger brother of Beincen!

    Once they were out of range, Rein found himself suddenly dropped to the ground.

    ¡°Xune¡¯s Spear, why are you do damn heavy!¡± The same trainee exclaimed again while panting, as the white sheets were peeled back.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to go,¡± the other said. ¡°The combat session is always the last of the initiation procession. Often, new initiates get injured and as such this is the last session of the day. Now go! We¡¯ve got our work cut out for us today!¡±

    The third healer trainee Henre only had a dumbfounded open mouth expression as he watched Rein gingerly stand up with nary an injury.

    Rein brought a finger to his lips in a shushing motion and then Henre, after a heartbeat, began nodding in understanding with a small smile. He soon followed after the other two unnamed trainees.

    Having been freed early, Rein returned to the white tent he had submitted proof of his battle contribution in the morning. He had been told to return here before nightfall for the rewards. He laid back and dozed off.

    By sunset, Rein awoke to find himself reunited with the rest of their combat team in the white tent. Each person was awarded a number of contribution points. Supposedly, these contribution points could be traded for armaments, psychedelics or knowledge in the Hall¡¯s treasure and library halls.

    ¡°You¡¯ve healed?¡± Xeeseir asked as he curiously ran their eyes up and down Rein¡¯s body a few times. Wilo and Dahk, part of Rein¡¯s initiates cohort, similarly scrutinized his body.

    ¡°Of course!¡± replied Rein with a grin. ¡°The Halls have amazing healers, don¡¯t you know?¡±

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°I see.¡± Wilo eternally wore her wooden mask, but Rein could tell from her tone that she did not believe his words in any shape or form.

    Anyhow, Rein immediately brightened up upon learning that both he and Xeeseir had been awarded two thousand points. Wilo, five hundred, the twins Joxeire and Suxeire four hundred, Dahk and Chirh three hundred.

    Clearly, the Hall highly valued Rein and Xeeseir¡¯s involvement in battling that bulky man with three hypnotic circles sigil-- supposedly an outer advancer of the Convergence Sect.

    ¡°Rumors are that you¡¯ve taken a beating.¡± The elder twin Suxeire noted as she popped up to the side of Rein. Word must have spread.

    ¡°That bastard Beincen bribed one of the sparring instructor to target me. The sparring instructor even activated shell realm magic and broke a number of my bones! If not for the healers of the ward¡­¡± Rein exclaimed, intending to further cement the rumors of said event. The gray-robed individual handing out the rewards would certainly further spread this news.

    Xeeseir, frowning at Rein¡¯s words, also passed on the events with the blacksmith instructor, Rahr, in addition to the sparring instructor.

    ¡°No, no.¡± Suxeire, having been in the Halls longer, shook her head, causing her raven locks to sway around her face. ¡°Those two are different. Some instructors, such as the blacksmiths, have to be kept perfectly neutral, since they supply armaments to the advancers. If a blacksmith were to be even slightly biased and forge a weaker armament for an individual, that could severely interfere with the strength of the Hall.¡±

    Evidently, Suxeire believed it necessary to explain the situation to Rein.

    ¡°On the other end, a sparring instructor-- a slightly bruised up member could recover in a short day¡¯s time, especially with the augmented recovery speed of the body in combination with the alchemical liquids.¡±

    She sighed with eyes closed. ¡°Thus, some types of instructors are allowed more leeway. It¡¯s an open secret that certain sparring instructors even take resource bribes from houses and clans.¡± After a short pause, she added, ¡°Supposedly, sparring instructors focus on researching new combat techniques. It¡¯s possible that Beincen is a contributor to that instructor.¡±

    That only led to another question popping up in Rein¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Blacksmith Rahr had elected to take me on as a disciple of his craft. Would I not be in an odd position being that I am now part of Supreme Jensure¡¯s faction?¡± This was something that Rein had just realized.

    ¡°Blacksmith Rahr, too, once belonged to a faction. However, the leader of that faction had moved to a higher realm by the time he had attained a degree of mastery in his craft,¡± replied Suxeire.

    More and more, Rein discovered the intricate system of the Halls. Indeed, Jensure, likely already an advancer that had reached the mastery levels of the outer realm, would have advanced beyond this Hall of Heroes branch by the time Rein could truly produce anything of quality compared to master blacksmiths.

    Supposedly, any Halls member who was mildly successful would eventually be transferred to its main branch in its home realm. Thus, Rein¡¯s current allegiance would be inconsequential in the long run.

    Meanwhile, Rein was nodding to himself-- all this made sense. No matter. He had already set his target-- Rekcen!

    None of these extra considerations were of interest to Chirh, who had gone to the point of flopping flat on the ground with a dead expression upon hearing of Rein¡¯s encounters with Beincen.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so dramatic.¡± The younger twin, Joxeire, found this rather hilarious. ¡°Me and  my sister have survived somewhat even after rejecting the advances made by--¡±

    She was immediately cut off by Suxeire. ¡°Unnecessary information, sis.¡±

    However, it was too late, as the other five would have to be complete idiots to not pick up on the implication behind Joxeire¡¯s words. Not that it was surprising in any way. These twin ladies were beauties, even if the scar on Suxeire¡¯s face might put off a great many men.

    Seeking to divert their attention, Suxeire further expounded upon how the Hall worked.

    ¡°The Hall actually wants some of its less desirable nobles of houses and clans to be an annoyance. These nobles would dump resources into the Hall¡¯s coffers, while essentially acting as a barrier to test other members. Grinding stones to sharpen the brightest blades, so to speak.¡±

    Again, Rein found himself understanding the increasingly nuanced operating mechanism of the Halls. Just that¡­ ¡°How exactly can the Hall enforce such rules accurately in varying situations?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Allfather,¡± so replied Suxeire. ¡°It is said that he is all-seeing, all-knowing. It is said that he can read a person¡¯s heart and intentions like a book.¡± She glanced around suspiciously. ¡°It is also said that he walks among us for eternity.¡±

    A rather scary thought. But not impossible. Rein was unsure of how powerful Master Yirn was. But he had seen enough to know that there were truly some unimaginable advancer arts out in every corner of the world.

    Even that bounty on The Blasphemer that had projected information into Rein¡¯s mind had stated that the figure was essentially faceless and basically unidentifiable through sight or style of combat.

    ¡°So. Let us reaffirm our situation,¡± Xeeseir redirected everyone to the important topic at hand. ¡°Both me, Wilo, Rein have already decided that we will undertake red diamond and beyond rated missions.¡±

    ¡°Now, Chirh obviously doesn¡¯t have a choice since he had offended House Larne as well,¡± chortled Xeeseir in amusement, knowing that Chirh would rather not be included. ¡°So that leaves you twins and Dahk.¡±

    ¡°Such missions would only bring glory to my kin,¡± Dahk immediately agreed.

    ¡°Why not?¡± To Rein¡¯s surprise, the twin ladies nodded their heads. He had assumed that these twin ladies who had joined the Halls at least a quarter earlier would perhaps already have a team-- or received offers to join one. Unless¡­ Rein recalled Joxeire¡¯s earlier leak. Unless they had offended someone influential that prevented them from finding a combat team.

    Rein suddenly found Suxeire plastering her slender body and ample breasts against his body. ¡°A side offer would be that I wish to be your partner,¡± She declared with a whimsical smile. Her actions drew the confusion of the others, except her twin sister.

    Rein himself entered a state of full bafflement as his mind raced to keep up with the developments. Suxeire¡¯s body naturally felt sublime against his. He had noticed it the night before, with the thin robes of the Halls hugging Suxeire¡¯s hourglass curves. Yesterday, she was in protective leather gear under the robes. Today? She wore a sleeveless blouse and a knee-length skirt, with a hint of midriff barely visible through the thin Halls robes wrapped around her body.

    Still. If there was one thing Rein believed-- no woman would suddenly throw themselves into a man¡¯s arms. His now deceased mother had employed a good many attractive ladies to train his mettle.

    Thus, Rein, after a brief and weak struggle, extricated himself from a protesting Suxeire¡¯s embrace as his mind maintained clarity and connected the dots. If Suxeire and Joxeire had been unable to join a team in their time here, it must mean that the noble they had rejected must be vastly more influential than Beincen of House Larne.

    That can only mean one thing. Suxeire was hoping to drag him directly into their mess! Naturally, Beincen and this unnamed noble would find a common enemy in him. Rein¡¯s initial conclusion naturally made him glare at Suxeire with a hint of hostility.

    However, he still struggled to piece together the entire picture. His mastery of magic was not even as high as Suxeire or Joxeire. The two could already form fragments of shell advancer skin-- they are at the peak of the inner realm! Why would Suxeire aim for him instead of Xeeseir, who had displayed his origin skill out in the open? In his eyes, if Suxiere truly wished to seduce someone to be her shield, Xeeseir would be a far better target!

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look at me like that,¡± Suxeire whispered seductively into Rein¡¯s right ear. She once again pressed her body into Rein¡¯s and even tentatively dragged her tongue against his ear. ¡°You¡¯d get to do as you wish with my body. Surely, that¡¯s worth something. And my sister¡­ my twin sister¡­ it¡¯ll be up to her what she wishes to do¡­¡±

    Rein turned his head and gazed deep into Suxeire¡¯s eyes. He had met and observed many seductresses during his mortal merchant days. Many might put up such a front to influence merchant deals in their favor.

    Over time, Rein discovered an observable difference between those playacting and those truly interested in said pleasurable acts-- An all-encompassing expression of devotion even while performing what some may consider shameful acts of pleasure.

    Suxeire¡¯s eyes certainly contained that all-encompassing expression of devotion¡­ No. Rein inwardly lambasted himself. There is always the possibility of some seductresses being exquisite at their playacting!

    Plus, he wasn¡¯t here to seek a partner. That was one thing Rein knew. He had to find traces of his younger brother, identify the members of the Dingien Clan soliciting the help of devils, and seek revenge for his destroyed hometown. In his mind, he saw this as ¡®delivering justice¡¯. A closer Suxeire would attract the attention of a noble significantly more influential relative to Beincen and potentially jeopardize these goals!

    Also, if he were to properly master his magics and become a proper advancer, his lengthened lifespan would provide him with ample opportunities if he ever became desperate for such physical pleasures. He gripped Suxeire¡¯s neck, eliciting a seductive moan, before firmly pushing Suxeire an arm¡¯s length distance from him.

    Suxeire had yet to give up on her endeavor. ¡°Blacksmiths are highly influential as well. If you become a competent one, many nobles would rather stay cordial in order to have access to your wares. And anyway,¡± her tone became a tinge disdainful. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a man?¡±

    So, she must be betting on that blacksmith gig that he had obtained, Rein realized. As for that challenge at the end? His reply was thus. ¡°Would a man jeopardize family and goals for momentary fling with a¡­¡± Rein ceased his words. Although he was somewhat annoyed with Suxeire, he believed he would be going too far to accuse her of being ¡®easy¡¯. After all, she had supposedly rejected the advances of an influential noble, leading to her supposed current predicament.

    He had no wish to further escalate the current situation with an insult. However, it could not be denied that this was simply a lady he had but known for half a day, even if she was a beauty.

    ¡°Family, indeed.¡± Suxeire muttered, turning her gaze at her younger twin sister. She withdrew her seductive and devoted dreamy eyes and became apologetic as she took a step back. ¡°It was just an offer that I thought you might have been interested in. Forgive me.¡± She curtsied.

    ¡°Rein.¡± Xeeseir frowned on the side. The balding man was unsure if it was still a good idea for the twins to remain a part of their group. ¡°The twin ladies¡­¡±

    Rein sighed. He still hadn¡¯t come up with an answer to the mystery of why Suxeire did not target Xeeseir instead if she desired a shield against the unnamed noble the twins had rejected. Perhaps if the twin ladies joined their group, the two would suffer less. It did not sit well with him that fear of said rejected noble had led to existing advancer teams ignoring the twin ladies over the past few months. He himself was being harassed by Beincen!

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Rein certainly hoped he would not regret his decision.

    He detected a hint of a relieved smile as the twin ladies nearly skipped on the spot with joy.

    Then, his heart sank. While Joxeire remained standing politely as a respectable member of the group, the older twin, Suxeire, opted to sit in front of Rein, on the ground with her legs to the side.  She bent her neck backwards and Rein found himself directing a stern glare into a fervent pair of eyes. The seductress even bit her lips, indicating her enjoyment of Rein¡¯s glower!

    So, this was what his mother called, an unhinged minx, Rein decried to himself apprehensively. He had a feeling he would have to keep this little minx in check while plumbing for her secrets¡­

 Ch49: A Relentless Minx

    Rein initially thought the others in the group would wish to avoid offending whoever influential the twin ladies might have rejected. They did not and accepted the twins¡¯ inclusion-- even Chirh held in his tongue, though perhaps unlike the others, he simply had no choice. Rein realized-- they must also be willing to bear the impending conflict between him and House Larne!

    Still, it could not be denied that these twin ladies being part of the group meant that this vastly more influential noble might target the group and thereby hinder his goals.

    ¡°Xeeseir, being a user of an origin skill, would certainly be a better mate,¡± Chirh spoke up in wonder, echoing Rein¡¯s unsaid thoughts. The others mostly remained silent.

    Xeeseir hackingly coughed. ¡°Not unless I make some surprising advancement. Otherwise, I might die in another decade or two.¡± More or less a thorough rejection of the idea. Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this balding man might have experienced a tribulation of love, having so easily rejected Chirh¡¯s suggestion.

    They returned into the labyrinth, to the mission hall in order to register their team members. Such official registration ensured that the members would be fairly treated. Furthermore, in their case, it would give the Chirh, Suxeire and Joxeire some leeway in terms of their contribution to the Hall.

    They would still have to contribute in some certain fashion, but at least, they would not be punished for not completing missions for the meantime, until the new initiates in the group had passed the orientation period.

    Obviously, such methods to circumvent completing missions would eventually be punished. However, Chirh and the twin ladies supposedly had only recently joined the Halls, and should have some leeway.

    As they registered their names, Rein¡¯s mind was still lingering on a point. Perhaps mastering the art of blacksmith would give him a high degree of immunity. Yet, Suxeire had even gone as far as offering her body on a silver platter. This was either a trap, or there must be a reason for her desperation.

    Still. Surely, there should be some figures that were better targets than himself for Suxeire. One who had reached the stage of a shell advancer, perhaps. That was unless¡­ Rein¡¯s eyes suddenly widened as an odd idea entered his mind.

    In his time as the heir to his merchant family, he had noted how some merchants seemed to invest their hard-earned money in some risky endeavors. Many would fail, but he soon noticed that for one reason or another, a measly small number of merchants seemed to have a knack for identifying projects that would turn sand into gold. An intuition of sorts.

    Was this applicable here? Intuition? Rein felt it seemed to be a stretch, but that was the only possibility he could truly see. He knew he was just an ant in the advancer world. He could think of no other reasons for Suxeire¡¯s half-mad actions. Was Suxeire making a bet that none other dare would?

    The group used their well-earned points for a humble meal of the most basic advancer food such as the aurae buns and some sort of thin and chewy cake named aurbas, which was rather filling and felt heavier on the stomach compared to the buns.

    Before the newly-formed team dispersed, Chirh approached Rein and tapped his shoulder to attract his attention.

    ¡°Rein,¡± he whispered. ¡°There is something you should be aware of, you being new and all.¡±

    Rein nodded and listened attentively. Chirh might be a wimp, but he was the best man to learn from regarding any sort of potential sources of danger.

    ¡°You might not know this, but¡­¡± Chirh lowered his voice ensuring that only Rein would hear his words. ¡°This is, you could say, the season where certain ladies throw themselves at some men. It¡¯s an open secret.¡±

    Chirh nodded at Rein¡¯s shock and continued.

    ¡°The Halls require its new initiates to enter the western wilderness against devils and demons. Devils absolutely love capturing virgin men and women. Priority targets. They have advancer arts to absorb that virgin energy. As such, some new initiates¡­ they grow desperate and would rather lose their virginity at their own volition.¡±

    ¡°You might not have noticed, but there¡¯s a brothel in a less visible corner of the plaza in front of the Halls in Green Trout City. Many men request the services of said brothel. The women, on the other hand, often opt to select a man not displeasing to the eye, instead of one at the brothel who might have already tasted countless peaches.¡±

    ¡°I tell you all this such that you do not get overly drawn in by her eagerness,¡± Chirh warned.

    Rein was thankful for this information. That certainly went along with his suspicions regarding Suxeire¡¯s almost believable devotion.

    Very soon, Rein found himself returning to his private cave. There was just one problem-- he was being followed by Suxeire and Joxeire.

    He stomped to an abrupt stop and squinted at Suxeire, who was clearly the one dragging her younger twin around at her pace.

    ¡°I just figured it would be a good idea for us as squad members to,¡± she covered her mouth as she mumbled, ¡°get to know each other.¡± Her shyness was but an act, for her hazel eyes glimmered bewitchingly.

    Rein inwardly groaned, already somewhat regretting giving this woman the chance to stick her foot through the doorway.

    He furrowed his forehead, resting his index finger and thumb on his eyebrows in contemplation of the situation. He hadn¡¯t expected Suxeire to be so forward so soon.

    With a jerk of his right elbow, he had the woman¡¯s chin in his grip.To Rein¡¯s inner shock, Suxeire remained completely unperturbed, and continued her little act, lolling her tongue out to lap at the thumb resting on her chin.

    This minx¡­ Rein had thought the sudden contact would be enough to give her a scare to put her off, but clearly it had failed. Normal ladies would flinch at the touch of a man more or less a stranger! He had no choice but to escalate the situation. Perhaps a proper scare would give Suxeire a wake-up call!

    Thus, he moved his hand down, and swiftly clamped down on the woman¡¯s delicate neck, forcefully nailing Suxeire¡¯s figure against the resplendent white tunnel wall.

    He increasingly clenched his right hand tighter, his eyes dark as he peered into Suxeire¡¯s flickering hazel eyes. He had expected Suxeire to put up some resistance by now-- after all, she had already developed some mastery of the magical aurae skin, and stood at the peak of the inner realm. She should at least be able to free herself!

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    As long as he could wipe the fervent and submissive glaze that covered her eyes, he would likely gain some clarity of her actions.

    Once again, the minx usurped his expectations. Instead of resisting, Rein found that her hands were softly massaging his right forearm, as if¡­ encouraging his action.

    Most surprisingly, her twin sister, though having a wrinkled forehead, made no attempt to intervene.

    Rein maintained his tight grip around the seductress¡¯ neck with determination, but on sensing the woman¡¯s impending loss of consciousness by her fluttering eyelids, and her weakening hands providing his forearm massage, he finally released his grip.

    Although he did not show it, he was very much dumbstruck. He had never intended to take it this far-- he had originally wished to scare this woman into not throwing herself at him and following him back to his abode.

    After a few coughs, Suxeire whispered in a husky and rather alluring voice, a result of her breathlessness. ¡°I¡­ I would love it if you wished to do that again.¡± Her robes even flowed in a manner that seemed like she was smoothing her thighs together.

    Rein only felt exasperated, and his inner bafflement at an all-time high. He had more or less run out of ideas on how to avoid the trouble this woman could potentially bring. No¡­ he could go further. He had seen and observed unspeakable debauchery during his mortal merchant days. Surely, no matter how much of a minx this woman acted as, she would shrink if he gave an extra push!

    Perhaps he could settle this immediately.

    ¡°Lady Suxeire,¡± Rein took the direct approach. ¡°If it is the virgin energy you are concerned with, there¡¯s no need to act in such a manner. I am happy to cooperate.¡± He had experience from his merchant days.

    Suxeire coquettishly giggled at his words.

    ¡°You should take me¡­ seriously,¡± she huskily whispered in response. Rein thought that Chirh had provided him with a reasonable answer to Suxeire¡¯s actions. Her response demonstrated that this was not so.

    ¡°Very well.¡± Rein leaked a degree of ire through his voice. He could only issue a final threat. ¡°You had better prepare your body then. I was once a mortal merchant and have seen the most perverted acts known to man.¡± If this woman was going to drag him into her mess even after his repeated warnings, then he had better be well-compensated, so he thought.

    ¡°And you should know. I am here to achieve my own goals. Do not be under the impression that I would sacrifice those goals for your little game.¡± His eyes swiveled left and right as he confirmed that their little incident had not been observed by anyone.

    Suxeire beamed with reverence into Rein¡¯s eyes. Rein half-suspected that this was the result she desired! ¡°Yes, my celest! And please call me Suey,¡± she stated as she hooked her fingers together accompanied with a bow, the traditional advancer greeting.

    My celest¡­ Rein inwardly groaned again. This must be how advancers displayed their subservience. Celest must be the shortened address for celestial, a common term used synonymously with godhood. At least the name ¡®Suey¡¯ was certainly easier to say, he comforted himself.

    Rein had studied the names used in this realm for a short time. Although he had grown up in these lands, many of the names often had a throaty, hissing, or stuck-in-the-nose quality to them that could be slightly uncomfortable to pronounce.

    ¡°So. Who exactly did you reject?¡± Rein figured he might as well have an idea of the potential trouble his team might face.

    Suey avoided Rein¡¯s gaze, before mumbling, ¡°Well, we rejected Guihnes. Supreme Guihnes.¡±

    Great. A leader of one of the five factions. Probably a competent outer advancer similar to or even stronger than Supreme Jensure. Rein nearly buried his head in his hands.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. He didn¡¯t really have that strong of an interest, really. It¡¯s known that he simply has a tendency to display his influence.¡± Suey reassured Rein. ¡°He¡¯s already surrounded by a convoy of jade beauties. He¡¯s not actually personally interested in an inner advancer like me and my sister. What he does is to train said beauties into skillful consorts and sell them to other nobles.¡±

    ¡°Still, all chose not to associate with us as a result. Regardless, as you stated yourself. You do not have to interfere if you do not wish to.¡± She batted her eyelashes teasingly. ¡°You could even run.¡±

    Escape? He could do so if trouble arises. But if truly, this minx was to throw herself at him every night, he doubted he would be able to simply run when the time came. It was likely that the woman knew that too-- which was possibly why she had not hesitated to give him a potential out.

    Then again, who was to truly know what action he might take in such a situation? Afterall, it is believed that one¡¯s true nature only truly reveals itself in such life-threatening situations. Perhaps, deep down, he was nothing but a coward!

    If he truly is one, then dear Suey would have pointlessly sacrificed her body! He even half-hoped that was the case at the cost of his own pride, irritated as he was at this woman getting her way so far.

    That irritation was only partial though. He could not deny a certain degree of excitement, not necessarily because of his glimpses of the woman¡¯s slender hourglass figure, but more so of her daring all-out approach. Not to mention, she seemed to have even enjoyed the earlier asphyxiation¡­

    Still. It would have been much better if such fun was had after he had accomplished what he came here to do. As an advancer that could one day gain immortality, he had more than enough time in the world.

    Rein shook his head to himself as he returned alone back to his cave. If not for the amount of debauchery he had seen back in his days as a mortal merchant, he wasn¡¯t sure how he would have reacted to Suey¡¯s advances.

    Having drawn a degree of agreement from Rein, Suey had finally returned to her own abode along with his younger twin sister, throwing a final hazy glance at Rein before her departure.

    Rein hardened his heart. He reminded himself that it was not over yet. He decided that he would subject this little minx to the debauchery of his mortal merchant experiences. He was certain that the minx would soon be but a whimpering dog escaping with a tail between legs!

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    In an unnamed cave abode within the Hall of Heroes Labyrinth.

    ¡°Stand, Risen Puhnz,¡± Overseer Jeahz ordered the instructor kneeling before him.

    Puhnz, the combat instructor that had escalated the combat against Rein, rose to his feet in his white instructor wrapping robe.

    ¡°I will tolerate your actions this time.¡± Overseer Jeahz opened his palm.

    Puhnz wordlessly reached forward and placed a jade into Overseer Jeahz¡¯s hand.

    Overseer Jeahz pinched the finger-sized piece of jade and held it up to a source of light.

    ¡°Too clear, but still has a small dense cloud of aurae concentrate. Of the lowest quality. Yet, jade, nonetheless. This small dense cloudy section contains more aurae than any other gem of the same size. To think House Larne would have such a resource. Did Beincen say how the Larne gained such a piece of jade?¡±

    Puhnz shook his head.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Overseer Jeahz closed his eyes and stroked his goatee. ¡°Some of House Larne¡¯s ancestors reside in the Evergreen Mountains. Mayhaps¡­ one of the Great Sects has discovered a mine?¡± His eyes gleamed like the edge of a knife.

    Puhnz remained silent with his head lowered.

    ¡°Have you heard of fiends?¡± Overseer Jeahz asked after a moment of silence.

    Once again, Puhnz shook his head.

    ¡°It is said that they are ancient beings. Titanic humanoids born after the fallen gods. They are blessed with powerful physical bodies, but they struggle to manipulate aurae. That was the cause of their demise. It is rumored that the final descendants hid in desolate areas and had no choice but to intermingle with humans.¡±

    ¡°...The Golden Desert¡­¡± Puhnz muttered. He had thought Rein¡¯s physical body to be beyond his understanding. His initial suspicion was some unique inner realm mastery. It made sense to him. The Golden Desert Tribes do have warriors of mind-boggling physical prowess. The Minhr Nation have had some conflicts with the northern tribes.

    ¡°Risen Puhnz. I am tolerating your actions this time because this is of interest to me,¡± Overseer Jeahz stated. ¡°That new initiate has a background where his ancestors have interacted with the Golden Desert Tribes. Do not disappoint me again. Focus on creating new advancer arts useful to the Allfather.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Overseer.¡±

    Unknown to Rein, his unique physicality was attributed to the main family who had exiled his parents-- the ancestors who had  ancient dealings with the Golden Desert tribes!

 Ch50: Ancient Tricks

    The next morning, Rein awakened with renewed vigor. He no longer thought of what could be going on in Suey¡¯s mind. He doubted he would fully understand anyway, and the little minx should be occupied by the menial tasks she needed to complete as part of her exceptional clause to join Xeeseir¡¯s newly-formed squad.

    To say he ¡®awakened¡¯ was actually inaccurate. He had no need to sleep-- he found himself refreshed from the mental mantras he had chanted through the night, until the spherical lamps brightened up. The halls manipulated magical inscriptions in the labyrinth, brightening or dimming the lights to inform the inhabitants of time of day.

    Rein knew he required strength. No. Rather, he had an urgency for strength. The twin ladies within the group had rejected and obtained the displeasure of Supreme Guihnes! Beincen must also be stirring the pot in the background.

    The new initiates were given full freedom to decide which instructor they wished to attend through the day during this one month.

    Rein naturally picked the ones that he believed to be most useful to him. The other initiate members of his squad went their own way for the information they themselves desired.

    The spring lady instructor that resided beside the lake formed in the caldera of the volcano was one such figure to Rein. The instructor never told them her name, as is her right. Thus, in his mind, Rein thought of her as the spring lady, seeing as she emanated the refreshing aura of spring itself.

    After waiting for a short period, since the lectures were repeated at timely blocks, the spring lady gazed at the sparse number of attendees and began speaking of the nature of various elements.

    ¡°...fire,for example, has an intrinsic nature to combust or raise the heat of its surroundings. Water, on the other hand, flows in ways that wood aurae can never imitate. These are obvious differences, and discovering new, obscure qualities in each element is a major part of my research.¡±

    A hand raised itself-- a question. ¡°Is it basically the elemental chart?¡±

    The spring lady visibly rolled her eyes. ¡°That is nothing but simplified knowledge of the most basic of interactions between the elements. They may have some relevance, but the nature of the world is abstruse.¡±

    ¡°As I have already taught you all the day before, if observable in nature, then it can be imitated and magnified to an unimaginable scale. The true wonders of aurae are, however, discovered,¡± her eyes glinted like gems, and her voice raised a pitch ethereally. ¡°That which does not occur naturally in nature, unless we put the pieces in place.¡±

    She raised a metallic kettle and flames from her palm heated the water inside. ¡°One might think water and fire to be separate and against each other. Yet, what of the burning water in this kettle that could be directed to scald a foe?¡±

    The flame in her palm amplified, and a torrent of steam leaked through the cap of the kettle. ¡°And what of this mist that could be carried by the wind to scorch an enemy? Of course, these easily observable phenomena have long had advancer arts dedicated to them.¡±

    Rein did not choose to attend the spring lady¡¯s lecture for no reason. In fact, he had quite a few questions.

    Raising his arm, Rein asked one that he had yet to figure out. ¡°How exactly do the devils raise corpses to do their own doing?¡± In his mind, he brought forth his distinct memories of the battle against that weak outer advancer that is the corpse-man.

    The spring lady¡¯s face lit up in joy. ¡°A perfect example.¡± A flick of her arm and a frog popped out of the lake behind, right into her palm. A needle that glinted under the sunlight appeared between her other thumb and finger, and she stabbed it right into the frog¡¯s skull.

    She pivoted the needle back and forth, eliciting twitching leg movement as she pleased from the now, presumably, dead frog.

    ¡°Theorized, difficult to observe in nature, yet possible. This is the origin of the magics that allow the devils to control corpses, and even bring back a form of the pre-existing consciousness of the body. There is just one small problem.¡± She paused, observing the rapt attention of all those in front of her.

    All those that chose to come listen to this spring lady naturally came only because they were interested by the nature of her lectures.

    ¡°As you all surely already know, each of us beings have our own unique blend of aurae, forming our individual aura. Using strings of aurae to activate the brain and limbs, one could bring back parts of the bodily function. But the body itself is built on its individual blend of aurae. Thus, the corpse raiser¡¯s aurae strings are invasive in nature, and clashes with the nature of the body itself. That is the devil in this magic-- it is not a natural flow of aurae.¡±

    A flick of the wrist, and the frog flew with precision into a pot beside a far-off hut-- the spring lady¡¯s abode most likely. ¡°Frog stew,¡± the instructor explained with a smile, distracting the attendees from the fact that some of these members here might very likely become a walking corpse if they fail in one of their future missions.

    The spring lady continued on passing on her knowledge regarding the various qualities of different types of aurae to the listeners, and also provided all that had come a short private face-to-face for questions.

    This suited Rein-- ever since he had discovered his spatial-aspected origin ability, he had always wondered whether it could one day grow into a direct magical attack.

    ¡°No. Many scholars have hypothesized that you could use collapsing space to crush objects. The reality is that such a thing is impossible. Space is something that an object exists in.¡± The spring lady waved her arm around dramatically.

    ¡°Space simply does not have any force. For example, a teleportation portal cannot be closed if an object is in the way. Even if the portal is a tiny dot, that space within said dot can be expansive to those objects or beings that occupy that size of a dot.¡±

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    All this theory made Rein¡¯s whirl like the spinning wheel of a racing wagon.

    A last hope lingered within him. ¡°I¡¯ve read that space collapses in dying realms. Surely, that means something¡­?¡±

    A shake of the head crushed this hope that his origin skill could contain offensive qualities. ¡°Do not mistake correlation and causation. The space of dying realms collapse not because of the space itself, but rather, the aurae and the land itself is losing its strength to support the space that they occupy.¡±

    ¡°There is a reason why you cannot simply teleport a person¡¯s heart away and separate it from said person¡¯s body. Now, being able to perform such magic would be absolutely ridiculous!¡±

    Sensing Rein¡¯s somewhat disappointed heart, the spring lady consoled him. ¡°You young men are always looking for that explosive magic. Wholly unnecessary. You¡¯re Rein, the young man with that odd combination of wood, lightning and spatial alignment, yes?¡±

    Rein nodded.

    The spring lady continued, ¡°Imagine a war between nations or realms, and your spatial portals could move an army from point to point on a battlefield. Or perhaps, multiple battalions to different points at the same time. Now, that is a level of control no singular attack will ever achieve. Though, transporting other beings, themselves huge reservoirs of aurae, could be rather taxing without the help of supporting tools.¡±

    ¡°Naturally, you would need to first reach the realm of an outer advancer to create such portals¡­ that is certainly a weakness of spatial magic.¡± Little did she know that Rein¡¯s was an origin magic birthed by the echoes of the fallen gods.

    ¡°Frankly,¡± she continued. ¡°Lightning advancer magics will provide the explosive strength you may need. But I say this as a word of advice. There may have been a time when such explosive magics may have dominated in the advancer world. In this day and age, that is simply no longer true. It is those in the shadows that one should fear most.¡±

    Her tone conveyed a rather downcast mood at the end of her words, but she quickly brightened up again.

    ¡°Plus,¡± she added. ¡°Spatial magics are a great tool for supporting assassination tasks. Only difficulty of it would lay in the preparation and cost needed to rapidly activate such teleportation.¡±

    Rein increasingly understood the reason for why origin skills are considered by some to be ¡®absolute¡¯. The spring lady turned to another initiate to provide her knowledge. It was certainly worth attending this instructor¡¯s lessons. Though, it seems she had yet to find it worth her time to grace them with her name.

    Yet¡­ how was he to fight? Yes, his half-senior Chenhr had trained him and Master Yirn had provided him with stances and mantras, and he also had a powerful body that could be even further tempered. Yet, he knew that advancers¡¯ strength mostly lies in their advancer magic rather than physicality. His body could be strong beyond compare, but if someone kept, for example, firing aurae bolts at him from a distance, he would not be able to respond and eventually be worn down!

    It was at this moment that Rein felt his heart calling out to him. He sat down cross-legged beside the lake of the caldera and opened himself to this rather odd ¡®call¡¯ sensation.

    He closed his eyes to indulge in said feeling, and when he opened them again, he had entered a vision!

    He looked around and found himself in a dreamy peach garden. He was looking up at a youth leisurely sitting on a branch of a peach tree with his back leaning back into the trunk, a twig between his teeth. He recognized this youth as the young Yirn of the vision previously shared by the remnant will of the draconic metamorphose bead!

    ¡°So¡­ how exactly did you ¡®beat the shit¡¯ out of the other dragons with your handicapped elements compared to the other dragons? I must say I am very curious.¡±

    ¡®His¡¯ mouth opened, and Rein discovered that the dragon he was inhabiting in the vision had gained the ability of speech since the last vision.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite straightforward,¡± ¡®he¡¯ chuckled in a deep guttural growl. ¡°You know of the dragons being born with most natural elements belonging to common phenomena, yes? Water, wood, fire, wind, lightning and earth.¡±

    The youthful Yirn nodded. That was precisely why the gods used dragons to deliver earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, rain, clear skies and more. Sometimes to reward the mortals, sometimes to punish them.

    ¡°Imagine a normal dragon whose body contains the same amount of aurae as I do. Do you think his body stores that amount of aurae in all these six natural phenomena elements? What about me?¡±

    ¡°You would have vastly more wood and lightning aurae stores.¡± The youthful Yirn¡¯s eyes were transfixed to ¡®his¡¯ as he answered.

    ¡°When I fought,¡± ¡®he¡¯ continued. ¡°When my opponent employs water magics, I would use my lightning to electrocute said opponent, while using my wood to draw vitality from water. When my opponent uses earth magic, I would also use my wood to absorb their strength.¡±

    ¡°When my opponents use wind¡­well. Wind does not do much against lightning or a strong tree, yes?¡±

    ¡°Wood or lightning? I have vastly more reserves of aurae stored as such elements.¡±

    ¡°Now fire. You may not know this fellow Yirn, but lightning contains aspects of fire. I use my lightning to ignite wood, and generate fire to counter an enemy¡¯s fire.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± The youthful Yirn finally interrupted. ¡°Your fire affinity is low. How could you use fire magic?¡±

    ¡°Fellow Yirn,¡± ¡®he¡¯ answered with a mirth. ¡°Do you believe elemental affinity is about generating elemental energy or controlling the resulting magic?¡±

    That question certainly made the youthful Yirn furrow his brows in contemplation.

    ¡°Fellow Yirn. I, Gent, tested it. Elemental affinity is very much more related to absorbing said element into one¡¯s body, and generating it into a known magic. Controlling said magic, however¡­ that does not require all that high of an affinity. I may be considered¡­ deformed. But I still do have low affinity with the other elements. Thus, since I could ignite my wooden aurae with my lightning aurae, I can effectively transform all my aurae within my body into fire. As long as I master control over a fire-based magic¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­ your body should be incompatible with containing and holding said fire element, yes?¡± Yirn was baffled. ¡°Would your body not suffer damage?¡±

    ¡°Fellow Yirn.¡± ¡®He¡¯ grinned. ¡°I am a dragon. I am born with a body tough beyond your comprehension. And I have further strengthened it through my own methods!¡±

    The youthful Yirn resting on the tree branch dropped the twig in his hand as he shook his head. Rein wasn¡¯t sure if Yirn shook his head in amazement, confusion or comprehension. Rein found himself finally understanding why he had decent control over that water drop spell through the Soak Staff! It also explained why armaments could carry all sorts of inscriptions supported by inlaid gems containing various elemental aurae!

    ¡°No wonder that other dragon under your god called you a battle freak,¡± Yirn muttered.

    ¡°Auromirrar?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ the she-dragon.¡±

    Gent chuckled once more. ¡°She finds me annoying to the eye. Always speaking of my failure to properly serve the Gods, my lacking ability to control the flow of nature. When serving as my god¡¯s mount, I can always set her off with just a side-glance!¡±

    The vision faded along with Gent¡¯s continued laughter echoing in Rein¡¯s ears.

    When Rein opened his eyes again, his expression was of a startled rabbit. Even the spring-lady looked over mid-explanation to another initiate.

    ¡°What happened? You closed your eyes for just a heartbeat? Tell me if you¡¯ve comprehended something unique!¡± The spring-lady had repeatedly stated that any new epiphany to be shared with her.

    Rein only shook his head to the disappointment of the woman.

 Ch51: Gathering Strength

    The other instructors that Rein picked to attend were the alchemist and Blacksmith Rahr, not that he had any choice regarding the latter given that he had already been accepted as a disciple.

    His reason for visiting the alchemist instructor was a result of his observation of Wilo¡¯s poison needles, and also the spring lady¡¯s hints that spatial skills were good for assassinations.

    The session was unfortunately a bit of a bore. The unnamed alchemist instructor, instead of doing any mixing with the cauldron, spent most of the time explaining an alchemist¡¯s place in the advancer world.

    Supposedly, an alchemist could be a doctor, a poison expert, a potion creator for various enhancements in combat or magic development. He proceeded to explain facets of all of these branching specialties, putting the attendees into a daze within the valley¡¯s haze.

    Last of all, the attendees were instructed to memorize and identify various different herbs. ¡°A necessary bore to ensure that one could pick and mix the right ingredients for the right purpose,¡± as the alchemist put it.

    By now, many of the attendees were rather disappointed-- some of them would not be returning. Today¡¯s session certainly did not quite have the half-crazed impact compared to their introductory session the day before.

    Rein approached the alchemist instructor. He was here for a rather nefarious reason, but he had to obscure said reason-- finishing off the Rekcen and dealing a blow to Beincen and House Larne! He naturally could not physically fight against a whole house. Thus, he turned to the alchemist.

    ¡°Sir. I am interested in becoming a poison expert of sorts,¡± he said.

    ¡°Oh. And why is that, young one? Do not tell me you wish to fall onto the path of a devil?¡± The alchemist glared at the young man. Many poison experts were devils in the wild west, taking swathes of lives with no regret or retribution.

    ¡°Sir. I am Rein, and lost my family to those devils. It is my desire to understand and counter their methods!¡± Rein exclaimed righteously with a fist pump.

    ¡°Rightfully said!¡± The alchemist beamed before giving Rein a sly wink. ¡°You do need to memorize all these different types of plants first though. Then you need to learn how to identify the nature and potential use of newly evolved types of herbs. Only then can you be of use.¡±

    He slipped a vision egg into Rein¡¯s hands and then brought a finger to his lip to indicate that this was to remain a secret.

    Rein was both ecstatic yet disappointed. He needed a type of poison to assassinate Rekcen as soon as possible-- it would be quite some time before he would learn the thousands upon thousands of herbs recorded by the alchemist world.

    ¡°Oh yes,¡± the alchemist had a rather maniacal grin as he added. ¡°I forgot to say this to others, so you can be the first to hear of this. The human body requires balance, especially during recovery. Sometimes, all you need is to inject an unstable¡­ element into a recovering body, leading to unexpected but potentially damaging results. That is what I mean when I speak of the importance of understanding the various combinations of herbs within the cauldron that is like a body.¡±

    Rein was wide-eyed. Did this alchemist see through his intentions? But those last words certainly helped, for Rein immediately thought of the beastkin cores he still carried with him. He could consume these without worry due to his transformed body¡­ but normal humans¡­?

    He smiled. The sparkling sand of beastkin cores¡­ he was curious on the effect of such a material on the human body. The next step was to figure out how to discreetly transfer this sparkling sand through House Larne¡¯s defenses into Rekcen¡¯s recovering body!

    Leaving the alchemist¡¯s valley, Rein returned to the geyser area that held Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s forges. He had hoped that the Blacksmith would put him to work, yet instead, he was instructed to inspect various different materials, mostly ores, and identify the type and strength of said material.

    Blacksmith Rahr had scoffed at Rein¡¯s dissatisfaction. ¡°Our deal was that you would bring back valuable materials from missions to the dangerous west. Naturally, you need to know what to return with.¡±

    Rein wanted to smack his head against a wall to awaken himself from his whole morning-- apart from the little excitement of figuring out what to poison Rekcen with, he had been memorizing herbs and stones and metals and¡­ He could only sigh.

    ¡°Focus on inspecting and identifying these materials, you fool!¡± Rahr¡¯s booming voice refocused  Rein¡¯s attention. ¡°How am I supposed to craft adequate weapons for the Halls if the materials brought back are nothing more than junk?¡±

    Rein did not even have a chance to work with the other disciples and learn new names before all dispersed for a midday break.

    The sun traveled overhead and Rein found himself returning back into the underground labyrinth. His destination? The Hall of Treasure and the Hall of Knowledge.

    These two locations were opposite of each other on two sides of the gleaming white tunnel. Both entrances were identical in design apart from the engraving of a spear on the Halls of Treasure gateway, whereas the Hall of Knowledge had an engraving of a round head with beams of light rays radiating outwards as a symbol of enlightenment.

    Without hesitation, he chose the Hall of Knowledge first. Rein had to first seek his next step before finding the required materials from the Hall of Treasures.

    Turning to his right, Rein found the tunnel widening and increasing in height as if the tunnel was opening like a mouth to wrap itself around the thirty by twenty feet gateway into the Hall of Knowledge.

    As for the gateway? It was nothing but a swirling dark vortex. Upon resting his eyes on the gateway, Rein immediately sensed the spatial magics, likely meant to serve as protection, but also increase the space within to contain the knowledge necessary to arm the members of these Halls.

    Rein felt a brief burning sensation as he was examined head-to-toe by a row of ten white cloaked silver-plated sentries on two sides of the gateway, before he whirled into the Hall of Knowledge.

    After spending some time in the Hall of Heroes, he had come to a certain understanding of these silver-plated sentires. They were long-term survivors of past initiates unable to break through to the higher-realms and were thus artificially augmented to serve as guards for the rest of their lives. Once artificially augmented they would no longer be able to raise their strength.

    His vision flashed when he traveled through the portal. Rein found himself in a wholly different environment. He had expected to find himself in another blindingly white stone hall that was common in the Hall of Heroes, yet swiveling his head around, he found himself instead in a significantly warmer setting.

    The vaunted maloewood decoration that was so prevalent in the Hall of Heroes¡¯ dining halls made a return. The motifs of humans against demons and devils remained prevalent, carved into the maloewood walls surrounding Rein.

    Each image seemed to have its own story. Perhaps a more avid scholar would have wanted to know the tale behind each and every single one of them, but Rein was more preoccupied by other matters.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    As Rein stepped forward toward a woman, likely the one in charge of receiving Hall members in the Hall of Knowledge, he found his feet on a new and soft material. The ground itself was fully covered in a silvery silk carpet with no clear discernable pattern in its weave.

    The metal orbs of light attached to the maloewood walls casted a warm yellow light onto this silvery carpet, causing the ground itself to occasionally glint a soft golden flash into the corner of Rein¡¯s eyes.

    The woman was dressed in a Hall of Heroes robes of a faintest sky-blue tinge. That meant that she had a respected unique role, unlike the many grunts dressed in gray robes that Rein have already encountered many times.

    The woman gazed up to welcome Rein, and when their eyes met, the woman¡¯s pupils turned vertical and glowed golden like a beast.

    She grinned at Rein, her teeth a row of fangs, an image identical to the dragon the Rein had briefly encountered-- Mystrygon!

    The woman¡¯s vertical golden eyes and fanged teeth only flashed for a single blink of the eye, and Rein was certain that it was intentional on the woman¡¯s part.

    He had long been aware that the Hall of Heroes absolutely saw hunting and slaying those of dragon descent as a sign of accomplishment. After all, dragons were the origin of all demon beasts. To think that the dragons had managed to sneak a spy into this branch of the Halls¡­

    ¡°Welcome. I am Duzkr, a minor keeper of the Hall of Knowledge.¡± Her smile no longer revealed any hint of her fanged identity. ¡°I have long waited to guide one such as you.¡±

    Her words were intentionally vague, but Rein knew it was a form of communication to avoid the Hall¡¯s ears. Likely, Duzkr was an ally of Mystrygon, and had long been informed of Rein¡¯s existence.

    Yet, how would Mystrygon know that he would enter the Hall of Heroes? This was certainly a point that Rein was unable to figure out.

    ¡°My name is Rein. I am just a new initiate. Perhaps you are already aware, but I am here to hunt down the demons and devils that destroyed my hometown, the Golden Desert Town.¡± This was one of the times that Rein would get to finish his introductory line.

    ¡°Well. As a minor keeper, I have the freedom to provide guidance and direction on the sort of knowledge a new initiate might need.¡± Duzkr stepped out from behind the extravagant maloewood desk, and waved for Rein to follow her. Another soft sky-blue robed Hall''s member stepped behind the front desk as replacement.

    Rein followed Duzkr through a normal-sized doorway, and the disguised woman led him through multiple identical rooms. Each room was a perfect square layout with shelves of books and scrolls, with the occasional collection of tall leather scrolls carried inside deep-blue-patterned porcelain vases.

    Every single room was decorated in a similar fashion to the entrance-- the extravagant maloewood furniture, the silvery silk carpet, the carvings of ancient humanoid races of various sizes and shapes clashing with demons and devils, illuminated by a metal light orb emitting a warm golden glow.

    Eventually, the two descended a set of spiral stairs that went farther underground, and Rein instantly understood that more hidden knowledge was likely stored in the lower floors.

    After a brief moment of thought, Rein found the vague words that could satisfy his curiosity without sabotaging this hidden dragon lady¡¯s position, even if the walls of these Halls were listening in on their conversation.

    ¡°I must express my gratitude that you offered me, a stranger, guidance. After all, you know what they say. The one receiving guidance often gleams some insight into the one providing such guidance.¡± Rein was obviously hinting at the woman¡¯s secret identity. Though, a bystander would consider such words simply an expression of gratitude.

    Duzkr did not immediately reply. She, too, took her time to measure her words. ¡°That is of no importance. After all, any insight you may gain into my mind is irrelevant. As a minor keeper, I have access to the vast information on the Hall¡¯s initiates. The secrets I know of you will pale in comparison to that you glean in me.¡±

    Duzkr¡¯s hushed undertone dragged Rein back from his inner musings. ¡°It is my hope that this will be the start of something special. For you and for us. A minor keeper¡¯s worth is reflected by the benefits those advised by said keepers bring to the Halls.¡±

    Did all these words originate from Mystrygon or Duzkr? Rein had a distinct memory of Mystrygon¡¯s behavior during their short encounter, unique as it were. Some of these words very much sounded like something that that dragon would say-- unless Rein¡¯s impression was inaccurate.

    Walking beside the hidden dragon lady, Rein couldn¡¯t help but recall his mortal knowledge of the dragons, which was a mix of both reverence and disdain. There were tales where the dragons served the gods and guided humans. Then, there were tales of dragons hunting humans for sport. Some had even claimed that it was the human¡¯s fear that led to their invented tales of revering the dragons in the first place.

    Still. Mystrygon had allowed him to live through their encounter. To Rein, that had to have meant something.

    ¡°Very well. Provide me guidance as you see fit,¡± he agreed after a short pause.

    Duzkr allowed herself a small smile. Initially, she had some concerns regarding her liege¡¯s choice of action. Perhaps, this would not amount to nothing. Their race had long tasted the bitterness of humankind¡¯s craftiness in recent years.

    ¡°I am guiding you to a rather forsaken part of the Hall of Knowledge-- a set of rooms filled with history and magical arts of the demons and devils.¡± They continued down another spiral staircase to a lower floor. By now, they had passed through many rooms, and Rein had naturally memorized their traveled path.

    ¡°After all, was it not you who said that they were your prey? To hunt them, you must know them.¡± Duzkr dismissed her feelings of connection to her liege as her demeanor achieved a state of aloofness, as befitting a minor keeper of the Hall of Knowledge. Duzkr led Rein down a third set of stairs.

    ¡°Do you know the origins of demons?¡± She questioned the young man following her. Rein gave an affirmative nod, while being increasingly impressed that Duzkr could maintain a perfect facade as she continuously referred to her kin with a negative term.

    ¡°I have no doubt that you are at least aware that all demon beasts and their various races are descended from the four origin demons. The phoenix, origin of all bird-like feathered demons. The lapis unicorn, origin of all furred demons. The crystal-carapaced tortoise, origin of armored demons. Last of all, the myriad of dragons. Origin of all scaled demons. Most versatile in nature, transversing the land, the skies and the seas. Once upon a time, the chosen servant of the fallen gods.¡±

    All this, Rein already knew.

    ¡°Once, these four origin demons were considered not unlike gods. They were the messengers for gods, and revered by all. But do you know of their fall?¡±

    Now, that would be new information to Rein. ¡°You have my attention,¡± he spoke, introducing discordance to the soft and rhythmic footsteps that slightly echoed in each room as they leisurely paced down another staircase towards a supposedly ignored room of demonic knowledge.

    ¡°When the fallen gods warred amongst themselves and brought onto themselves their own doom, the origin demons naturally thought themselves the ones responsible to return the myriad of realms to the peaceful status quo before the war. After all, they were the servants of the fallen gods.¡±

    ¡°Yet, the demons were born evil, given light by the fallen gods. So humankind discovered it after the fall of the gods. Many modern scholars had questioned as to why the demons were chosen as the servants of gods. Many now believe it was to keep the seed of evil within them dormant.¡±

    To Rein¡¯s amazement, this disguised dragonkind remained perfectly calm and unperturbed as she recounted the supposed history that casted her own kind as evil. Perhaps his encounter with them had been cordial so far, and Master Yirn had influenced his mind, but not even he felt comfortable with the disguised dragon¡¯s words.

    ¡°Reveling in their newfound power and position, the demons ignored their spawns¡¯ destructive actions. After all, how were the dragons supposed to govern the snakes, so removed from their lineage as the snakes were? Humans were weak, worthy of nothing more than pigs in a pen. Such was the status quo during the age of demons.¡±

    ¡°But we humans are infinitely creative. It was during this age that the Allfather guided humankind in their rise. He was the one who, through his visions, created the path of advancers, allowing humankind to elevate themselves toward godhood.¡±

    ¡°And so it was that on one crucial day, the Allfather decisively cast down the origin demonic dragon. The dragon¡¯s flesh and bone became nothing but tools for the ascension of the Allfather¡¯s followers. And so ended the age of demons.¡±

    By now, they had descended ten floors underground. Rein found the tale interesting but severely lacking in detail. For one, it did not mention devils. Nor did it bring up the enigmatic figure of the statue at the Hall¡¯s entrance-- Xune.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Duzkr¡¯s hand signaled Rein to a stop. In front of Rein were display shelves with a slanted backend that made it obvious to a viewer the nature of every single booklet.

    Duzkr reached forth with a practiced hand to pick up one such booklet. Resting his eyes upon the cover, Rein saw its title-- The Origin Draconic Arts. Its author? Gent!

 Ch52: Gathering Strength (2)

    ¡°How? The dragons would surely strive to keep such complete versions of their magic a secret?¡± Rein was rather perplexed. He was quite aware that the beastkin had intentionally leaked parts of their techniques to bait humans into using said magical arts meant for beastkins, thus losing their minds in the process.

    ¡°Indeed. This was retrieved by the Allfather after he struck down the origin demonic dragon.¡± Duzkr praised with an adoration that nearly fooled Rein into believing she was no dragon.

    Rein raked his eyes across the other booklets on display. Many of them were booklets that detailed the magical arts original to many of the beastkin-- demonic races.

    ¡°I have provided you guidance as the original draconic arts are believed to be the very source of all demonic arts. In understanding their mechanisms, you will no doubt gain insight into hunting demons and devils. After all, it, too, gave birth to devils.¡±

    ¡°Remember,¡± she warned purposefully. ¡°Do not attempt to use the magics within, as the core of human magics are different. Only the dragons, with their draconic core, can safely use such magic.¡±

    Rein would be an absolute dullard if he didn¡¯t pick up the hint within Duzkr¡¯s words.

    ¡°You can keep this copy.¡± She added. ¡°The Allfather intentionally made many copies of this to arm humans against the demons!¡±

    Rein rapidly flipped through the booklet and found many annotations written by a different hand. Stopping on a page, a closer look revealed the annotations accurately describing the weakness of the beastkin art on the page.

    He eventually found the draconic body tempering art only requiring wood and lightning, likely created by Gent personally, seeing as he was the one with such a constitution. Only one weakness was stated by the additional hand-- Lightning-based movement stutters every dash. Rein also took note of the many materials required for this beastkin art. One such item was a divine lightning-infused wood perfect to be absorbed by Rein¡¯s new body. Where to find one? Rein had absolutely no idea.

    ¡°What other knowledge do you seek?¡± Duzkr asked when Rein raised his head again. The minor keeper had patiently waited on the side this whole time.

    ¡°I¡¯ve teamed up with one with an origin ability. It is valuable for me to understand how to cooperate with him.¡± Rein obviously wanted to gain a better understanding of origin abilities, though secretly, he wondered if he might find additional uses for his own.

    Duzkr nodded and proceeded to lead Rein back up to the very first floor. She led the young man to a room that was rather packed with Halls members. No doubt, countless advancers were interested in knowledge of origin abilities, likely fearful of their users and therefore hoping to prepare some counterplay in a potential conflict against them. Knowledge of Xeeseir¡¯s performance might have been the very cause of this crowded section.

    Luckily, there were many copies of the same knowledge filling the maloewood shelves, and thus Rein had no trouble finding one such book.

    Rein found himself struggling to understand his Half-Master Yirn. This half-master of his had barely any books on origin abilities in his underground cave paradise. He knew of Rein¡¯s transformed draconic core, and yet only provided an elementary introduction to draconic arts. Perhaps Master Yirn could not get his hands on the copy that he now had.

    After some contemplation, Rein identified a reason for Master Yirn¡¯s incomprehensible choice-- the ancient master must be concerned that he might unintentionally display understanding of draconic skills while entering the Hall of Heroes and draw suspicions. Now? Any display of such draconic skills could be attributed to his visit to the Halls of Knowledge. That was Rein¡¯s conclusion.

    In some ways, it was similar to the situation where Master Yirn had order Rein to learn his set of staff arts, going as far as to indicate that he would not take Rein as disciple otherwise-- only to point out that Rein was free to pursue other forms, such as sword and dagger outside of their initial tutorship.

    Once again, Duzkr waited patiently on the side, giving him ample time to examine the new book in hand.

    The book in Rein¡¯s hand had the title: Nature of the Origin Magics. Turning the cover, Rein¡¯s eyes raked across the basic introduction.

    For years, we humans have investigated the nature of origin magics. Our earliest discoveries were basic. These origin abilities are believed to once belong to the fallen gods, and contain the very essence laws of nature. They jump from host to host. If a user is killed, that origin ability would, after an unknown point in time, reappear on another host triggered by an echo of the fallen gods.

    It was only after collecting numerous data, that we noticed a pattern-- each origin ability picked their host based on said host¡¯s nature.

    Before further expounding on that point, let us examine the types of origin magics first. They can be categorized from general to specific, active or passive, and split or of-one.

    Another important fact to note is the nature of origin magic itself. They are always simple in nature, but their efficiency and strength cannot be contended with. All these points give us a clear picture that have been tried and tested through the ages.

    Let us first illustrate all these points with a few examples. Take the origin ability, ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯. It is classified as a general and passive type, as the ability serves to boost all advancer magic with the nature of fire in them. That would include the speed at which said ability could be used, and the heat and breadth of the flame.

    The ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯ is also a split origin ability. For one reason or another, this origin ability appears in, it is believed, around twenty-four individuals on average. Each of these individuals would then have to hunt and consume each other in order to unify the ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯, and truly bring forth its full potential.

    However, the fragments would split again if the user who might have unified a few pieces falls in combat.

    Herein lies the reason as to why these --perhaps even sentient origin magics-- pick their hosts. All individuals discovered to have a fragment of ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯, always have a fiery and aggressive nature to them that push them to seek out battle as a means to unify the split fragments. Thus, it is impossible for a piece of ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯ to ever appear in an individual that lacks such a trait within them.

    Now, let''s examine an opposite example. A rather heaven-breaking ability is the ¡®God¡¯s Eye¡¯. This is a specific and active origin ability that allows its user to see through illusions, patterns and geomancy formations, and even assess the nature and quality of advancer magics within their sights. Such an ability naturally requires the host to activate it.

    In recorded history, It only ever appears in a singular host with a sharp mind. However, some of these hosts differed in that some chose to pursue power, some chose to simply position themselves as a right-hand man of another well-positioned advancer.

    As a scholar, I do have to point out something important: All origin magic has weaknesses. The ¡®Heart of Fire¡¯, for example, requires its hosts to conquer each other to unify the fragments, and its nemesis also exists in the origin ¡®Heart of Water¡¯.

    ¡®God¡¯s Eye¡¯ itself is simply a mental comprehension ability. Its host could still easily be killed if they lack the ability to react to an attack despite having foreseen it. Knowing a sword stab is coming does not mean one has the swiftness to dodge it¡­

    Simply the introduction had vastly expanded Rein¡¯s mind. He continued flipping through the pages, and he inevitably came across a list of recorded origin abilities. The one that stood out to him was the one that matched Xeeseir¡¯s.

    ¡®Trace¡¯ or ¡®Rebound¡¯: Its hosts are brash to take action. Thus many of them become known for their origin magic at too early an age, to their detriment. The ability, though strong, has a severe weakness where it is only effective against magic-- it traces aurae to the initiation point, and detonates that magic ability backwards.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Due to its hosts often being brash, many educated advancers are aware that using indirect magic, such as magic to throw a normal tree trunk, or attacking from range with weapons not augmented by magic are an effective measure.

    Another glaring weakness is its ineffectiveness against advancers with extreme physical bodies. Such advancers have no need to employ aurae to attack a host of ¡®Rebound¡¯.

    Rein¡¯s eyelids flickered. That fully confirmed why that outer advancer from Convergence Sect had resorted to miring Xeeseir in some sort of quicksand before launching projectiles at him.

    His eyes ran over much more text-- Rein was trying to memorize as many of these recorded origin abilities as he could. Although this was a rather extensive list, many of the abilities had question marks that reflected the incomplete understanding of most of them. Some even had queries as to whether someone had exaggerated their observations of the ability in action.

    A short moment later, Rein returned his attention to the previous booklet that he had been allowed to remove from the Hall of Knowledge. Bringing a metallic orb of light downward, he illuminated the contents on the pages.

    Another page that caught his attention was one that spoke of the draconic metamorphose bead. This was a booklet that focused on dragon magic, supposedly a trap aimed to devilize humans with the incompatible magic that belonged to the demons.

    The page was brief, yet enlightening. Supposedly these metamorphose beads existed in all ¡®beastkin and insectkin¡¯-- the booklet, as spread directly from the dragons, did not call themselves demons. The page claimed that these metamorphose beads were the method for previous generations passing their knowledge down to a new generation by the will of the dying older generation.

    A detail that attracted Rein¡¯s eyes were someone¡¯s scribbled notes on the page: The metamorphose bead is but another trap by the demons. The rare number of humans that have consumed a metamorphose bead have all lost their mind to madness.

    Rein furrowed his eyebrows. He was certain that he was not, in fact, mad. Was it because the remnant will of the dragon Gent, within the bead, accepted him as a human? It must be so, Rein figured. Humans and demons had been in conflict for eons. Perhaps only one such as Gent, who had formed some form of friendship with the youthful Yirn when the Gods still ruled, would entertain sharing knowledge with a human.

    Then again¡­ would a madman know himself to be mad? He had previously accepted Blacksmith Tiehr¡¯s explanation as to how the bead was obtained. Now, he believed Blacksmith Tiehr had intentionally hid many details, perhaps not wishing to speak of some, or perhaps because of the desperate situation they were in at the time.

    Whether his hypothesis was correct mattered not to Rein. This was a mindset the Rein had increasingly found himself in ever since he honed his mind on those lonely nights the past six plus months. He had initially contemplated that devil¡¯s words, to rejoin his family in the afterlife. But then, increasingly, he realized: If he was going to ¡®die¡¯ anyway, what did he have to lose-- really?

    And so, this supposedly recorded history of humans going mad from consuming a metamorphose bead-- it mattered not to his heart.

    After quietly examining more content from the two books, occasionally even comparing cross-over knowledge between the two, he returned the book regarding origin magic back onto the shelf and turned to leave.

    Unlike the book on draconic magics, the Halls chose to not allow anyone to withdraw a copy of any knowledge in this area. Rein could but surmise that the Hall of Heroes was very interested in allowing those across all realms to understand how to kill dragons, and held other knowledge, such as those on origin magics, close to their chest.

    A bright silver doorway immediately lit up on one of the uniform maloewood walls of the room, and Duzkr reappeared. She must have vanished elsewhere for other duties while waiting.

    ¡°Please open the door to the Pavilion of Arts,¡± Duzkr requested the air.

    A hidden controller opened another bright silver doorway appeared on the wall to their side. Both Duzkr and Rein entered this doorway.

    Rein found himself standing before a white and pearl marble tower on top of a mountain peak. It was decorated by the typical humanoid against demons and devils motifs. He was baffled as to how he had come here from the underground labyrinth of the Hall of Heroes within Green Trout City. Or perhaps all this was just an illusion.

    ¡°All new initiates are allowed to obtain an advancer art. However, most leave with nothing on their first time-- inner realm advancer arts are rare and ninety-nine percent of the time, require strenuous requirements to use.¡± Duzkr gestured for him to enter the archway. ¡°I will await you here.¡±

    Rein complied and entered to find an old man in a similarly sky blue Halls robe.

    The old man did not even deign to take a glance at him and muttered impatiently, ¡°First floor is the inner realm arts.¡±

    Reni hooked his fingers towards the elderly as a sign of respect, then he directed his steps towards the direction pointed out to him.

    Ascending a set of divine white stone stairs, Rein found a floor with shelves once again a blinding white and gleaming pearl. The whole tower of white and silvery pearl exuded the heavenly sensation of floating upon a divine cloud.

    Indeed, the inner realm arts are rare. Looking around, Rein found the booklets on this floor spread far and wide, with the shelves mostly empty.

    He first found his eyes on a skill named ¡®Moonlight Shifting Steps¡¯. Curious, he examined the contents. The explanation provided was that since inner advancers are unable to draw their aurae outside of their bodies or even augment their bodies properly with an aurae shell, a method was to employ concentration of outer sources of aurae.

    The ¡®Moonlight Shifting Steps¡¯ required a user to have his whole body bathed in moonlight in order to augment their movement. The fuller the moon, the better.

    It had severe weaknesses-- a cloud obscuring the moon, or combat under the canopy of a forest¡­ and the skill would become unusable.

    After scouring the floor, Rein found one that suited him perfectly! Rein thanked the fallen gods for his luck.

    The inner advancer art he had retrieved was named ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯. A madman had attempted to observe and imitate a frog¡¯s ability to gather strength in its hindlegs and leap vast distances relative to its size. The downside? The creator stated that despite having somewhat tempered his body, his legs broke when he attempted to execute the art. Only those with ¡®beastly¡¯ legs of born ¡®demons¡¯ might be able to safely use such an art.

    Rein wasn¡¯t dumb enough to test the skill outright, but he believed that he should certainly be able to safely execute said skill if he tempered his already innately formidable draconic body.

    The old man sitting on a white stone brick guarding the inside of the archdoors into the tower scoffed derisively when Rein handed over the art he wished to withdraw.

    ¡°Young fool,¡± the elderly in blue robes shook his head. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking of mastering this advancer art after entering the shell realm, it¡¯s pointless. There will be far better movement arts once you gain the capabilities to wrap and augment your legs in a sheen of aurae.¡±

    Rein hooked his fingers and smiled like a fool.

    ¡°Other inner advancers come back with broken legs attempting this in the inner realm,¡± he sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡±

    Rein left the Pavilion of Arts and Duzkr could not resist taking a cursory glance at the new booklet within his hands.

    She could not restrain herself from giving him a fanged grin conveying full confidence before leading him away once again.

    The miner keeper soon bid him farewell and best of luck, and Rein found himself turning to the Hall of Treasures. He already had a very good idea of what he needed after examining the body tempering draconic art created by Gent.

    He once again walked past the burning gazes of ten silvery-plated guards and entered the left portal.

    For a single heartbeat, his vision turned dark again, before he found himself in a hall similarly identical to most of the halls in the labyrinth: A pure white-stoned basilica with rounds pillars, decorated with motifs of humans battling demons and devils, created through the interweaving of pearl white marble material against the pure white stone.

    There was however a major difference in the Hall of Treasures-- it was not devoid of color, and was instead filled with a cluttered mess of various armaments, each casting their unique hue against the backdrop of the white and pearl stone. If anything, the white and pearl background allowed these weapons to shine even more brightly.

    Another difference was that there were white spiral stairs that lead downwards into the ground, likely multiple lower floors containing even more advanced armaments.

    Rein only took a cursory glance at the armaments-- he wanted to get an idea of the worth of the points he had been rewarded by the Halls for his contributions during that night.

    This first floor should have the most basic of weapons, and Rein discovered that many of the weapons that had a shell advancer level inscription spell were worth at least a thousand Hall of Heroes contribution points.

    The ever common box of aurae bombs were more affordable at less than a hundred points for a set of twenty.

    Rein had no interest in any of these-- he doubted he would be able to find anything affordable to rival his soak staff, provided by Half-Master Yirn.

    Rein instead sought out vials of wood-infused aurae and lightning-infused aurae alchemical liquid. A method described by Gent was to temper his body by continuously alternating the injection of these two energies to damage and repair his body.

    He spent nearly all his contribution points on these two types of products without regret. The faster he could temper his body, the quicker he would be able to use the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ without any risk of breaking his own legs. Then, he might not even have to reveal his trump card that is his origin ability to escape most dangerous situations!

 Ch53: Speaking to the Fusion Sect Elder Once Again

    Over the past week, Rein had made rapid progress, surprising even himself. The immense number of grade one wood or lightning-aspected aurae infusion vials was incredibly effective in tempering his body. He had already consumed five dozens-- ten dozens still remained unused within inscribed wooden boxes that protected the potion from losing its effectiveness.

    As for what ¡®grade one¡¯ meant? Rein himself had obtained a clear explanation. It simply meant that it was beneficial to advancers that had yet to develop the ability of aurae skin.

    ¡®Grade Two¡¯ meant, of benefit to advancers that had yet to develop aurae tendrils to interact with the environment.

    ¡®Grade Three¡¯ meant, of benefit to advancers that had yet to develop telekinetic abilities. And so on.

    When Rein returned to his cave that very night, he had raked his eyes across the pages of the booklet on draconic magic penned by Gent in much closer scrutiny. He compared the forms within the booklet to the human-adapted style he had learned from Master Yirn. The set taught to him by Master Yirn was completely different to the one within the book, but only on appearance.

    When Rein guided the flow of aurae within his veins as per the instruction of a random skill within the book of draconic magic, it meshed perfectly with the forms taught to him by Master Yirn.

    All of this only pointed to one indisputable fact: Master Yirn had developed an unique dragon fist art that to anyone, would appear similar to the human imitation of draconic art. However, it was actually compatible with channeling draconic arts.

    To be able to create such a masterful art, Master Yirn¡¯s knowledge of advancer magic must be as deep as the ocean, not at all surprising considering his ancient origins.

    Effectively, this meant Rein would be able to use draconic magic without arousing too much suspicion, provided there wasn¡¯t some unknown expert of draconic magic observing closely¡­ which further increased the value of the booklet penned by Gent within his hands.

    The book described a few different pathways that would further branch out when said dragon ascended in strength. Rein was astonished by this new information pouring into his mind. He had long thought the beastkin would be rather straightforward in their magic. To think they had long developed their own progression pathways¡­

    His primary focus was on the body augmentation pathway. It was a magic that spanned many realms. Based on the text, he should be able to form aurae draconic scales as his shell if he ascended to the shell advancer status, providing his body with a true dragon¡¯s defense!

    Then there was this pathway that focused on form dancing. It had specifications as to how a dragon could switch between a full dragon form, into human, into something in between, using the constant change in size and body to crush an enemy.

    Rein laughed to himself. He definitely would never have a full dragon form, and thus this beastkin art was useless to him. The draconic metamorphose bead might have changed the root of his magic, but it did not give him a true dragon body the size of a mountain. At least, tales communicated that to be the size of a dragon-- Rein himself had never seen one in full dragon form.

    Another pathway focused on nature magic. The dragons supposedly had a strong influence on nature, and could learn to create storms, tornadoes and other ¡®natural¡¯ disasters to strike at enemies. This elemental pathway branched into more specific elemental disasters. Rein was already aware of this in lesser detail from the visions he had experienced.

    Rein could not deny feeling a hint of fear at dragons that might have mastered this pathway. The sheer flexibility of this pathway seemed peerless. Despite having heard of Gent¡¯s methods, Rein very much remained baffled that Gent had prevailed against his peers during those ancient times in battle.

    Rein had to wonder-- were there any dragons that mastered all three of these pathways? A constantly shapeshifting body of unyielding flesh and flexible magics¡­That must be why dragons remained at the top of beastkins.

    Anyhow, these were the main pathways listed. Accompanying these were side pathways that could be used by any to augment their main pathways. One was about strengthening the lightning element in the body, another about strengthening the fire element.

    Then there were some that focused on movement, primarily on agility while in dragon form. All of these had caveats, such as requiring the user to have a certain degree of strength in flesh, or certain elemental affinities.

    It was then that Rein also discovered that there were many different types of dragons with different elemental affinity, which explained how increasingly convoluted all these main and side draconic paths became.

    Yet, one line of text stood out to him like a blazing fire in a dark forest. The line claimed that beastkin needed to consume human brains and souls to gain intelligence, and as a result, the origin dragon had bid the dragons to hunt, breed and preserve human brains!

    After repeatedly running his eyes over this part of the book, Rein admittedly could not prevent himself from developing a degree of ill will toward these demons. After all, he is human.

    This ill will further manifested after he meticulously checked the last few pages of the book. The last few pages contained information on how to battle supposedly some sort of short and stocky humanoid race that lived underneath the mountains. This humanoid race was supposedly the dragon¡¯s eternal enemy. Rein found a scribbled annotation on this page:

    Glory to our dwarven brothers, hunted to extinction across the realms by the dragons!

    Seeing this, Rein thought the Allfather right to crush the origin dragon. Rein settled his heart and reminded himself of his main goal.

    Rein began testing the draconic magic pathway for tempering his body penned by Gent. Many of the draconic arts were not categorized like the human¡¯s advancer system, but he understood the similarities that existed in the progression and easily identified his own stage of transformation.

    With the dragon fists that Master Yirn taught him, compatible with the draconic magic flow pathways, Rein discovered himself able to achieve around an eight out of ten effectiveness. He very much felt the difference when he instead directly imitated the forms from the draconic magic book. That was the price of disguising his draconic metamorphosis with Master Yirn¡¯s human-like forms.

    He decided to practice both, and only use the true draconic pathways when in a desperate situation if he was in need of something a tad stronger. Another trump card, so to speak.

    This hand-to-hand-- or claw-to-claw-- combat technique played a critical role with the body augmentation pathway, which focused on using lightning to temper one¡¯s flesh. Rein groaned in his heart. Basically, he had to electrocute his flesh repeatedly while flowing through the forms without flinching. The core of this flesh and bone transformation magic was certainly not for the faint of heart.

    The limit of this body tempering technique was based on the strength of the lightning used to temper the body. As such, this went hand-in-hand with the side pathway of strengthening the lightning element. As per the nature of demon magic, Rein would need to search for more powerful sources of lightning, consume those to raise the quality of his own body¡¯s lightning. Then said stronger lightning would be used to repeat the process of augmenting his flesh, blood and bone.

    The current red draconic lightning within his body was of the lowest grade for dragons-- all baby dragons would be born with this at least.

    Rein spent the rest of that first night practicing the new flow of aurae through his draconic vein pathways, aligning it with both the set of forms from Master Yirn and the book on draconic magic.

    As he became somewhat accustomed to combining the new pattern of aurae flow with the two sets of forms, he began igniting the lightning within his body. Every single spark of red lightning stunned his limbs, breaking the flow of his shifting form.

    Once his body had built some resistance after the first night, he began using the vials of lightning-infused aurae to give his own red lightning a boost, further pressuring his own body.

    Others might require significant time to recover from such damage to their bodies, but Rein employed the other trick described in the booklet.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Whenever he needed to recover, he would consume the wood-infused vials of aurae to ignite the vitality of his draconic body.

    By the end of the week, he had achieved a minor success of the red lightning stage-- he knew this was so because he was now able to walk slowly even with the red draconic lightning zapping his body-- the text indicated this to represent minor success. When the red draconic lightning only tingled his heart, that would be a major success.  When he no longer felt anything, that would mean complete success, at which stage, the only way to progress further was to upgrade his source of lightning.

    How much strength, agility, durability and endurance had his body gained in this short week? Rein would need to test it out to know. His body oozed impurities and he entered the sky shower within his cave.

    When he ran his fingers behind his ears, he was nearly scared out of his wits when he felt a scaly sensation hidden behind his earlobe. He checked his other ear and discovered the same! Then, when he cleaned his lower body, he was bewildered to find that his manhood had developed a knot and rough ridges. He had completely shut himself in to temper his body the last few days and only noticed such changes to his body today.

    Had he made a mistake during the tempering of his body?! He rapidly finished cleaning himself and opened the page on body augmentation. After scanning it meticulously, he discovered a throwaway sentence.

    When one tempers that body, there is a tendency for strength and vitality to concentrate towards the genitalia.

    Rein blinked in shock. That did not explain the scales behind his earlobes. He could only chalk it up to his odd situation of him having a human form body with a draconic core.

    Often, the most obvious hypothesis is the right one. Rein knew that beastkin gained the ability to transform into humanoids at higher realms. The scales behind his ear lobes-- he should be able to control and limit the appearance of those as he climbed the advancer ladder.

    Anyhow, he had an important task to attend to this day-- communicating with Baejenh, the outer advancer from Fusion Sect. He set off at dawn towards the location given to him on his previous meeting with Baejenh.

    He soon found himself inside an inconspicuous pet shop. This pet shop specialized in selling birds of all sorts. As for what these species were, Rein really had no idea-- he had never studied such a subject matter.

    The best he could say was that he recognized some owls, sparrows, pigeons, eagles and parrots. But there were many that he could not recognize. Though his eyes were untrained, it appeared that some of these birds had been magically altered, containing appearances and traits of different species.

    "I need to speak with the bird in the cage," so uttered Rein upon standing before the shopkeeper.

    The shopkeeper, a bald man with a long gray beard, nodded and directed Rein into a backroom. Inscriptions lit up around the door, frame and walls, thoroughly insulating the room.

    It was time to speak to Baejenh again, the Fusion Sect Elder who kept an eye over this city.

    On a circular wooden table in the center of the room stood a large cage that held a white feathered sort of parrot. Beside the cage were stacks of blank paper and quills and ink.

    Rein pulled back a squealing chair and sat himself down, and found the white parrot''s nature changing in a single moment. The white parrot now looked at him with an almost human expression.

    "Do you have information?" So squawked the white parrot.

    Rein nodded. "You are doubtless aware that a chest covered by ancient runes was successfully escorted back to the Halls around a week ago." Baejenh and her underlings surely would have noticed the blazing fires and clash of steel that accompanied such a battle.

    "I have no doubt that that is the relic you wished to know of." Rein had long decided to make himself valuable to Baejenh. He might receive benefits that could be put to use for his own goals.

    "It has been hidden somewhere in the Halls," Rein hesitated but then put forth his own conjecture. "Likely some passageway that''s been disconnected from the underground labyrinth. I have memorized the appearance of the ancient runes, if that is useful to identify said relic."

    "You can read ancient runes?!" The white parrot squawked in surprise.

    "No,¡± Rein frowned in response. ¡°I''ve simply memorized the shapes of the runes..."

    The parrot burst into a squawking laughter, and although Rein himself could feel some mirth bubbling up within himself at this rather hilarious scene, he also felt some trepidation that he must have made a misstep somewhere.

    "My dear Rein. I hope for your own sake, no one else has knowledge of this. Did you know, most humans today are unable to even recall the shapes of these ancient runes? It is said that the runes confuse the vision of the observers, and thus only a small number of beings in the present day are capable of even recalling its shapes."

    Rein''s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. It was a good thing that he had not mentioned any of this to anyone else. Frankly, he wished he had not carelessly revealed this to Baejenh either. Then again, how could he have known that this was a thing in the first place?

    "Well," Rein furrowed his brow once again. "I have no idea as to why I can remember the shapes." At the same time, Rein made a mental note to not reveal this oddity to anyone.

    Was it the draconic metamorphose bead? Were dragons capable of reading these ancient runes? Supposedly, these ancient runes were of the fallen gods. Rein could tell that he himself had begun attributing every oddity to the metamorphose bead. It made sense after all-- Gent had spent time under those fallen gods!

    He picked up a piece of paper and dipped a quill in black ink and quickly began drawing the shapes of the ancient runes he saw on that chest.

    Although somewhat perturbed, Rein also hoped that this oddity of his would mean that Baejenh herself would make an effort to give him more benefits.

    The white parrot remained silent, patiently waiting for Rein to finish his sketch.

    After a meal''s time, Rein held up his sketch in front of the white parrot''s eyes. The white parrot cocked its head at the sketch, trying to memorize every single little detail.

    "Amazing¡­ these do have similarities to the rare well-researched runes¡­"

    ¡°Elder. I am rather curious about the situation with the Minhr Nation¡¯s nobles.¡± Baejenh, as a member of the Fusion Sect, the supposed ruler of this realm, should have a thorough understanding of the situation.

    The white parrot¡¯s unblinking eyes indicated Baejenh¡¯s assent for Rein to continue.

    ¡°I have been repeatedly told that the Minhr Nation¡¯s nobles are weak, and thus had no choice but to flirt with the Hall of Heroes. Yet, the Minhr Nation remains standing¡­?¡±

    The white parrot¡¯s eyes closed for a few heartbeats, before proceeding to enlighten Rein.

    ¡°They are only weak when compared to times long past. They still have the strength to hold dominion over these lands and battle the Zoh Empire to the East. Centuries ago, these advancer clans did not have competition against the Great Sects in the Evergreen Mountains, and the Zoh Empire had yet to submit itself to the Hall of Heroes. Things have changed since then¡­¡± Such information did not sound serious coming out of the squawking parrot. Not at all.

    ¡°Keikr!¡± Baejenh summoned the shopkeeper through the parrot.

    The shopkeeper entered the room before reactivating its defenses.

    ¡°Give this man one of my disguised golden tokens!¡±

    ¡°El--Elder¡­ your golden token? A disguised one at that?¡± Keikr couldn¡¯t believe his ears. The Elder Baejenh had left him with three of her tokens, and in the past twenty years, had never given out a single one! As for a disguised one-- that made sense seeing as Rein couldn¡¯t be revealed if searched.

    ¡°Yes! Additionally, provide him with a shifting mask!¡±

    The shopkeeper returned with Baejenh¡¯s golden token in his hand, a flat circular stone-shaped lapus lazuli token. He also carried a wooden box.

    Keikr placed the wooden box onto the table then flipped the token onto the back of his hand. He performed a few taps of a specific rhythm on that flat circular token, before flipped it over and performed another rhythm. The token then visibly transformed before Rein¡¯s eyes into a golden emblem engraved with the image of a gliding ice phoenix.

    Rein nodded and upon receiving the token, he too performed the exact same rhythm as shown by Keikr, and the token shifted back into its original flat and circular lapis lazuli disguise.

    Keikr now unclasped the brass ornament that locked the wooden box tightly through a pin and hole. Rein found his eyes drawn to a metallic mask with inscriptions forming a hypnotic effect on its surface. Though it appeared metallic, the mask was incredibly light in his hand

    ¡°The mask that will effectively obscure your identity from most advancers. However, it won¡¯t be particularly effective against advancers close to the telekinetic advancer realm,¡± Keikr explained. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m sure you understand that fooling experienced outer advancers and telekinetic advancers require much more complex methods.¡±

    Rein nodded as he equipped the mask. He looked down at his body and his appearance shifted as he willed it-- truly an amazing item.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lose it,¡± warned Keikr as he frowned, not knowing why Baejenh was treating this young man with so many benefits. ¡°This mask costs a few lumite coins. A fortune for those of us at the bottom of the rung.¡±

    ¡°Now,¡± the listless white parrot regained its fervor once Keikr had completed his task. ¡°The token will allow you to join a sect affiliated with the Fusion Sect within the Minhr Nation. Consider it as a repayment if you seek a different path.¡±

    Was Baejenh attempting to recruit him? It certainly seemed so. Yet, Rein had entered the Hall of Heroes determined to hunt demons and devils while peering into the workings of the Dingien Clan through the nobles. He wasn¡¯t about to abandon his plan.

    He soon left the magically-protected room and waved the mundane shopkeeper farewell.

    He returned to the plaza before the Hall of Heroes and visited a shop selling aurae buns. The shopkeeper here was Xeeran, an underling of Master Yirn sent to scout the Green Trout City! The man had somehow obtained this role.

    ¡°A faction of the Dingien Clan will be present for the celebratory ceremony of your batch of initiates. They are here to gauge the Great Sects, while a young prince wishes to win Lyne¡¯s hand.¡±

    Rein simply nodded as he received a bag of aurae buns and quickly left. He had to be careful not to draw any suspicion to Xeeran¡¯s stall.

    As he returned to the Hall of Heroes, he looked up at the statue of Xune arching over the entrance.

    It was then that a feeling within his heart called out to him once again? A vision¡­  of Xune? His curiosity was ignited.

 Ch54: The Birth of Xune

    Rein entered a tea house named Divine Aroma within the Hall of Heroes Plaza, found his seat, and ordered the lowest priced standard tea-liquor mix. The attendant¡¯s nose twitched with disapproval as if smelling the lowliness of his status, but what could Rein do? He was but an inner advancer.

    Then, he closed his eyes and opened his heart.

    He entered a white space again that rapidly gained color as a paintbrush began filling in the whole scene with vivid shapes of a memory.

    He was naturally in Gent¡¯s body again, and before ¡®him¡¯ stood a hundred feet tall flat-topped pyramid constructed from gray stone slabs, with a dusk sun dropping down behind the pyramid.

    ¡®He¡¯ turned around and faced a crowd of humanoids with individually unique draconic horns and scaly features visible across their bodies such as the face and neck.

    ¡°Old man Gent,¡± growled a male dragon. ¡°Why do you block our path?¡±

    ¡°Have you no shame?!¡± ¡®He¡¯ roared with a force that vibrated the very flesh of the dragons before him. ¡°To attack while one gives birth?¡±

    ¡°Old man of a past age,¡± the very same male dragon refocused his eyes. ¡°This is no longer the Age of the Gods. The human races have been growing stronger. She is the dragonknight that has killed countless of our people. Yet, here you stand, blocking our path! Have you no fear of the first ancestor?!¡±

    ¡°And you believe she has no defenses?¡± Gent stood his ground, staunchly placing himself between the flat-topped pyramid and the draconic assault force. ¡°You all know the Allfather is here. Do you wish for our dragon mothers to face the same reprisal?!¡±

    ¡°You!¡± ¡®He¡¯ pointed a claw finger at the male dragon. ¡°Stormsurge, was it? Your wife is pregnant, is she not?¡±

    ¡°Old fool!¡± spat Stormsurge. ¡°Have you grown senile to believe the tales of this¡­ Allfather killing without moving a single finger? Nothing but words spread by the human races to intimidate us. Nothing but exaggeration for his defeated foes to save face!¡±

    ¡°I have made my choice,¡± Gent stoically hovered before the crowd of dragons-in-human-form. ¡°The situation must not be allowed to escalate. You may attack after the child is born. You are not allowed to attack the newborn.¡±

    Surprisingly, the many dragons only glared at ¡®him¡¯, and made no attempts to go past ¡®him¡¯.

    After a few hundred heartbeats, the faint wail of a child was heard, and soon, a stone door opened as a short and stocky human form leisurely approached with a humongous fifteen feet long and two feet base thick skyward lance in hand.

    The failing light was enough to illuminate her features, and Rein¡¯s heart shook after recognizing her. She was that stout and thick figure with hair like a lion¡¯s beautiful dark brown mane within the echoes of the fallen gods vision! He had seen her when he first awakened his origin ability!

    A secondary examination, and Rein could see the resplendent blackish-purple bead on her forehead. She was dressed in a clear and shining silvery plate armor with zero inscriptions. That made sense, Rein thought. Inscriptions were supposedly created by Xune. This must be the scene of Xune¡¯s birth, he concluded!

    ¡°Will you stand aside now?¡± Stormsurge¡¯s low voice hummed with repressed dissatisfaction.

    ¡°My counsel is for us to return to the dragon realm. Do not say that I did not warn you young reckless fools.¡± ¡®He¡¯ stood to the side with a nod despite disagreeing with the choice of these dragons before him.

    ¡°Dragonknight Zelli,¡± Stormsurge ignored Gent¡¯s warning as he narrowed his eyes at his target. ¡°You have just given birth. Should you not be fleeing like a dog with its tail between its legs?¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡± Zelli had a deep female laugh compared to those of Rein¡¯s world. Yet, it very much carried a melodic beauty to it. ¡°We dwarves have hardy bodies. If you wish for a fight, then we will have a fight!¡±

    ¡°Now, come!¡± She spun her lance provocatively that caused the air it swung through to thrum with pressure, before pointing its tip at Stormsurge¡¯s head.

    ¡°Diamondscale,¡± Stormsurge ordered and a male dragon stepped forth and hooked his fingers.

    ¡°I am the strongest of flesh in my generation,¡± he stated with bravado.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zelli only had a glint in her eyes. ¡°I will allow you a free strike.¡± Her body turned gray into stone!

    ¡°The famous stone-form of the dwarves¡­¡± Diamondscale muttered. ¡°But you should not be arrogant as to think you can take a strike from my claws!¡±

    Diamondscale physically morphed into his draconic form, a short-lengthed glittering-scaled serpent-like body with arms and legs, the size of a  small hill.

    He circled around Zelli like a tornado before lashing out with a slashing claw. A deep and guttural howl echoed in ¡®his¡¯ ears and Rein saw that the Dragonknight Zelli continued hovering in the air unmoved. Instead, the gap between the claws on the dragon Diamondscale dripped blood that burned the vegetation below!

    ¡°My turn.¡± That was all Dragonknight Zelli said as she dashed in a straight line through the air at Diamondscale. The dragon opened his mouth wide and spat out a torrent of fire, but Zelli was unbothered and barely broke her pace, splitting the torrent with the very tip of her lance.

    Her form visibly shrunk into the size of a peanut as her skin was wrapped within a blackish-purple shell. Then she vanished right as Stormsurge snapped at her.

    Many eyes flickered around attempting to find the location of Dragonknight Zelli, only to be drawn back to a screaming Diamondscale.

    Diamondscale seemed to have lost control of his magic and fell onto the ground with a loud boom, his serpent form writhing in agony.

    Rein¡¯s heart beat like a drum as he saw Diamondscale¡¯s body begin spurting blood as an invisible lance punctured holes in all parts of his body.

    Then the serpent form was split in half along its length, and the peanut-sized Zelli, her stone-form now caked in crimson reappeared from the mangled internal flesh of Diamondscale.

    ¡°The toughness of dragons? Only so-so,¡± so stated Zelli nonchalantly as crimson blood dripped off her floating stone feet.

    ¡°Attack! As discussed!¡± Stormsurge ordered with anger.

    Five figures behind him flashed to his front and transformed into the dragon forms.

    Within a single heartbeat, the five spat torrents of fire at Dragonknight Zelli. Zelli responded by teleporting right next to a dragon and a single extension of her lance into the head sent that dragon falling to the ground, dead.

    ¡°All!¡± Stormsurge gestured, sending the remaining fifteen dragons behind him forward, all spitting fire to transform the whole area in a blazing inferno.

    Rein observed as he saw that Zelli, now bathed in such intense heat, found her stone form a white glow. The dragons were attempting to melt her into a puddle! A few more dragons fell, but soon, Zelli could no longer remain in her stone form.

    Stormsurge breathed a sigh of relief as he observed stone Zelli becoming nothing but a soft glowing red fluid that dropped onto the cold hard ground, a puddle that would be weathered by future storms.

    And yet, as he turned his head triumphantly towards Gent wishing to mock the old dragon for his earlier warning, that  fluid suddenly regained the shape of Zelli¡¯s body and a magma lance elongated and pierced Stormsurge¡¯s skull in one strike!

    ¡°You are all blessed to witness the dwarves¡¯ growth,¡± sounded Zelli¡¯s deep and melodious voice. ¡°This is the magma form.¡± Then she teleported again as her molten body was wrapped in a blackish-purple shell again. Another dragon fell to the ground with multiple holes in their skull.

    Rein discovered that he, as Gent, could no longer sit still. ¡®He¡¯ opened his mouth and released a continuous mind-numbing roar.

    Dragonknight Zelli attempted to teleport towards him, yet she visibly struggled to form the blackish-purple shell around her body. Every single wave of Gent¡¯s roaring sound also sent sparks repeatedly dancing across her magma form.

    Finally, she retreated to stand before the flat-topped pyramid as her magma form dissipated.

    Gent ceased his actions as well.

    ¡°The legendary ¡®Dragon¡¯s Divine Lightning Roar¡¯. You must be Gent.¡± She simply greeted with hooked fingers and a tilt of the head. ¡°The human ancestor spoke of you.¡±

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°I will now be leaving with my younglings and my fallen,¡± ¡®He¡¯ stated and gestured for the survivors to retrieve their fallen brethren.

    ¡°I think not. These are our spoils of war!¡± A different voice entered the fray. Rein saw a new figure coming out of the pyramid. A handsome man of gold and silver shoulder-length hair that slightly flowed in the wind like a divinity. His body was also wrapped in a gold and silverr-white robe.

    ¡°Xane.¡±

    ¡°The legendary Gent.¡±

    ¡°Husband,¡± Zelli looked up lovingly at the significantly taller man that to Rein¡¯s eyes seemed closer to modern humans. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    ¡°Just a charlatan,¡± commented a dragon as she suddenly darted forward to attack the Allfather.

    Rein observed as this other dragon performed the form-dancing methods of the dragons. She shifted from full dragon to half to human form repeatedly, striking hard in dragon form using the  weight of a dragon¡¯s weight, while using much more deft and precise skills in human form.

    Yet, none of her attacks struck as the Allfather flickered repeatedly in the same spot as if he did not even have to move a single step to dodge her attacks.

    All of a sudden, the female dragon crashed down onto the ground limp, shaking the firmament.

    ¡°I will be leaving with my younglings and the fallen,¡± Gent repeated, unswayed. At the same time, Rein, within the dragon¡¯s body, saw the world around slow as the dragon activated a lightning art that wrapped around ¡®his¡¯ whole body.

    ¡°Forgive me for this discourtesy,¡± the Allfather tilted his head.

    Gent barely reacted in time as the Allfather dashed right beside him and swung down with a sleek sword in just a twitch of the eyelid! ¡®He¡¯ metamorphosed only his arm into an earth brown scaled claw that blocked the sword, which caused a scratch mark on his scales.

    If not for standing from Gent¡¯s viewpoint, Rein would see nothing but a flicker.

    In an instant, the Allfather had returned to his original position prior to the attack.

    ¡°You¡¯re fast,¡± commented Gent. ¡°Swift beyond belief.¡±

    The Allfather only hooked his fingers as an acknowledgement.

    ¡°We will be leaving with our fallen,¡± Gent stated once again. The husband and wife finally agreed with a nod and turned to reenter the flat-topped pyramid.

    ¡°The child¡¯s name?¡± Gent was curious.

    ¡°Xune!¡± intoned the Allfather as he momentarily turned his head back to meet eyes with Gent.

    The scene faded as the dragons collected their fallen brethren.

    Rein found himself back in the tea house, his mind filled with wonder. Master Yirn was right-- he could not imitate the methods of the previous user that shared his echo of the fallen gods, that female dwarf named Zelli. He had no such thing as stone or magma form, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he could turn his body into the size of a peanut either.

    He left the tea house to the relief of the attendant. Most troublesome were customers who bought cheap beverages and stayed half a day within the tea house. Rein had only come to find a safe place to view the vision, which was over in a single heartbeat in real world time.

    As Rein returned to the Hall of Heroes, he could not help but feel that the situation to be absurd. Somehow, the previous user of his origin ability, Dragonknight Zelli, had once fought Gent, whose will passed down the draconic metamorphose bead to him. And now, here he was, standing before the Hall of Heroes supposedly led by the Allfather and Xune!

    Rein soon found himself back in his quarters. It was no longer a bland carved-out cave-- he had decidedly spent a small amount of the contribution points he had earned on a selection of furs, sourced from unknown demon beasts. His fingers knew they were of good quality to soften his cave bed.

    He crossed his legs to meditate and refocus his mind. He placed the vision he had seen today to the back of his mind. To Rein, the events within these visions weren¡¯t all that important. In his eyes, these past events were just the lingering memories of a dead dragon. His main interest in them was to draw inspiration on his own advancer arts, for his personal strength and goals. The more important task right now was to finalize his plans for Rekcen of the Larne Clan.

    Rein had already come up with a plan a few days prior, but as his half-senior Chenhr taught him, he needed to allow a plan to stew for some time such that it can be evaluated and stand up to scrutiny across multiple days if not weeks.

    That was proven correct. Initially, Rein had thought of simply bypassing any defense by finding a high vantage point and teleporting directly into Rekcen¡¯s room and mixing the beastkin core sand into the recovering scion¡¯s medicine.

    Rein¡¯s origin ability was very much unique in the sense that it could bypass many defenses. After all, two points in space are connected through a chaotic dimension that none could control. All spatial-aligned advancers could do this, but Rein could activate such spatial magics with record speed due to his origin ability.

    Influential clans might set up much more elaborate formations such that an advancer might teleport directly into a trap if careless, but House Larne? Rein was confident that House Larne did not have the resources for such traps.

    With an extra few days, Rein soon recognized his own reckless nature, and the flaw within his original plan.

    He placed himself in House Larne¡¯s shoes-- if Rekcen had his medicine contaminated, who would be most suspicious? Potential competitors of House Larne, and also Rein! Then, the next question might be, how could the young man, Rein, contaminate Rekcen¡¯s medicine without triggering any traps in the House Larne¡¯s lands? The answer would be-- an origin ability!

    Rein would be truly fucked if he had recklessly carried out that original plan, even if House Larne could not fully prove their hypothesis.

    Thus, Rein now revised his plan. He needed to lay a trail of breadcrumbs to decrease House Larne¡¯s confidence in their guesses.

    There were quite a few things in his favor. One, no one knew he had beastkin cores. Thus, if he grinded all of them down into sand and sent it all elsewhere¡­ it would seem very odd for any to accuse him as the source of contamination.

    Secondly, everyone in the Green Trout City knew of House Larne¡¯s location due to their status in the city.

    Thirdly, Rein now owned a ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ from Baejenh, and could disguise himself far better than before. He had originally planned to buy a set of random clothing to obscure his identity. His original appearance close to House Larne would trigger alarm bells, of which he was certain.

    He had long identified that it was the Tehr Medicinal House sending medicine to House Larne-- an easy task observing the comings and goings to House Larne¡¯s residence.

    Rein sighed, hoping that what he was about to do would not cause too much collateral damage. His new plan? Contaminate the whole Tehr Medicinal House and also the medicine within Rekcen¡¯s residence.

    Some Green Trout citizens might catch stray damage, but Rein reasoned that most if not all should come out unharmed, unlike Rekcen who was under the dire situation of needing to regrow a whole arm.

    He also planned to poison Rekcen first, before contaminating the Tehr Medicinal House. That way, House Larne¡¯s investigation would prevent the contaminated medicine from spreading.

    This was not all-- Rein also planned to slightly contaminate all the medicinal houses in Green Trout City. He did not wish for Tehr Medicinal House to go out of business because of his actions. If all medicinal houses were to at least be somewhat contaminated, the Tehr Medicinal House would not be unjustly shut down. This would also give the impression that Rekcen might not be the primary target.

    One might consider this a vile plan, but in Rein¡¯s mind that was the only way for him to avoid suspicion.

    As preparation, he began grinding down all the remaining beastkin cores that Master Yirn had given him with the pestle and mortar. Once done, he completely shattered the pestle and mortar into stones with his enhanced physical body. The beastkin core sand? He stored that in a few bamboo containers originally meant for carrying water.

    He would execute the plan in a few days.

    ¡°Rein, my celest!¡± Suey¡¯s voice called out at the entrance to his cave, and Rein activated the inscriptions with his identity wood slab.

    His eyes widened at the sight of the vixen¡¯s attire. Despite the scar across her cheek, she still had an enchanting  beauty with light makeup-- her lips had a light tinge of red as if she had just washed her face with cool lake water.

    What shocked Rein was the lack of clothing.The woman wore but lingerie under the thin see-through gray Hall of Heroes wrap robes. A harness had straps wrapping around her healthy olive thighs and her narrow waist, with her crotch completely exposed! Her revealed breasts that would fill Rein¡¯s hands to the brim were only supported by an open-cup red lace. She also wore a set of red heels certainly not suitable for advancer combat, which accentuated her toned calves up to her flat stomach.

    In comparison, her twin sister, Jory, was dressed appropriately and observed her older twin¡¯s depraved actions expressionlessly.

    Suey, the lady-- no this was no lady. The minx began strutting left and right before Rein, her barely supported  tits jiggling obscenely with every single step.

    Rein¡¯s upbringing might have already corrupted him, but the sight of Suey¡¯s debauchery ignited a strong sadistic nature in his heart that he never knew even existed until this day.

    He faintly recalled his determination to teach this woman the importance of fearing a man such as him, and with a yank of the arm, pulled the near-naked woman into his embrace.

    Rein traced his fingers teasingly up Suey¡¯s spine as the woman whimpered frustratingly into his neck. That caused him to compulsively jerk the woman¡¯s body into a tantalizing arch by forcefully tugging her raven hair with his right hand backwards. His left hand then brutishly ran across her front, firmly compressing her tits that his hand could barely encompass. Suey gasped with a hazy wanton face as he dragged his fingers down across her ribcage and discovered the dripping honey between her legs.

    ¡°You crazy woman. Is this what you want? Hmm?¡± Rein held himself together, rather perturbed that Suey seemed to be reveling in the situation. He once again found himself wondering what this minx wanted-- she had already joined their team and that meant that their members would give her some assistance resisting Supreme Guihnes that the twins had rejected!

    ¡°Yesss,¡± Suey hissed seductively and bit her lips, looking at Rein with doll-eyes.

    ¡°Twelve hells.¡± Rein rejected the idea that this woman was throwing herself at him without a catch. He had no desire to be dragged into hidden trouble!

    ¡°Very well!¡± Rein undid the sash tying the Hall of Heroes robes to her body. Granted, the thin robe was partially see-through anyway, but now, the minx was truly revealed in all her glory.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head out to the mountains behind,¡± Rein said as if this was all but a normal day. ¡°I need to find a location with a strong wood element for my advancer art.¡±

    Suey finally felt some embarrassment and pressed one arm across her breasts while another hand covered her crotch.

    ¡°No covering up. Or you had better leave.¡± Rein could not believe his own words. He was very much imitating some of the debaucherous scenes he had seen as an aspiring merchant.

    Suey licked her lips in determination and slightly lowered her arm covering her breasts. Now, her right arm wrapped around her torso below her breasts, further accentuating those quivering pillows. Then she wrapped her left arm around Rein¡¯s waist and looked upwards to tell Rein that she was ready.

    Rein himself wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and his right arm hung down, gripping her right breast.

    Suey could barely maintain her balance-- she tottered against Rein as she was led up the sloping tunnel towards the mountains!

    As for her younger twin sister? Jory was but a silent shadow that followed behind.

 Ch55: Testing the Minx

    Upon reaching the mountains, Rein discovered that quite a number of Halls members meandered about fraternizing with one another. There were some female advancers somewhat similar to Suey in the sense that they had thrown themselves at a male counterpart.

    Chirh certainly was not making false claims when he had mentioned to Rein that some female advancers would rather lose their virginities to a not unpleasant man of their choice than become desired targets for the devils in the western wilderness.

    However, despite their actions, many of these beauties with youthful and shining bodies due to their efforts to climb the advancer ladder, were dressed much more conservatively than the brazen Suey.

    Rein examined the tottering minx that leaned onto him for support, eyes cast to the ground. So the woman has some sense of shame after all.

    ¡°Walk properly, you little minx,¡± Rein ordered as he lifted Suey¡¯s chin with his left hand, his heart warped from his origins.  ¡°Stick your chest out and strut like the harlot that you are. Make sure to look into every man¡¯s eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my celest.¡± A slight quiver in her voice, yet she had a determined expression.

    Having come out here with nothing but an open cup and harness lingerie that failed to cover any of her private parts, many eyes had already been drawn to Suey¡¯s body.

    Now, she stood straight in her red heels and stuck out her ample chest barely supported by the flimsy material that wrapped just underneath her breasts.

    Rein held the minx with his right arm curving around her slim waist, his hand placed on her ribs and tickling the underside of her right breast.

    He walked alongside as Suey stuck out a tantalizing long right leg and began strutting forward as ordered. Her tits jiggled enchantingly with every footfall, drawing the eyes of both men and women.

    Having received the order to look in the men¡¯s eyes, Suey discovered that this was only possible with a few-- most men¡¯s lecherous gazes instead roamed her body, many lingering on her chest.

    As for the women? They mostly had disgusted and disdainful expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Slut,¡± so intoned a number of the women.

    ¡°No wonder she rejected Supreme Guihnes,¡± another commented. ¡°At least she has the awareness to recognize herself undeserving of becoming a flower in Supreme Guihnes¡¯ garden of rapture.¡±

    Rein observed the little minx¡¯s expressions. She displayed no signs of cracking, and her fear was minimal. He had intended to push her into such debaucherous acts as a method to scare her into behaving appropriately in the proper sense, and reveal her true intentions. Clearly, his methods had yet to achieve the desired effect.

    Suey turned her head and met Rein¡¯s gaze, her eyes filled with a hazy wantonness.

    ¡°Am¡­¡± She whispered rather hungrily. ¡°Am I doing well?¡±

    Rein only felt a pang of sadistic urge at her question. His right hand traced upwards and twisted Suey¡¯s right teat, causing the woman to stutter in her continuing strut.  To the delight of the onlookers, Suey squeaked and further arched her back in a bid to relieve the pressure of Rein¡¯s clamped-tight fingers.

    His right arm that curved around her narrow waist then traced a path down and cupped her snatch from the front. He discovered that she was dripping honey from such a performance.

    ¡°Continue.¡± Rein¡¯s dark eyes bored into Suey¡¯s.

    ¡°But¡­ my celest¡­¡± Suey¡¯s voice was of faux innocence, laced with lewdness. ¡°If¡­ it¡¯s sensitive¡­ yes, my celest.¡±

    Rein kept his right hand between the minx¡¯s smooth and slender legs that gleamed in the late morning sun, cupping over her sensitive nub.

    Suey began strutting forward again, but this time with Rein¡¯s hand between her thighs, every single stride, she would whimper sultrily as her sensitive nub would repeatedly receive a sparks of pleasure that coursed through her very core.

    Their public display would soon come to a standstill when the majestic figure of Lyne, her hands on her hips, blocked their path.

    ¡°Although it is understandable that some may prefer to not carry their virginities to the western wilderness, this is too much, is it not?¡± The cool beauty¡¯s lips were pursed in disapproval. ¡°This is no way to treat a lady!¡±

    ¡°One should not interfere in that which they do not have full knowledge of,¡± Rein calmly replied. He was not going to immediately cave in to a woman¡¯s advances before ascertaining her true intentions! The tougher ones required more extreme methods to crack. Lyne had no idea of Suey¡¯s shamelessness!

    ¡°I intend to have Xeeseir become a vassal and potentially marry into the Xuere Clan through a branch family. Thus, you being on the same team makes it my problem as well,¡± declared Lyne righteously.

    Then, her mouth opened into a large O as she finally noticed the current actions of Suey. Though standing still, Rein¡¯s hand remained between her lovely thighs. The minx was grinding herself against his hand while Lyne chastised Rein!

    Lyne¡¯s mouth opened and closed quite a number of times like a goldfish, completely speechless as she watched Suey swivel her hips about until a loud final exhaustive moan.

    Lyne could not believe her eyes as she watched honey spurt from between Suey¡¯s legs before the minx collapsed on the ground, delivering a musky smell into the noses of those close enough to her position¡­

    Rein barely restrained his chuckles. It was certainly a sight to see the normally majestic and cool Lyne so utterly lost for words. He forced himself to maintain a neutral expression, not wishing to make further enemies.

    Lyne spun around and regained her demeanor before marching off, not saying another word.

    Rein bent down and dragged Suey back onto her feet.

    ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done to the poor noble¡¯s mind¡­¡±

    ¡°Did I do well¡­?¡± Suey gazed into Rein¡¯s eyes with devotion. Now, Rein discovered instead a growing softness in his heart.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done well indeed.¡± Rein failed to repress that feeling and found himself praising Suey, disregarding further considerations.

    Well. He was indeed impressed that Suey had endured and even seemingly enjoyed herself through the whole incident.

    ¡°I challenge you to battle!¡± A sudden yell.

    Rein raised his head and found a stocky man half a head shorter stomping towards him. Rein could not reject such challenges. No initiates could. Honestly, he was surprised that Beincen hadn¡¯t recklessly convinced a number of inner advancers to challenge him every day.

    Rein nodded, unsure of what to expect but very much curious about the power he might have gained after achieving minor success with red draconic lightning.

    They two traveled to a close-by an empty circular arena. Many of these existed in the mountains given to the Hall of Heroes, as challenges to climb the rankings for the monthly contribution rewards are quite common.

    ¡°I am Arhn, owner of the toughest and most physical bodies in the inner realm of these Halls. Those who had tempered their bodies to the heavens reign in the inner realm!¡±

    ¡°Rein.¡±

    ¡°Young man, you must know something,¡± Arhn warned. ¡°I was hired by House Larne for an exorbitant sum. I have no grudge against you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why do you tell me so?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather us not have a misunderstanding. Or for you to hold a grudge against me,¡± so replied Arhn.

    ¡°Pathetic,¡± scoffed Rein. ¡°You wish for me to not hold a grudge after giving way to Beincen?¡±

    ¡°Such is the world. If I reject Beincen, then House Larne would sabotage me in the western wilderness. I would not even know how I died. You had better watch yourself.¡±

    ¡°And you do not fear me doing the same?¡±

    ¡°Hardly,¡± chuckled Arhn. ¡°You¡¯d need a clan¡¯s strength to completely wipe out all evidence of sabotage from the Halls¡¯ eyes. You are not capable of such methods.¡±

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    A flurry of blows began, and the two men¡¯s fists met one another, very much intentional by both men. Both had come to a silent agreement to avoid the use of inscribed armaments.

    Arhn, having reached the peak of the inner realm, had the advantage of forming a partial aurae shell that further added to his tempered body. Naturally, Rein had no idea as to the body tempering method used by Arhn.

    Rein discovered Arhn was far more resilient than even that combat instructor. It must be because that combat instructor did not temper his body much. Arhn¡¯s physical combat was far more refined.

    Arhn swung a partially-coated fist that slipped past Rein¡¯s defenses and struck his right chest. The very force of it sent Rein skidding backwards for a few arm¡¯s length.

    A tinge of pain, and yet¡­ Rein was overjoyed! He wasn¡¯t sure if this was normal, but it seemed as if his body was becoming more¡­ compact. Although he had already achieved minor success with the red lightning, it seemed that quite some residual aurae from the vials he had consumed remained.

    Furthermore, he had yet to fully adapt to his body in combat, and the feedback provided began to align his mind with his body.

    ¡°Heh.,¡± Rein grinned. ¡°Just so-so.¡±

    Arhn was expressionless as they began another flurry of blows, their feet stepping already inhumanely quick despite the lack of advancer arts.

    A loud but dull thump resounded in the arena as both men simultaneously landed a fist on the other¡¯s durable bodies. Rein had opted to allow Arhn to land a blow to assist himself in  absorbing any residual aurae, while testing the power of his very own fist!

    This time, Rein was only sent skidding backwards a few feet while Arhn only fell back a step.

    Then, Rein leapt forward again, having sensed his body further being refined with another release of residual energy in his body.

    Arhn began frowning. He could feel that this young man before him was strengthening at a perceptible speed.

    Rein no longer even defended seriously, allowing quite a number of blows to land on his own body while raining his very own onto Arhn¡¯s body.

    Arhn found himself forced to use a partial aurae shell, the image of a half-formed armadillo shell, to defend against Rein¡¯s blows.

    Another almighty trade of blows, and this time, Rein only fell back five steps while Arhn himself was shocked to discover his partial shell shattering as he fell back three steps.

    ¡°I concede.¡± Arhn immediately left the arena, and Rein wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it. Arhn still had a clear advantage-- yet he had left just like that?! Rein rejoined a beaming Suey and a wooden Jory, who had observed the battle on the side.

    Your victory has been recorded

    That was the watcher¡¯s voice that sounded in Rein¡¯s ears through his gray Halls robe. However, Rein was in no celebration mood. He found it very odd that Arhn had given up despite his advantage.

    ¡°I challenge you!¡± Another voice yelled. Rein came out of his reverie to find a bald youth carrying a jingling staff walking towards them.

    ¡°As a monk, it is my duty to confront and overcome the desires of our hearts,¡± he stated as the metal rings on the head of his staff clinked when he pointed it at the barely-standing Suey.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Rein ordered, and after a few heartbeats, couldn¡¯t resist cheekily sounding a suggestion into Suey¡¯s left ear. ¡°Fight him in your heels. After all, this monk needs to defeat his desires.¡±

    If Suey lost a few contribution points because of his suggestion, he could always give a share of his contribution points to the woman in the future for peace in his heart.

    Jory, having shadowed the two, wrapped her hand in an aurae shell before activating a small pouch on a belt around her waist.

    She reached in and seemed to rummage in an endless space before pulling out the bronze whips that the twins had used previously.

    Rein also indicated that Suey was free to re-equip the thin gray Hall of Heroes robe that he had made her remove during her exposure ¡®fun¡¯.

    ¡°Suxeire,¡± greeted Suey, her voice still somewhat breathless with lust.

    ¡°Shizr,¡± introduced the bald youth. ¡°Aspiring monk.¡±

    ¡°Monk. Seeing as you wish to overcome your desires, a far better method would be for you to resist lust magic, no?¡± Suey asked, and the aspiring monk Shizr was piqued by her words.

    ¡°If you are capable of such arts,¡± he nodded in agreement.

    Rein remained expressionless on the outside, but was inwardly wondering if she was capable of it, why Suey had not attempted to use such lust arts upon him to achieve whatever her goals might be.

    His attention was drawn as the nearly-naked Suey, her slender body visible through the thin gray Halls robe, began to dance and spin her figure before Shizr!

    Part of her body became covered in a pink shell that appeared as a misty veil that gave the impression of caressing her body. Then, the woman began sashaying in a small circle around Shizr¡¯s figure, who planted his feet shoulders wide and began muttering some sort of chant as he occasionally jingled his staff with a knock to the ground.

    Rein raised an eyebrow when Suey glanced in his direction with a coquettish smile, not once or twice, but repeatedly. It was then that Rein suspected that Suey intended on giving him a show using Shizr!

    How truly relentless.

    Shizr¡¯s chants stuttered as Suey suddenly pressed her body against his back and dragged her exposed breasts in circular motion. Despite her ¡®opponent¡¯, Suey stared at Rein and bit her lips teasingly during this whole sequence.

    The under-attack monk¡¯s crotch rose as the contact ensured that Suey¡¯s partially-formed lust shell delivered its magical effect onto Shizr¡¯s body.

    ¡°You damn seductress!¡± Shizr lost control, spun around and gripped onto Suey¡¯s shoulders. Suey allowed the man to throw her onto the ground.

    The monk seemed to have rather easily lost control and he wasn¡¯t even aware that Suey maintained eye contact with Rein this whole time as he undid the wrapping sash of Suey¡¯s Halls robe and his hands groped her full breasts. Suey rested her arms above her head ¡®helplessly¡¯ as she arched erotically with her legs splayed wide, while pleadingly staring at Rein the whole time.

    ¡°You¡¯re fucking dripping wet!¡± Shizr had pulled down his baggy trousers and revealed his manhood upon discovering Suey¡¯s readiness.

    He aimed at her snatch, only to find himself tumbling to the side after receiving a boot to the head.

    Suey looked up at the towering Rein, who¡¯s head blocked out the rising sun, with an expression of relief. Noticing this, Rein rolled his eyes. She could have prevented it herself if she so chose to. After all, the lust magic was hers! He knew that she desired his interference, and found himself¡­ complying to that unsaid request.

    Regardless, the kick to the head seemed to have somewhat cleared Shizr¡¯s mind.

    ¡°I concede! Thank you, friend.¡± He now sat cross-legged in meditation. ¡°No-- thank you, my brother. I consider you my brother for assisting in resisting such temptation. Rein, was it? I overheard your name from earlier.¡±

    Before Rein could even reply, Suey was on her knees before him, and had pulled down his trousers, revealing his somewhat¡­ transformed manhood!

    Rein was initially slightly concerned regarding his manhood having somewhat gained a large knot along with many hardened ridges due to his body tempering art. He believed that it must be because of how his method used lightning to scar his flesh and muscles, the wooden vitality to recover.  Accompanied by the fact that his body might gain some draconic appearance¡­

    This concern was quickly allayed with Suey¡¯s hypnotized look at his manhood.

    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ waited so long for this dragon¡­¡± She whispered huskily, confounding Rein with her words.

    She then opened her mouth wide and began servicing Rein in the very middle of the arena.

    Rein found himself amazed by her skill. He knew her to be a virgin having felt between her legs. Yet here, her tongue skillfully lapped the underside of his manhood, and her hands wrapped behind muscular buttocks, forcing him deeper into her throat as she gagged repeatedly.

    That gagging noise certainly distracted Shizr from his meditation, and he opened his eyes, transfixed by the sight before him.

    ¡°I apologize, monk,¡± Rein said. ¡°It would be inappropriate for me to be your brother, I believe.¡±

    ¡°Please~¡± Suey pleaded at this stage. ¡°I need your help~¡± she placed Rein¡¯s hands behind her head.

    Rein could not resist petting her head while running his fingers through her soft raven hair before wrapping his hands around the back of her head.

    What followed would be an absolute demolition of the woman¡¯s face. Having put up with Suey¡¯s antics for so long, Rein repeatedly forced his transformed manhood down the minx¡¯s throat despite feeling resistance only halfway in.

    Not at all put off, Suey¡¯s eyes entered a lusty trance that bid him to continue relentlessly.

    Rein grunted as he finally released his spunk, coating the minx¡¯s whole face. Suey clearly enjoyed it, her fingers dragging the liquid into her lips while wiping a significant volume all over her ample chest.

    Rein had to admit by now, that even during his merchant days, there was never quite a woman like Suey¡­

    Having watched them finish, Shizr seemed unperturbed.

    ¡°My brother. It is very understandable, with such a vixen before you. However, I am an aspiring monk for very clear reasons. You see-- I once questioned myself, my attraction to women, and even my occasional loss in control.¡±

    ¡°I concluded that we as humans began our lives as mortals,¡± Shizr continued his rant. ¡°As mortals, our lives are short, and we need to continue our race by having the drive to perform such acts, to the point where it is in-built within us! I even wondered why some men would forcibly take women.¡±

    ¡°My conclusion? Nature¡¯s safety measure. If no man or woman is willing to engage with one another, then at least these forceful men and perhaps even forceful women, would ensure the continuation of the human race. It¡¯s like a regulating mechanism. The lesser number of men and women cooperating with one another, the higher percentage of the next generation will carry the blood of these forceful men and women.¡±

    Rein¡¯s mouth opened slightly at the monk¡¯s seemingly-mad revelations, but nodded nonetheless.

    ¡°It is frustrating, you understand?¡± Shizr was pouring out his heart, having seen this brother-of-his nod in understanding. ¡°Sometimes I wish to focus on strengthening my mind and body, yet an errant beauty disrupts my concentration. How I wish to become an advancer of the highest realm. Once I gain an eternal life¡­ this drive to procreate will decrease, as both my mind and body will recognize it as significantly less necessary to create new beings.¡±

    ¡°You, too, should attempt such a path, I believe.¡± The monk patted Rein¡¯s shoulders with a smile before wandering off.

    ¡°He does have a point¡­¡± Rein muttered¡­

    ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t!¡± Suey squealed in panic. ¡°Monks make a lot of crazy claims that can sound convincing on the surface. This is love, don¡¯t you understand?!¡±

    What? Rein couldn¡¯t help but cough at Suey¡¯s words.

    Rein opted to return to his cave abode. His original intention was to drive fear into Suey, yet he had utterly failed. If anything, she seemed to have gained confidence, and was now clutching onto his right arm while fearlessly meeting eyes with anyone they traveled past with her face and breasts white with drying spunk.

    Many were taken aback by her appearance while quite a number insulted her with various names. Despite all this, she seemed unaffected and even reveled in such insults, pressing herself against Rein with mewls of pleasure.

    They reached the tunnel back into the Hall of Heroes¡¯ labyrinth, only to find Beincen having positioned himself here to block his path.

    Beside him stood Arhn, who Rein had previously battled!

 Ch56: A Mind-bending Revelation

    Beincen was not the only noble here, for out of the corner of his eye, Rein noticed Lyne of the Xuere Clan approaching as well. Had she returned to condemn him yet again?

    ¡°Rein, you are a fool for displaying your physical capabilities,¡± the noble smirked. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready when the time comes.¡± No wonder Arhn had conceded mid-battle. Beincen¡¯s real strike would come in the western wilderness, not here!

    ¡°And you,¡± Beincen roamed his eyes the length of Suey¡¯s body. ¡°It would be far better for you to submit to one such as I.¡±

    A sudden idea occurred to Rein, and he whispered words into Suey¡¯s left ear.

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    ¡°I simply advised her to submit to you as you mentioned. You see¡­ I have no desire to also burn down the rest of those around me,¡± Rein shrugged uncaringly.

    ¡°I¡¯m already wet and willing¡­¡± Suey huskily murmured as she sashayed towards Beincen, reaching forth to bring his hand to her snatch.

    ¡°Hah! So you do understand!¡± Beincen momentarily lost control of his faculties in delight at having so easily distanced Rein from a member of another on his supposed team.

    ¡°Pouring like a waterfall!¡± His fingers flicked Suey¡¯s nub and he looked around as if wishing to confirm his achievement with onlookers, only to discover a glaring Lyne that had arrived in front of him!

    Unlike Rein, Beincen had not noticed the scion of the Xuere Clan, the very woman he had been pursuing, approach their location.

    His eyes widened in shock and realization.

    ¡°You evil whore!¡± Beincen immediately delivered a harsh slap that sent Suey to the ground. However, she had been prepared, and defended her face with a watery aquamarine shell that quivered as it absorbed the force. To Rein¡¯s knowledge, Beincen should be a low shell advancer.

    Lyne sighed, seemingly disappointed before completely ignoring Beincen as she reentered the Halls of Heroes labyrinth.

    Beincen hurried after her with Arhn chasing behind, and thus Rein was freed to return to his cave abode without obstruction.

    ¡°That scared me so much that I can no longer walk~¡± mewled Suey, who remained with her round bum to the ground.

    Rein sighed. She was clearly exaggerating. Yet, she had willingly cooperated. Somehow, Suey now felt like his partner-in-crime. How they had reached this stage, he did not know. She certainly deserved just rewards.

    He bent down and carried Suey like a princess, and the minx wrapped her arms around his neck in unconcealed excitement.

    As he winded through the tunnels back towards his quarters carrying the scantily-dressed Suey while followed by her twin Jory, Rein discovered his heart filled with a sense of melancholy.

    Perhaps some might find this odd, seeing as he had such a willing kitten in his arms. Yet, the events of this day heavily reminded Rein of his peaceful mortal merchant days, when his family was still very much alive. He had certainly partaken in some debauchery back then, as was the norm of many merchant families in the Fusion Realm. The games he had played to test Suey today very much reminded him of those times.

    Suey¡¯s right hand rested above his heart, taking comfort from the rhythmic thumps. Their gazes met again, and Rein glimpsed a sort of unexpected understanding in the woman¡¯s eyes. He could not maintain that eye contact for more than a heartbeat as he looked away, pretending to search for the correct path back to his underground cave abode.

    Rein brought the twins into his cave abode. The two ladies joyously exclaimed as they discovered Rein¡¯s purchase of comfort furs softening the stone bed while carpeting various parts of the ground.

    Rein sat down on the edge of the furred stone bed and Suey pressed herself against his back while side-sitting upon the soft and warm fur.

    ¡°I think my twin wants you to take hers too¡­¡± She breathed tantalizingly into Rein¡¯s ear. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if she would choose such a path, but we agreed that she would be the first to go if she so desires.¡±

    Indeed, Jory was stripping, and she shyly glanced at Rein to confirm her choice.

    Jory¡¯s exposed form was quite similar to Suey¡¯s. However, she was half a head shorter, did not have the scar on her cheek, and her hips were a tad narrower.

    ¡°Stay still please,¡± she requested. Rein nodded. He naturally understood that Jory only desired to lose her virginity before entering the western wilderness.

    Unlike Jory, Suey was far more¡­ forward with her desires, and seemed interested in something more.

    He laid back just as Suey popped a pill into his mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a vitality pill¡­¡± she giggled. ¡°They call it the rising dragon pill.¡± What an absolutely relentless minx.

    Jory lowered herself on top of his waist and Rein felt the trickle of warm blood flow.

    ¡°I can be a very jealous woman¡­¡± Suey informed Rein, before she pressed her lips against Rein¡¯s and very soon their tongues began intertwining like dancing snakes.

    Rein remained true to his promise, and allowed Jory to control the whole situation. She spasmed quite a few times through the process, and soon enough Rein discovered himself reaching his peak as he observed this more reserved but incredibly tight twin struggle on top of him.

    ¡°Careful!¡± he warned. ¡°I¡¯m about to--¡±

    ¡°Rein, my celest~¡± Suey charmingly giggled into his ear. ¡°To properly avoid the virgin detection methods of the devils, yin and the yang must mix properly. Your essence must enter her womb¡­ Do not worry, she won¡¯t carry your child. We came prepared!¡±

    The deed was soon done, and Jory collapsed onto the soft furs on the left side of Rein¡¯s bed.

    Seeing the reserved twin so vulnerable, Rein gently stroked Jory¡¯s face and complimented, ¡°Well done.¡± Unlike with Suey, he felt none of those sadistic desires. Jory was simply too appropriately behaved.

    He received a small smile in return.

    It was now Suey¡¯s turn. The woman rummaged inside a small pouch whose interior must have been expanded into a large space.

    She soon pulled out quite a few stakes with inscriptions and embedded power gems. She began stabbing these stakes around Rein¡¯s bed, while ensuring all their clothing was flung far from the furred bed.

    ¡°Formation?¡± Rein had learnt some of this knowledge from his half-senior Chenhr, and recognized the setting-up procedure.

    Suey nodded and activated the many stakes surrounding the bed.

    ¡°The Halls have ears, but this should be an effective measure,¡± Suey explained. ¡°Blocking out the watcher directly is quite impossible for me. Instead, these stakes release a cacophony of noises to obscure our words. As a result, what we say will simply seem like it is covered by louder voices.¡±

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Having set up these defenses, Suey laid herself to Rein¡¯s right and nuzzled her face against his neck, Her right hand reached down and she teasingly dragged her nail across his jewels as well as his ridged and knotted dragon.

    ¡°My celest¡­do you mind listening for a while? I¡­ I want to let you know more about me before I get turned into¡­a writhing mess and my mind melted into mush~¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Rein found her delicate hands skillfully returning him to full mast before continuing a teasing contact that kept him at the ready. He was quite capable of listening to her words while receiving such service. It was expected of him in his mortal merchant days to not be taken advantage of during business dealings even if assaulted by honeypot schemes.

    ¡°I am a seer of my people,¡± Suey began. ¡°I was born with it¡­ a bloodline of an ancient magic that doesn¡¯t fully conform to the rules of modern day advancer arts.¡±

    ¡°We women have to be careful of men. Some men have mastered the skill of fooling a woman to feel certain emotions in order to take advantage of said woman. It is why wiser women know to simply reject the initial advances of a man and assess such a man¡¯s efforts to win her heart instead.¡±

    Rein acknowledged this with a nod. He had thought Suey to be too forward, and had intentionally wished to instill fear into her throughout the day.

    ¡°But, truly perceptive women have no need for such a method. Naturally, some women believe themselves perceptive and only discover their own idiocy some time later. As for me? I¡¯ve seen scenes of many future possibilities!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Rein was doubtful of her words. ¡°Precognition¡­ divination¡­ aren¡¯t these predictive types of magic often vague?¡± He had not learned much about such magics, and was filled with curiosity.

    ¡°It is as you say, my celest,¡± Suey continued. ¡°However, that vagueness can turn clear if certain conditions are met. These visions become vivid and detailed if a future event is inevitable in many or even all possible futures.¡±

    ¡°Then, that must mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, my celest.¡± Suey beamed as she continued her expert finger manipulation. ¡°Are you bored of my words yet?¡±

    ¡°Hardly,¡± Rein chuckled. ¡°I quite like the idea of an¡­ intelligent and interesting pair of lips wide and filled to the brim.¡± He grunted as Suey flicked the tip of his dragon with her fingers in response to his words.

    ¡°In every single one of these futures where I am alive,¡± she continued, ¡°I come across you. Eventually. Always.¡±

    ¡°Like now?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Suey hesitated, rather uneasy with the path she had chosen. ¡°In all those futures¡­ I always only met you after you were already an outer advancer¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Rein¡¯s eyes widened in realization. ¡°You¡¯re attempting to twist the course of the future!¡±

    ¡°Yes, my celest. That I am.¡± Having been accused, Suey¡¯s confidence rose instead and she was filled with brazenness.

    ¡°I come from a backwater place. In all these futures that I can see, my home is surrounded and destroyed, always! Some of those futures end there. In the others where I survive¡­ I end up a slave.¡± Her voice lowered in volume as she muttered, ¡°A sex slave.¡±

    Rein found his throat dry. It was difficult to believe that in all these futures, this would be one¡¯s fate. Yet if true¡­

    ¡°My home¡­ is deeply-hated by all surrounding it due to conflict across many ages. It is inevitable, unless I take action early on to twist the future before the point that leads to that inevitable pattern of set futures begins.¡±

    Rein¡¯s mind was thoroughly drawn in by Suey¡¯s words now. A flick of her fingers and he was reminded to ensure the woman had something hard and warm in her hand to hold on for comfort.

    ¡°So¡­ why me? I have no capabilities of preventing this future of yours.¡± Rein believed he would be more than thoroughly occupied with trying to find where Jein had been taken, or at least retrieve his corpse and execute those who harmed his younger brother. Then, there was the matter of Dingien Clan¡¯s potential hand within.

    ¡°I am not truly seeking to prevent this future of my home¡¯s destruction¡­¡± Suey muttered, downcast. ¡°I am simply just¡­ hoping that something will change. I came here to find you, because in all those futures¡­ you always gave me hope¡­ only to be¡­¡±

    Suey came to a stop, not willing to continue further.

    ¡°Only?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that bitch!¡± Rein grunted as Suey¡¯s hand gripped tight over his dragon. ¡°That bitch never allowed you to give me a hand! And you always listened to her. You were stuck in the outer advancer realm because of her! I know it!¡±

    Rein¡¯s mouth was agape and he blinked rapidly at Suey¡¯s jealousy-filled outburst.

    ¡°I¡­¡± he was naturally lost for words. Whoever this ¡®bitch¡¯ was, he had certainly not met her. And perhaps would not for decades if not centuries due to advancers¡¯ long lives.

    ¡°I apologize, my celest¡­¡± Suey reigned in her emotions. ¡°A seer must not be too attached to the many visions she sees. In my desperation, I have already seen too many. My heart has become¡­ unstable.¡±

    ¡°Do you blame me? I am¡­ trying to skip the line, so to speak.¡± Suey avoided Rein¡¯s gaze, somewhat ashamed.

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Rein took a moment to think. ¡°I suppose technically, such a future has yet to occur. It is said that we advancers use our arts to escape the fate of mortality, no?¡±

    Rein was certain that both men and women, if given this ability, would take advantage of it in various ways as well.

    ¡°You always¡­ even in all those futures¡­¡± Suey muttered under her breath.

    ¡°However, do you not fear that your early intervention might transform my nature?¡± Rein couldn¡¯t help but ask this. ¡°Perhaps you meeting me here will change my very nature into something you detest in the future.¡± This was a possibility that Rein knew could occur.

    ¡°Some men and women¡­ they are born with something extra in their hearts,¡± Suey rejected his concerns. ¡°In many of these futures, I have seen much. Some men without fathers grow up to become the fathers they wish they had. Some imitate the fathers that abandoned them. Some of those abused grow to inflict their pain upon others. Some learn to protect instead, despite the lack of positive influences.¡±

    ¡°Some men and women are just born better,¡± stated Suey. Such words can be quite dangerous. No doubt, those nobles believed themselves to be born better, in a different sense.

    Rein did not believe himself to be all that unique. He was but a man seeking revenge. Yet her words placed a burden upon him. Not even he understood why.

    ¡°So, what is it that you desire?¡± Rein asked. Suey had already mentioned that she was uncertain and did not expect her home¡¯s supposed destruction to be prevented.

    ¡°Love!¡± Suey declared with unblinking eyes, ¡°A different kind of love.¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± She bit her lips and then clarified her words. ¡°In these futures that I survive¡­ I end up captured and traded, nothing but a sex slave.¡±

    ¡°When I was a child, the first green apple I ate was as sour as vinegar. Ever since that day, every single green apple I come across¡­ I would see that greenness as a sign of its sourness, reflexively already imagining the sour taste on my tongue.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡± Rein¡¯s instincts made him feel even more heavy-hearted.

    ¡°Yes my celest. If it is inevitable that I would be captured¡­¡± Suey was fierce as a tiger. ¡°I¡¯d rather my body be as some of those slave owners like to say, ¡®broken¡¯ long before that inevitable future.¡±

    ¡°I want to eat as many sweet green apples as possible, such that those future sour apples are just perceived as blips in my mind.¡±

    ¡°When those future owners perform debauchery on my body, I want to tell myself and said owner, that I¡¯ve already had this done to me many times and have in total been ravaged a million times, and he was but one-in-a-million, late to the party!¡±

    Rein instinctively wrapped his arm around Suey and gave her forehead a soft kiss.

    ¡°Are you sure that will work?¡±

    ¡°Please accept me, my celest. It is better than nothing. Plus, there¡¯s much more to it¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I believe one day, our goals will align. I am not like those other women, dreaming of some¡­ romantic honeymoon romp. In all my visions, the couples that stay connected through not just decades, but centuries and milleniums¡­ they always have a common shared goal. I¡­ I just want you to know that I desire much more than simply being¡­if you so choose, my celest.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Rein understood what she desired, and despite being unsure of the effectiveness of her methods, acquiesced to his role. He would have to perform acts akin to that of a sex slave owner. He only hoped that the concerned feeling he had developed for her would hold tight through the whole process. Perhaps by the end, that would be the difference.

    He had come across the slave trade as a mortal merchant, but the Hehr family had seen it as an affront to humanity. He still remembered clearly a merchant requesting exotic slaves, hoping his father would deliver some members of the Golden Desert Tribes into their hands. That merchant had been expelled from the Hehr Mansion promptly.

    As for her words of a common shared goal that might extend a millennium? Rein himself was a young adult. He had no idea what to expect. It was not he who could view all these futures!

    Suey yelped as Rein stood and lifted her into a full nelson position, thoroughly locking her slender legs behind her neck.

    ¡°Look into your sister¡¯s eyes,¡± he commanded. Suey raised her eyes and blushed shamefully as she was stared down by Jory¡¯s deadpan expression.

    ¡°Rein. Punish this minx sister of mine. She drags me around just to fulfill her whims based on her mad future vision.¡± The reserved twin¡¯s outburst ignited Rein¡¯s fire.

    He began ravishing the immobilized Suey.

 Ch57: Poisoning the Larne

    In a heavenly realm far from the Fusion Realm.

    Here, the ground did not exist. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate so say that the clouds and mists were the ground itself. There was no up or down. A triangular-capped building of silvery pearl and noble gold was flipped upside down, another tower of the same theme at an odd-slanted angle.

    Despite many structures at different angles, there was still a golden ratio to their placement, creating an orderly three-dimensional surrounding spherical cluster of sorts.

    An ephemeral group of goddesses moved around, and with a single step on a ¡®wall¡¯, their orientation in space changed, and the group appeared as if they now were gliding across a ¡®wall¡¯.

    All these buildings surrounded one singular massive spherical structure in the middle with towers that stretched in every direction. This was the heart of this heavenly realm, the Heaven¡¯s Palace!

    If one were given the opportunity to enter the Heaven¡¯s Palace, they would find themselves traveling through many connected small worlds contained within. One might be a lush-green forest, another might be an endless ocean.

    A flowing gold and silver bearded man entered a space that contained a star map surrounding a platform in an encasing dome. He was dressed in a full jet-black robe with silver and gold-gilded edges.

    ¡°Allfather,¡± a woman stood from her cross-legged position and greeted the man by prostrating to the ground, her forehead knocking against the floor. This woman was dressed similar to the Allfather, but her robe had more pearl-white lines that created a pattern across the jet-black robe.

    The highest in the Hall of Heroes was given the jet-black color to represent the fear they placed in the hearts of their enemies. Even the devils and demons of darkness, feared these robes.

    The woman pointed at a star whose brightness seemed to be obscured in a haze on the star map.

    ¡°Allfather, the Fusion Realm suddenly became unclear. It may not be uncommon for some realms to occasionally become hazy, but I recall our mission in the Fusion Realm, and thus thought to notify you of this incident,¡± the woman said.

    ¡°The echo of the goddess of fate is with you, is it not?¡± Allfather stroked his beard in thought.

    ¡°I¡­¡±

    ¡°Pull on the strings of fate as you always have. Inform me if the Fusion Realm continues to kilter off its intended path. Do not fear. If you fail, that only means an old enemy of fate has appeared.¡±

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    The very next morning, Rein disconnected himself from Suey¡¯s tight resting embrace. His hands could not resist roughly manhandling parts of her exquisite slender form with curves in all the right places, before he took himself to the cleaning room. He activated the inscriptions that gathered water and released a sky shower.

    He had much to contemplate after Suey¡¯s revelation. Are her claims of these other future timelines true? Are some of these results inevitable? She had even claimed that he would become an advancer stuck in the outer stage. Had even attributed that to a woman he¡¯d come across in all these futures. If true, does that mean his meeting with this other woman was inevitable?

    He had considered the possibility that Suey was just a madwoman. Historically speaking, it was always difficult to separate the madness of one¡¯s mind from true seers. Yet, Jory the twin sister seemed to believe in her sister¡¯s words. Her participation in cooperating with him to treat her older twin like a ¡®sex slave¡¯ of sorts had demonstrated that.

    Rein honestly felt incredibly burdened by this task. He had come across many women during his merchant days who had put their beauty and seduction to use. He naturally knew early on that these women had other personal and relatable desires behind their masks.

    This Suey had literally requested him to desensitize her to all possible sexual tasks of her supposed future fate! How was he to know if it would be too much, if he would cross a line? It would be far better to just save the supposed backwater home of hers.

    Wait. Rein suddenly realized. Perhaps Suey had chosen her course of action precisely to place the idea of saving her home in his mind. If that was her manipulation¡­ Rein felt somewhat irked. He promised himself that he would punish her for this manipulation!

    HIs thoughts turned once again to fate, for if Suey¡¯s words are true, then that must mean the Golden Desert Town was fated to be destroyed. Thinking this, his thoughts recalled Jeihr Meynan, his fiance back before the disaster and his decision to enter the advancer world. He hoped she was doing well. With Steward Xeer beside her and her father, they should have a safe future. He still very much remembered the fun times he had with the beautiful Meynan.

    Rein was drawn out of his thoughts by the sensation of two soft pillows on his back. A pair of dainty hands reached forward and wrapped around the rod between his legs.

    ¡°My celest,¡± Suey huskily whispered in his right ear. ¡°What is on your mind? It¡¯s the duty of this servant to satisfy this beast of destruction of yours.¡±

    Rein remained silent. Surely, he shouldn¡¯t mention Meynan with Suey¡¯s hands around his manhood. However, she did mention he was to treat her as just a¡­.

    ¡°I am thinking of an old flame of the mortal day before my hometown was destroyed. Oh, the fun I had back in those days¡­¡±

    Rein thought that Suey¡¯s jealousy would be ignited by this statement. He was proven wrong.

    ¡°Oh? Do tell me about it.¡± Suey whispered as she pleasured his shaft with her skillful hands. This was another reason Rein believed her visions of all these possible futures to be true. She must have gained much experience from said visions¡­

    He proceeded to speak of his hometown, of Meynan, the Hehrs and the Jeihrs.

    It was truly odd yet arousing that he was speaking of his antics with Meynan while being pleasured by Suey.

    ¡°I do love a sentimental man,¡± Suey surprised Rein with this comment. ¡°If you remember that mortal woman even as you climb the advancer world, then you might remember me as well¡­¡±

    Rein was quite certain he¡¯d remember her¡­ but he found it ridiculous for that to be attributed to his sentimentality.

    She changed her position and kneeled before Rein, the sky shower rinsing her silky raven hair backwards. She closed her eyes to block out the water from her eyes, and blindly massaged Rein¡¯s dragon with her face before giving it a few kisses.

    ¡°My celest,¡± she mumbled. ¡°Think of what you would have done to that mortal woman while giving me a hand~¡±

    Rein obliged, placing his hands on her head.

    Not long after, Suey was lying down on the smooth rock ground, her lips a bubbling mess, with water still raining upon her body.

    Running his eyes across her body and her lustful eyes, Rein could not resist placing his foot on her head and putting his weight down to press her face into the ground. Was this too much?

    Apparently not. The minx moaned instead and began playing with her own flower obscenely with Rein¡¯s foot pressing into her face.

    Crazy. Rein massaged her cheek with his foot until she brought herself to release, and he left her lying under the sky shower as he left to get dressed for the day.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    He waited patiently, yet after two hundred heartbeats, the sound of the sky shower continued and Suey had yet to appear.

    He returned to that room and discovered that the minx was still pleasuring herself. When he met eyes with her, she once again brought herself to another body-wrecking release.

    Rein sighed. He went forth, performed a quick rinsing between the woman¡¯s legs, deactivated the inscriptions of the sky shower, and carried Suey back to the fur-covered stone bed. With a cloth, he dried the body of the woman.

    With Suey out, Jory could now use the sky shower privately, and Rein put on his typical frontally knotted black outfit he inherited from Blacksmith Teihr before wrapping the gray Halls of Heroes robe around.

    When he did so, the watcher sounded in his ears.

    ¡°Rein. The Halls bid you to control your woman. Leeway can be given due to the initial fear of devils targeting virgins, but properness befitting a Halls member must be shown.¡±

    Rein sighed. As if he really had control of Suey. That was just the perception of outsiders.

    ¡°Did you hear the words of the watcher?¡± He questioned Suey, who had also put on the Halls robe.

    ¡°If you so order, my celest,¡± replied the woman.

    ¡°I do so order, yes.¡± Rein groaned in his mind.

    After Jory cleaned herself, Rein escorted the twins back to their abode. Suey needed to find some proper wear aside from the two pieces of lingerie she had with her.

    She now actually wore a proper leather armor outfit. ¡°This is no fun,¡± she whined at Rein.

    ¡°Complete your daily tasks and do not cause trouble for me,¡± Rein sternly stated. ¡°Fun can be had tonight.¡± Rein planned to execute his plans for Rekcen this very night. With Suey, he had adjusted the plan to further cover his tracks.

    For the rest of the day, Rein peacefully attended to his tasks with the alchemist and the blacksmith. He also spent time to advance his strength in heavy wood aurae-concentrated areas in the Halls¡¯ mountains. He found an area with a waterfall that struck and compressed the strength of his body like the fists of Arhz, the man who had submitted himself to Beincen.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Nightfall came.

    Rein accompanied Suey as they left the front doors of the Halls¡¯ labyrinth. Jory did not come along and had returned to the twins¡¯ cave.

    Suey called her outfit this night as ¡®easy access¡¯.  She wore a loose crop top that hung loosely at the bottom, and a knee-length skirt with a high left slit that displayed the entire length of her toned left thigh.

    She had requested her celest to test what ¡®easy access¡¯ meant. Rein soon discovered that she wore no undergarments. He could easily reach his right hand under that loose crop top to fondle her tits, and his left hand could easily reach in between her legs to play with her flower. Suey pressed herself against the right side of his toned muscular body. She seemed to prefer being on this side of Rein.

    At least this was not like that all-revealing lingerie outfit the day before, Rein sighed. At least the minx was covered.

    He brought Suey to the brothel hidden in the corner of the Halls plaza, and rented a private room. Many, seeking to play without being under the eyes of the watcher within the labyrinth, would come here to perform unspeakable debaucherous acts.

    The private room was decorated as a dungeon with faux prison bars lining the door and the window. The brothel also had many toys for use¡­

    Rein blindfolded Suey and secured the woman with her legs wide open using ropes hanging down from above in the middle of the dungeon room. He then tied a ball-gag to somewhat quieten the minx¡¯s lovely moans, and inserted a few of these inscribed toys into her two bottom mouths.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back,¡± he whispered into the writhing minx¡¯s ear.

    With that, he wore the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ given to him by Baejenh, detached the fake prison bars on the window and vanished into the city.

    He had already scouted the Larne Mansion. A blackish-purple sphere spun and he soon arrived on the tiled roof of a guard tower with the appearance of an elderly woman, under the cloudy night sky. He had such good control of his origin skill that the guard under the roof heard nothing but a light tap. The guard dismissed this as nothing but a creak of the tower structure in the wind.

    Rein could see directly into Rekcen¡¯s room within the cluster of buildings making up the Larne Mansion. This wasn¡¯t surprising-- often, open air was considered beneficial to recovering patients.

    His sharp eyes observed an attendant mixing a steaming medicinal liquid. There was also other cookery and bamboo tubes carrying medicinal powder within Rekcen¡¯s room.

    The attendant placed down the steaming bowl of medicinal liquid. She took a cursory examination of the room and confirmed that nothing was out of place, before leaving the small building to complete other tasks while waiting for the medicine to cool. Rekcen himself appeared to be asleep with a wrinkly and deflated magically-reformed arm.

    Rein first transformed himself into the appearance of that female attendant. He then stuck his head downwards from the edge of the tower roof to check on the guard. The guard had his eyes squinted in concentration, studying a piece of paper in his hands.

    Rein immediately activated his origin skill and teleported into the building, and he appeared no different than the female attendant as he popped up beside that bowl of steaming medicinal liquid. He had completely bypassed all the defenses in the Larne Mansion. Such was the power of his origin skill.

    He immediately took out his own bamboo container and opened it. Within the bamboo container was the crystalline sand of beastkin cores, along with a spatula.

    He quickly spooned up that crystalline sand and sprinkled it into the medicinal liquid. He did not dare to touch anything with his bare hands. Instead, he picked up a few pieces of cloth floating about in a warm bucket of water that was already in the room, and used these to hold the original spatula and stirred the medicinal liquid.

    He was careful to place this spatula belonging to the Larne Mansion in its original exact position. Not at all difficult given his improved mind as an advancer.

    He proceeded to open a few of the other bamboo containers within the room, and ensured to contaminate some of the herbal powder within, scooping and mixing some of the crystalline sand from his own bamboo container.

    Rein did not contaminate every single bamboo chute of herbal powder-- that would appear as too suspicious. Investigators would suspect that House Larne was specially targeted if he took such an action.

    He ensured that everything was back in their original position, including the damp towels that he had used to cover his hands. He rinsed the towels to get rid of any potential chance of his lingering aura on these towels. The bucket of water was likely often changed.

    ¡°Aunt Einz?¡± Rekcen¡¯s voice sounded.

    Had the man awakened because of the sounds of water? A drop of sweat rolled down Rein¡¯s forehead.

    He inwardly calmed his rising heart rate. His appearance should be the very same as that attendant.

    He moved beside the bed and checked on Rekcen. Rekcen¡¯s eyes had opened, but they seemed unfocused.

    ¡°My arm is still burning with pain¡­¡± The man moaned, half-delirious.

    Rein relaxed. The man must be drugged up for pain in his healing arm as well. This would be nothing but a forgettable dream, probably. Plus, he had the appearance of the attendant. He simply smiled, and Rekcen closed his eyes again.

    He meticulously examined his surroundings and ensured everything was back in their original positions again.

    He looked back up to that guard tower, and with a light tap, returned atop the roof of the guard tower. All this only took sixty heartbeats. He calmed his thumping chest as he observed the attendant returning. The attendant noticed nothing out of place and began feeding the medicinal liquid into Rekcen¡¯s mouth.

    Did the guard on this guard tower notice anything? Those sixty heartbeats had seemed to pass incredibly slowly.

    He peered below the roof again. The guard was still studying that piece of parchment intently.

    Rein transformed himself into the appearance of a child.

    That night, he would proceed to contaminate many medicinal houses in the city. Tehr Medicinal House, Lonhr Medicinal House, The Restive Pavilion, and more. There were a few he dared not enter, primarily because he couldn¡¯t see a safe spot to teleport to.

    Many of these centers had stone statues with many inscriptions spanning their bodies. Some also had wooden puppets that patrolled and protected the medicine stores. Rein could only contaminate the medicinal stores if he had direct sight into the storehouse, and thus could use his origin ability to enter those storehouses and bypass all defenses.

    He was quite careful with what he contaminated. He made sure to mix the crystalline beastkin core sand with not only the herbal powder that he had seen in Rekcen¡¯s room, but also various random ones.

    If he only contaminated the herbal powder used by Rekcen, that would definitely arouse suspicions. Despite the potential harm brought to others, Rein had to do this to obscure his own hand. He reasoned that the crystalline sand being of low-level beastkin cores should not cause any permanent harm unless one had a serious injury, such as growing an arm like Rekcen.

    As a side note, he felt some joy from recognizing some of these herbal powders. Rein had been studying the vision egg given to him by the alchemist instructor.

    His task done, he returned back through the open window of the brothel, and reattached the fake prison bars.

    Seeing the writhing form of Suey hanging in the air by the ropes, Rein could not resist smacking the minx¡¯s round and firm bum a number of times. Each spank elicited a whine from the blindfolded and ball-gagged woman.

    ¡°MMMkmm, mmm.¡±

    She must be saying welcome back, Rein figured as he removed the ball-gag. Another smack was delivered and the woman squealed in pleasure.

    His alibi was set, his debauchery his shield.

 Chapter 58: A Satisfying Result

    The first day after, Rein went about his business, and though he kept his ears open, he failed to hear anyone speak of anything regarding House Larne or contaminated medicine.

    The second day after, nothing was said again.

    Then a third day passed.

    By now, Rein had started to wonder if maybe the low concentration of the beastkin crystalline sand led to a lack of effect. He only had a single bamboo chute of the crystalline sand from shattered beastkin cores, and had spread this across many locations as the method to confuse any potential investigations.

    Rein sighed in disappointment as he refocused his attention on Blacksmith Rahr. Unlike the many herbs and potential mutations he had to learn under the alchemist instructor, memorizing the names of useful ores and materials was much more straightforward.

    Blacksmith Rahr had begun explaining the connection between weapons and advancer skills. A water art could be inscribed on any type of weapon, but the type of weapon would slightly alter its effect.

    Before Rein and the other disciples under Blacksmith Rahr stood three pillars with a mandarin orange on top of each.

    ¡°Watch,¡± Rahr¡¯s deep voice boomed.

    ¡°Slash intent.¡± He stood at a distance and picked up a sword, performing a slashing motion. A white crescent concentration of aurae flew forth, dissecting the first mandarin into two clean halves, causing the juices of the mandarin wedges to flow down the sides of the pillar.

    ¡°Pierce intent.¡± He then picked up a spear, and performed a stab that sent a pointed concentration of aurae to puncture a hole right through the second mandarin.

    ¡°Blunt intent.¡± He picked up a club and swung, releasing a concentrated block of aurae that smashed the third mandarin into wedges against the wall behind the pillar.

    ¡°All weapons are a combination of these three, and it is up to us as blacksmiths to enable advancers in their methods.¡±

    Rahr picked up a saber and a sword, and angled them such that the fires of the forge glinted off their exquisite blade. ¡°These sharp edges assist an advancer in forming a concentration of aurae to slice through objects. The more curved design of the saber compared to a sword requires a slightly different pattern of aurae release on the part of the advancer.¡±

    ¡°The carrying density and aurae conduction of the material that make up the weapon can also have an impact on this. A quality weapon will allow the blunt aurae block projected to be far heavier and devastating.¡±

    ¡°The inscribed skills are best when matched effectively. A wind-based skill is highly unlikely to go well with a blunt classified type of weapon, and would be far better paired with a weapon that has a blade.¡±

    ¡°Each weapon is a combination of these three types of intents, and mastery of a specific weapon is mastery of that specific combination. A sword is primarily slash, with a medium amount of pierce, and little-to-no blunt. A saber has even more slash potential, but less pierce. A spear is primarily pierce with some blunt. You get the idea.¡±

    Rein attentively listened to every word coming out of Rahr¡¯s booming voice. He understood that quite obviously, such ejection of aurae through the use of a weapon required one to be an outer advancer first. Perhaps a peak shell advancer might be able to forcibly eject aurae in such a manner as well.

    The knowledge revealed by Blacksmith Rahr also helped Rein understand the value of limpite and lumite coins. These two materials used as common currencies were also an important material to distribute within a weapon to increase aurae conductivity. If concentrated on a blade¡¯s edge, it would certainly help an advancer focus their aurae on forming a concentration of slashing type aurae projection.

    He had also come to learn of fictite. That was the aurae conduction material that stood above limpite and lumite, rare as the cloudiest of jades.

    A sudden dangerous whistling of a bird¡¯s screech sounded in Rein¡¯s ears, and he spun his head around! His vision was filled with an approaching stabbing aurae-shelled hand in the form of a bird¡¯s beak.

    Rein immediately responded with a right hook using his durable fist, and he felt a slight sting as he successfully deflected the approaching beak sideways.

    A backward leap and Rein created distance to give himself time to assess the situation.

    It was none other than Larne Beincen!

    ¡°For a shell advancer to sneak attack one of the inner realm. How shameful.¡± Rein barely managed to restrain his glee as he commented pompously. Of course, he knew that this must mean that his attempt to poison Rekcen must have been at least somewhat successful.

    ¡°It was you! I know it was you!¡± Beincen¡¯s howls traveled as far as the moon. The man, now fully encased in a shell, gained the speed of a type of soaring bird and his form looped towards Rein again, only to be met with a concentrated block of whitish aurae that sent him tumbling backwards.

    ¡°Larne Beincen.¡± Blacksmith Rahr roared with a club weapon in his hand. ¡°If you continue your actions, I will no longer provide weapons for House Larne! Not only that-- I might even decide to sell weapons to your rival noble houses and clans for a discount!¡±

    That threat cleared Beincen¡¯s mind, and he came to a fuming standstill.

    Meanwhile, Rein was wondering if Beincen actually had any evidence. Doubtful. Rein knew he had burned the bamboo chute he had used to carry the crystalline beastkin core sand. He had turned it to crisp inside the very forges of Blacksmith Rahr!. The mortar and pestle, he had shattered. He had discarded the shattered pieces into a random stream. The beastkins cores? He had none left, and no one even knew he had any in the first place.

    A few figures flashed into existence within the forge.

    Rein was taken aback as he recognized a few of those faces. Was the situation this serious?

    Overseer Jeahz was there in his primarily yellow Halls robe. Even Baejenh had appeared with Darhge! Rein knew that the Fusion Sect did not see eye-to-eye with the Halls. Well. Rein acknowledged in his heart that he did contaminate quite a number of medicinal houses in the whole of Green Trout City as cover¡­

    A man that Rein could not identify stood beside Overseer Jeahz. This man wore a deep violet robe lined with the typical Halls golden edges. However, he also had two jet-black lines that symmetrically ran down the two sides of his robes.

    ¡°Control yourself, scion of Larne,¡± so ordered Overseer Jeahz.

    He stepped forward and Rein discovered himself immobilized to the spot.

    Blacksmith Rahr brandished the club only to be glared at sternly by the Overseer.

    ¡°Rahr. I will be fair. Do not act impulsively.¡±

    Overseer Jeahz examined the Soak Staff, even forcing the bloodline art upon it to appear.

    ¡°Hah!¡± he scoffed. ¡°What a joke. You said you traded all your mortal belongings for this? A lucky encounter, but that deity played a joke on you. Such simplistic inscribed advancer arts with such a high level defense skill. You won¡¯t be able to sell or trade this weapon for one better with this over-the-top protection.¡± Jeahz displayed his disapproval of Beincen as well. ¡°For you brother to lose an arm for such a weapon¡­¡± A shake of the head.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The sack that Rein carried around was also examined. Rein already knew that there would be nothing.

    ¡°Sir!¡± A man in a full-deep violet halls robe appeared. ¡°Nothing in his cave abode. Just some remnants of aurae infusions he had gotten from the Hall of Treasures, and knowledge booklets.¡±

    If there was one potential source of trouble, it would be the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯. Rein was, in fact, wearing it this very moment! He had it controlled to display his normal appearance. Unless meticulously examined, no one would even know he had a mask on.

    ¡°I must request your assistance,¡± Overseer Jeahz bowed towards Baejenh with fingers hooked. ¡°How accurate is your Heart Probe Art?¡±

    ¡°Accurate enough,¡± replied Baejenh curtly.

    She flashed beside Rein and placed her cool two fingers on Rein¡¯s right wrist. She was cold and expressionless in her snowy-white robes. None would suspect that she had any relations to Rein.

    ¡°Who contaminated the city?¡±

    ¡°Contamination¡­?¡± Rein plastered a confused expression on his face.

    ¡°The crushed sand of demon cores.¡±

    ¡°Crushed sand¡­? Is that collected from the banks of a stream? I¡¯ve yet to come across it under the alchemist instructor. As for demon cores, I have just joined the Hall of Heroes. I am quite unable to hunt down demons on my own for their cores,¡± so replied Rein.

    ¡°Do you have any desire to harm the citizens of Green Trout City?!¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Rein replied while putting on the mask of a muddle-headed man.

    ¡°House Larne?!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ yes,¡± Rein admittedly openly.

    ¡°See?¡± Beincen yelled in fury as he gestured with a pointed finger.

    ¡°Of course he would,¡± snorted Blacksmith Rahr as he bowed towards Overseer Jeahz. ¡°I had thought to let it slide, but Beincen attempted to bribe me into making it difficult for Rein on his initiation day.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Overseer Jeahz raised an eyebrow at Rahr¡¯s words, while Beincen¡¯s mouth was once again sealed shut by an invisible pressure.

    Rein soon discovered himself free to move again. Did he pass the test? It honestly felt odd. Baejenh hadn¡¯t really asked that many questions.

    ¡°Elder Baejenh!¡± A cool and serene voice tickled everyone¡¯s ears. Lyne of Xuere Clan had appeared! ¡°I will provide assistance in the investigation!¡±

    ¡°Overseer Jeahz. I have confirmed that he is not the culprit.¡± Baejenh hooked her fingers towards Overseer Jeahz. ¡°I need to clear out the contamination and provide healing to the people affected. Farewell.¡±

    She and Darhge disappeared, completely ignoring Lyne. Lyne lost her calm composure as she activated a full aurae shell, the form of a black-striped white tiger. She sprinted towards the direction of the Hall of Heroes exit.

    Rein was inwardly filled with mirth. At least, it seemed to him that Baejenh had wanted to escape from Lyne. He wondered if there was an underlying story there.

    ¡°This means nothing!¡± Beincen was unconvinced, and his declaration disrupted Rein¡¯s thoughts.. Rein had a wide-eyed innocent expression as he observed the Larne scion prancing about pulling his hair out.

    ¡°Calm yourself. Supreme Guihnes has already promised you his bloodhounds. Highly effective at tracking the auras of advancers. You should worry far more about the rivals of your house that may have chosen to take advantage of your brother''s current situation.¡±

    ¡°Remember the rules of the Halls,¡± Overseer Jeahz reminded as he left. Beincen could do nothing, and had no choice but to follow. Beincen understood-- he was not allowed to severely injure Rein here. If Rein was to die, it must be in the western wilderness and not here.

    Blacksmith Rahr exhaled in relief.

    ¡°Heart Intent Art. A truly formidable art. The closest art to sensing the truths of one¡¯s heart. I¡¯m surprised you passed it.¡± Rahr patted Rein¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Heart Intent Art?¡± Rein was curious. He had never fully understood Baejenh¡¯s skills. He had thought that the woman was sensing his pulse to determine the truth of his words.

    ¡°It''s rare for one to master this art,¡± explained Rahr. ¡°It is actually an art centered around the concept of detecting the wisps of killing intent in one¡¯s heart. Outward killing intent? Most can sense that. To sense the killing intent buried in one¡¯s heart-- that requires unique talent.¡±

    ¡°For example, if a thief stole a priceless treasure, when questioned, that thief would undoubtedly have a trace of killing intent in his or her desire to protect the possession of said treasure, but it would be deeply buried in the heart.¡±

    ¡°As for a crime such as murder? One might think detecting killing intent to be pointless. Not so. It is said that Baejenh can detect the fluctuation in intensity of killing intent. A murderer should, in theory, restrain the killing intent in his or her heart to hide their crime. With the right probing questions, that killing intent will fluctuate, and Baejenh would successfully determine the truth of the matter, so it is said. Though, if one was outright murderous in terms of action, there would be no need for this art,¡± Rahr laughed uproariously.

    So, that was how it actually worked. Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder if his own killing intent fluctuated, and Baejenh had intentionally covered for him. Or¡­ was it perhaps that he had made no attempt to obscure his desire to sever Beincen¡¯s string of life, and thus his killing intent did not fluctuate?

    Rein thought of his first encounter with Baejenh outside the east walls of the Green Trout City. His understanding of that encounter had changed with Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s explanation. Rein now understood that those questions might have been to probe for his killing intent. It made sense. He imagined that for most humans, repetitive probing of a sensitive issue would evoke a tinge of underlying killing intent, which could be subsequently further provoked to determine truth.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    In the Larne Mansion.

    ¡°How is my son?¡± The Larne Patriarch stood beside the unconscious supine Rekcen. The originally wrinkled arm that had been progressively getting better? It was now a deformed with lumps and various beast furs sprouting everywhere.

    ¡°Larne Patriarch.¡± A man in a verdant green halls robe with two symmetrical jet-black lines said. ¡°I have already explained to Beincen of our assessment. He was the one who informed us of this issue before you came out of seclusion.¡±

    ¡°We will have to ¡­it¡¯s highly unfortunate. But we must¡­ remove this arm, then cleanse his body of the contamination. As for regrowing the arm again¡­ it is unlikely for that to be possible.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± The Larne Patriarch began pacing back and forth, very nearly attacking the Halls healer for his devastating words. ¡°You mean to chop off his arm and turn him into a cripple?!¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Larne.¡± The Halls healer had no fear-- he is protected by the Halls! ¡°You surely understand how it works. When one reaches the telekinetic realm, they construct a soul within their body, and that soul is imprinted with the physical information of the body. It is why telekinetic advancer are capable of reforming their physical bodies even if ¡®killed¡¯. ¡°

    ¡°We reformed this arm of your son by drawing on this hidden potential that all of us have the capability of developing. A secret art passed down the ages. However, we cannot keep performing such healing arts. We already drew on your son¡¯s potential such that his body would regenerate this arm. If we attempt to do so again, his future will become limited. Far better for him to train hard and reform his own arm upon becoming a telekinetic advancer¡­¡±

    All this, the Larne Patriarch knew. He himself was an outer advancer, and had long developed a degree of understanding towards the next realm. Yet¡­ when would his son even reach such a realm? Centuries? Or perhaps even never?

    ¡°Patriarch!¡± An attendant prostrated. ¡°Supreme Guihnes have sent a pack of aura bloodhounds!¡±

    ¡°We will find this¡­murderer yet!¡± In the Larne Patriarch¡¯s eyes, whoever did this might as well have murdered his son¡¯s future!

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    In the Garden of Rapture.

    This was Supreme Guihnes residence, a private area carved out for his position in the back of the Hall of Heroes¡¯ mountains-- a peak belonging solely to the supreme.

    Supreme Guihnes¡¯s appearance was a handsome man with flowing golden-brown hair. He had a pale face with high cheekbones and slanted eyebrows. His chin was sharp and his jaw angular, giving him a well-defined face of nobility.

    One might think it ridiculous that such a man would bow his head. Yet even in his own residence, he had to, for before him stood Overseer Jeahz!

    ¡°Restrain yourself, Supreme Guihnes. I doubt it would amount to much, but you should not have lent your bloodhounds to House Larne.¡±

    ¡°Overseer. It is my mistake, but may I ask why?¡± Despite his bowed head, Guihnes slow and deliberate voice indicated that his bowed head was but an act of subservience.

    ¡°I have a task for you.¡± Overseer Jeahz cared not for Guihnes attitude. He understood that many supremes would sooner or later, climb above his station.

    ¡°See this?¡± Overseer Jeahz¡¯s hand revealed a piece of jade with a single strain of cloudiness.

    Guihnes widened his eyes as he raised his head.

    ¡°Benicen used this to bribe the combat instructor Puhnz. House Larne must have ancestors in influential positions within the Great Sects. I want the jade mine.¡±

    ¡°The Allfather has already given the word,¡± Overseer Jeahz continued. ¡°If you can capture this mine, your whole clan will be allowed to leave this lowly realm and ascend to a better world. Your position will rise.¡±

    Supreme Guihnes widened his eyes at the news. This was his chance. He also was not just a supreme for no reason-- he had to beat out quite a few nobles repeatedly to rise to this position.

    ¡°Then¡­ ¡° His eyes brightened in epiphany. ¡°You wish to use this¡­ man named Rein to draw out the location of said mine?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Overseer Jeahz smiled. ¡°Rein should have the bloodline of a fiend. If he can survive in the western wilderness¡­ sooner or later, these hidden ancestors of House Larne will act. You understand what you must do then, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Overseer!¡± Supreme Guihnes stood tall.

 Ch59: A Distraught Larne Scion

    Beincen felt like the heavens were working against him. Supreme Guihnes had given him a pack of aura bloodhounds, and he had successfully bribed a Halls¡¯ members to nip off a corner of Rein¡¯s jacket, giving the bloodhounds a target to track.

    Despite all this, he constantly met deadends due to the current circumstances.

    He had taken the aura bloodhounds into the healing room for his brother, Rekcen. His father and mother, both similarly enraged having learned of their second son¡¯s inevitable one-armed life, stood next to him as they led the pack of aura bloodhounds.

    The aura bloodhounds picked up no aura scent of Rein in Rekcen¡¯s room. The primary issue was that the healing room was and remains filled by many medicinal materials, and many herbs and their powdered form was effective precisely because of the strong aurae they carry. The leakage along with the medicinal scent made it difficult for aura bloodhounds to identify anything.

    At least, that was why Beincen believed the aura bloodhounds to have failed to pick up Rein¡¯s aura scent here.

    His mother opted to watch over Rekcen as Beincen and the Larne Patriarch took these bloodhounds to the various medicinal houses that had been contaminated. Once again, the aura bloodhounds were useless for the very same reason. Moreover, the many medicinal houses served thousands of customers everyday. Rein¡¯s scent would have been covered up even if somehow, the medicinal aroma was less dominating.

    In reality, it was far more than that. Although Beincen could not fathom it, Rein had simply spent too little time in any of these medicinal houses to leave behind much of a scent. Then when these many herbal containers were used by the staff and customers over the past few days¡­ Rein¡¯s aura scent had all been scattered.

    The other issue was that there was no trail. Of course there was none-- Rein simply teleported to and fro that night!

    It was at the Tehr Medicinal House that the Larne bumped into Elder Baejenh and Xuere Lyne. Lyne had only ever treated him as an acquaintance, but Beincen always thought that once the Larne became a Clan, she and the Xuere would consider him a serious suitor. Given his talent, this should happen in a few years once he rises in strength to a mid or even upper shell advancer.

    Granted, a prince of the ruling Dingien Clan wished for Lyne¡¯s hand. Normally, it would be difficult to reject such a proposal, but the nobles knew the current King to be in dire health. Many clans and houses had to take a position on which prince to support. The Xuere Clan could easily reject this prince¡¯s proposal and declare their support for another.

    Regardless, ever since that incident where he was fooled by Suey into playing with her flower, Lyne no longer even acknowledged his presence! In Beincen¡¯s mind, this was that bitch¡¯s fault, and by extension, Rein¡¯s fault as well!

    That was precisely why Beincen was certain Rein had a hand in this incident!

    ¡°Elder,¡± Beincen greeted Baejenh. He could remember this advancer having overseen this city since he was ten. ¡°How goes the investigation? The bloodhounds are unable to detect Rein¡¯s scent within the medicinal houses. Nor were they able to pick up his aura in any of the surrounding streets.¡±

    ¡°Beincen, young scion of Larne.¡± Baejenh scoffed. ¡°Perhaps if your focus was not fixated on Rein, you would have already identified the culprit who sought to hurt your house.¡±

    On noticing the Larne Patriarch trailing Beincen, her tone softened. ¡°Multiple medicinal houses were contaminated with finely grinded-down grade one demon cores. They had no specific target and contaminated a bit of everything, spread across the medicinal houses.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost as if¡­¡± Baejenh furrowed her brows in contemplation. ¡°As if a devil had infiltrated the city and sacrificed his captured demons to pull this elaborate prank.¡± Her mind was ever on the safety and stability of this city that she had been placed in charge of. It was not entirely uncommon for devils to enslave weaker demon beasts and sacrifice themselves.

    ¡°Luckily, this contamination was identified early on,¡± she continued. ¡°The Xuere Clan even sent out their healers to assist the early treatment of the affected individuals. It was a great help.¡± She smiled at a prideful Lyne to her side.

    ¡°All-in-all, only a few elderly mortals already in critical condition passed. The others had only been contaminated at most for a day or two, and will fully recover.¡± This news would reach Rein in a few days. When it did, he could only sigh with regret at his own weakness of being unable to openly stand against House Larne.

    An attendant ran in at this moment. ¡°Patriarch and Scion Larne. I¡¯ve looked into Rein¡¯s movements these past few days. He always brings a slut to the brothel. The deacon in charge of keeping an eye on the brothel stated that she had to give Rein well-encased rooms due to the slut¡¯s loud squeals and screams.¡±

    ¡°How inappropriate.¡± Lyne now glared at Beincen with disdain, eliciting a flinch from the man. ¡°To look into such private matters.¡± Her words weren¡¯t just targeted at Beincen. She had a distinct memory of Rein and the--in her mind-- corrupted Suey behaving like a shameless woman before her!

    ¡°Follow along and you¡¯ll see my fruits of labor,¡± Beincen declared with confidence. To him, this was a chance to increase his favorability with Lyne. Once the bloodhounds pick up and follow the aura trail from the brothel, it would surely lead to some revelation!

    They soon entered the brothel hidden in a corner of the plaza before the Hall of Heroes. The pack of aura bloodhounds began barking excitedly, and they were soon led to the dungeon room that Rein had repeatedly used the last few nights. It costed a small amount of contribution points to rent a room, but Rein still had some left from his efforts on that first night, and had opted to use this place as cover.

    The pack of bloodhounds lingered an extra heartbeat at the windows of the dungeon room. Beincen urged them to continue tracking Rein¡¯s path, and was bouncing about excitedly.

    He would soon be disappointed. The pack of bloodhounds led them back to the Halls entrance¡­ and back to the brothel¡­ and back to the Halls, again and again. If Rein knew of this, he would have to restrain his laughter. There was no way for the bloodhounds to follow his path since he had used his origin ability, and across rooftops at that!

    ¡°We just need to drag them here and we¡¯ll know the truth!¡± Beincen was desperate. This was effectively his last lead on Rein. Without any confirmed evidence, he would have no choice but to swallow his pride and beg those hidden ancestors in the Great Sects for help in the western wilderness! It would be far less costly to get rid of Rein now!

    Luckily, he had the assistance of Supreme Guihnes.

    A few strings were pulled and Rein was forced to leave the hazy valley area of the alchemist instructor. He discovered that Suey, too, had been ordered to come to the brothel. The sex kitten arrived later than him, clearly having gone to change into a more, as she put it, ¡®easy access¡¯ outfit.

    Rein ran his eyes up and down the slender frame of his kitten. By now, he knew that Suey loved her knee-length skirts with high open side-slits. The current white skirt that she wore only stayed on with a thin string tied into a simple knot above her left hip.

    As she approached, the high slit opening effectively teased the eyes of all present with her gleaming toned long legs on platformed open-tipped white heels.

    As for her ample and perky breasts? They certainly weren¡¯t as large as the most busty courtesans within the brothel, but they very much filled Rein¡¯s palms full and were perfect for her slender frame. These were barely contained in a flimsy white frontally-knotted short-sleeve crop top. It was quite obvious she wore nothing else underneath.

    Even the somewhat experienced and composed Larne Patriarch nearly lost control of himself as Suey strutted to Rein¡¯s side, every step threatening the exposure of her bouncing tits.

    ¡°Kitten.¡± Rein wrapped his right arm around the woman, ensuring that his hands caressed her whole toned midriff. After a few nights, Rein had quickly discovered that Suey absolutely loved having every finger of her body handled with a mix of forcefulness intermixed with gentleness. As for the term ¡®kitten¡¯? Rein had tested many names for Suey, and discovered that she loved being called his kitten the most.

    His left hand roughly squeezed her left thigh before teasingly tracing up to brush the flower between her legs,before reaching for the simple knot on the left of her white skirt. A single pull and this skirt would drop to the ground, exposing her vulnerable cherry to all those present.

    Rein tugged at the string dangerously, and Suey offered no resistance, only pressing herself against his body, further accentuating her cleavage tantalizingly to those before her.

    Rein looked down into his kitten¡¯s eyes, which contained a combination of pleading and lewdness. Suey knew it was inappropriate, but Rein suspected that the minx might very well climax if he were to truly pull the string and undo the knot¡­ Rein had come to know he was very much a beneficiary of whatever Suey had endured within her future visions.

    ¡°This¡­ this licentious couple!¡± Beincen stormed, filled with fury at the behavior of these two-- no, he already hated Rein to the core. He simply lost control of his anger that he had restrained due to the Hall of Heroes¡¯ regulations.

    Worse still¡­ Beincen¡¯s own crotch was rock hard, in the presence of Lyne. When the Larne scion glanced at Lyne, he noticed that she took a quick glance at his crotch and looked away in disgust.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± the Larne Patriarch cleared his voice with a cough, his mind coming up with a devious plan. ¡°Such a wanton display is but a show,¡± he claimed. ¡°We will need to examine the whore to know if she was simply paid to play this role!¡±

    ¡°Larne Patriarch.¡± Baejenh frowned as an iciness emanated from her. Clearly, she was about to lose control of her advancer powers and had begun to freeze the surrounding air. ¡°This is highly inappropriate.¡±

    ¡°So this is the Larne Clan.¡± Lyne further stabbed icicles into Beincen¡¯s heart with her soft words.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Rein¡¯s mind was whirling like a carriage¡¯s wheel. To him, this felt like an opportunity. Ever since Suey¡¯s explanations, he was burdened with the task of ensuring that Suey would be ready for whatever disastrous future that might befall her.

    ¡°I do not mind,¡± he declared with confidence. ¡°However, I believe Patriarch Larne should leave. It would not do well if the Larne Matriarch was to learn of such an observation. Having the scion of Larne, Beincen, observing this, should be enough.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Beincen. I will put my faith in your report.¡± The Larne Patriarch left the dungeon room.

    Both Baejenh and Lyne widened their eyes at Rein¡¯s words. Baejenh had never seen this side of Rein, while Lyne was simply in shock at Rein¡¯s willingness to allow his opponent, Beincen, to run his eyes over Suey.

    ¡°No¡­¡± Beincen tentatively said. He suddenly had a feeling that if he stayed, he would further fall within Lyne¡¯s eyes. ¡°I believe I should leave as well. It is highly inappropriate fo--¡±

    ¡°Nonono,¡± Rein interjected. ¡°House Larne suspects me-- that is understandable. I believe it is important that someone of standing within House Larne, such as you, observe this. Otherwise, you won¡¯t recognize that I have been thoroughly advancing my strength while coming to the brothel for leisure, and continue to accuse me of nefarious deeds.¡±

    ¡°Give them a good show, my kitten,¡± he said. With that, Rein suddenly yanked on that string, and the knot easily came undone, and the white skirt undulated in the air as it dropped to the floor.

    As Rein expected, the sudden exposure to the cool eyes of Lyne and icy expression of Baejenh sent the minx to a climax. Rein had to hold Suey up by her shoulders as the woman embarrassingly gyrated her hips while she moaned in ecstasy at her exposure.

    ¡°We will soon know if she is but an actress, as the  Larne Patriarch claimed.¡± Lyne stepped forth with a hardened expression.

    Lyen expressionlessly and unskillfully stuck one finger into Suey¡¯s honeypot. Then a second. Suey began grinding her hips.

    ¡°Stop, you crazy slut!¡± Lyne frostily ordered.

    ¡°Do as she says, kitten.¡±

    Suey could barely control herself to remain at a standstill as Lyne inserted a third, and then a fourth finger.

    ¡°By Xune¡¯s spear¡­¡± Lyne was in shock. She had never encountered such a situation. She had discovered her whole hand could fit within Suey¡¯s honeypot. ¡°This slut is so¡­ stretched¡­¡± Frankly, she did not wish to perform such an examination, but she rarely had the chance to earn Baejenh¡¯s favor.

    Elder Baejenh had been her idol since young. When she chased after Baejenh to question why the elder did not take to her, the criticism was that she, as the scion of Xuere, simply lacked the experience for hardship in this world.

    To his surprise, Rein discovered that he was now being undressed by invisible hands. Elder Baejenh simply waved her hand around, pointing her finger here and there, and his black jacket and trousers were undone and thrown to the side.

    ¡°Confirmation is needed,¡± she expressionlessly stated.

    Invisible tendrils caressed Rein¡¯s manhood, and it soon rose to full mast-- Rein had to admit, he never thought that the powers of an advancer would be used in such a way. And he never expected Baejenh, a supposed outer advancer of the Fusion Sect, to examine him in such a manner. It was even possible that she was actually a telekinetic advancer-- it would not surprise him if the isolated Chenhr and Master Yirn had outdated information. As such, Rein remained perfectly still.

    ¡°By the fallen gods¡­ it¡¯s a match.¡± Baejenh examined the lumpy and ridged tool between Rein¡¯s legs, comparing it to Suey''s loose honeypot.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you trained in a vitality-based body tempering art. It is said that those trained in such arts become as tall as eight to nine feet,¡± commented Baejenh as she approached Rein. To be accurate, Rein¡¯s body-tempering art was more than that, for it also contained the destruction from his internal draconic lightning.

    Elder Baejenh examined Rein head-to-toe. It was true. This man had grown a hand taller already. From her accumulated knowledge under Fusion Sect, she knew that body-tempering arts related to vitality always cause the advancer to increase in size-- in all aspects. Well, in Rein¡¯s case, there was also the draconic metamorphose bead¡¯s influence, but Baejenh did not know that.

    ¡°A closer look is needed. Stay still,¡± Baejenh ordered.

    The Fusion Sect Elder gently ran her fingers, meticulously assessing the knot and ridges of his engorged manhood in a matter-of-fact manner. She then paused for a few heartbeats, before blowing a cold but not uncomfortable breath at his tip, which very nearly caused Rein to burst like a crumbling dam.

    Meanwhile, Rein noticed that his kitten was now lying flat on the ground with jealousy in her eyes. However, those eyes soon glazed over. The normally cool and cold Lyne seemed to have lost control. She was filled with outrage, directed towards what she viewed as an embarrassment to her sex.

    ¡°You fucking slut,¡± she muttered into Suey¡¯s ear while twisting her wrist, causing her whole hand inside the minx¡¯s honeypot to rotate. ¡°I thought to provide assistance to you and your response is this immoral display?! Is this what you want, hmmm? For your own sake, you should tighten your holes! Otherwise most men would lose interest the moment that they see these¡­ lascivious lips!¡±

    Suey writhed in another wave of ecstasy.

    ¡°Lyne, control yourself.¡± Baejenh said. ¡°Go and examine Rein. I have previously mentioned that the advancer world relies on one¡¯s power and strength. In the western wilderness, as you know, there will be no overarching power to save you if you were to fall. This rule is truer than ever in both the heavenly and hell realms, above and below!¡±

    Lyne listened to her idol¡¯s words and to Beincen¡¯s shock, she stood before Rein. She took a sharp breath and reached forth, a hand on the underside of Rein¡¯s dragon, and another cupping his family jewels.

    ¡°Lyne. Do you understand?¡± Baejenh¡¯s icy voice continued preaching in the background. ¡°This young man named Rein is but an inner advancer, yet to even break into the shell realm and become a demi-god. Imagine if a man like him was an outer advancer. Or a telekinetic advancer. Imagine if said man was drawn in by your beauty. Imagine if this man had no principles and decided to capture you for his own purposes.¡±

    ¡°Male advancers, of course, can also come under such a similar situation. However, such unprincipled female advancers are far less in numbers, and most of them are usually in the devil faction.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Elder Baejenh,¡± Lyne replied.

    ¡°Now, blow a few breaths of air at this dangerous man¡¯s rod,¡± Baejenh ordered.

    Rein¡¯s eyes widened. He had already been brought to the edge by the cold and expressionless Baejenh earlier!

    He gazed at Suey. The kitten bit her lips in jealousy and yet, Rein could see anticipation in her eyes. She really was unconstrained.

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t!¡± Beincen intoned on the side, yet Baejenh had positioned herself such that this scion could not interfere.

    ¡°Go ahead, Lyne,¡± Baejenh ordered again.

    ¡°Yes, Elder!¡± Lyne replied. She pursed her lips and released a wave of cool air that caressed Rein¡¯s manhood, and his suffering dragon writhed in pleasure. Rein breathed a sigh of relief as he successfully resisted the sensation. Honestly, he had no desire to decorate Lyne¡¯s face-- that would likely bring the Xuere Clan¡¯s anger upon him.

    He looked down at Lyne, who had kneeled before him to perform this action. He had to admit, he was amazed in that the normally cool jade beauty seemed to have transformed. She seemed almost¡­ proud.

    Lyne took another light breath and once again sent currents that assaulted Rein¡¯s sensitivities. She now had a playful grin, witnessing the uncontrolled twitching of Rein¡¯s manhood.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­¡± Rein muttered, discovering that for once, he fully agreed with Beincen¡¯s opinion.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lyne pursed her lips again then coldly stated in a stern voice. ¡°I think not. You ruined that woman¡¯s mind after all.¡±

    Rein almost sputtered out that it was Suey who had thrown herself at him. Yet, he could not reveal her precognition abilities!

    Lyne exhaled again, and this time, she daringly touched the surface of her lips onto the tip of Rein¡¯s manhood as she sent air curling around the intimidating tool.

    Rein knew he was doomed. Lyne was wanted by many suitors of noble clans. That thought only made it worse.

    ¡°Twelve hells,¡± He muttered, before panting in fear as he lost control and painted Lyne face the color white.

    How did this happen? Rein did not understand why Baejenh had used Lyne¡¯s worship of her to do this.

    Lyne could not even see properly with her eyes covered in a gooey liquid, momentarily shocked at having this occur to her.

    ¡°Even a man who does not desire it, when pushed, can lose control. I can say with certainty that dear Rein here has no desire to make enemies of the Xuere Clan, or with your many other suitors. And yet, he could not control himself. Do you understand, Lyne?¡± Baejenh continued her preaching and with a wave of her hand, much of that white fluid froze and fell off Lyne¡¯s lovely face. ¡°Do the rest yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Elder Baejenh.¡± Lyne did so and then sat down into a meditative posture.

    Suey began cleaning Rein¡¯s manhood, but Rein had lost his composure, and quickly dressed himself.

    ¡°Are you trying to kill me?¡± Rein glared at Baejenh.

    Baejenh only raised an eyebrow expressionlessly, before striding towards Beincen, who had fallen onto his bum in disbelief.

    ¡°Larne Beincen,¡± Baejenh intoned as she placed a white platform boot onto his engorged crotch. ¡°None of this will leak out. Or you understand what might occur to you, hmmm? Out of all present in the room, only you would have the incentive to leak this information.¡±

    Beincen might be of House Larne, but Baejenh was of Fusion Sect, the current ruler of Fusion Ream! If he were to even speak a word of this to anyone¡­ He could only nod.

    Meanwhile, Rein felt a concentration of aurae gathering around the meditating Lyne. His eyes opened in astonishment. Was Lyne having a breakthrough? A moment later, it was confirmed as the Xuere scion stood up, brimming with joy.

    ¡°You¡¯ve reached the upper shell realm. Well done. You comprehended.¡± Baejenh said. ¡°The comprehension in the shell realm revolves around how to exercise your power. When you fully understand the various aspects of your own strength, only then, will you be able to form aurae tendrils and safely influence the world around you.¡±

    Rein had to admit. He was gobsmacked.

    ¡°And this¡­ s-- wanton woman?¡± Lyne asked, curious of Baejenh¡¯s assessment of Suey.

    ¡°She has chosen another path. We all have different paths, and they can all be used depending on the person¡¯s needs and willingness to risk the consequences of such paths.¡±

    ¡°Larne Beincen.¡± Elder Baejenh turned to the stationary man still in disbelief on his bum. ¡°There is no evidence of Rein having acted. He has clearly spent his time in this brothel¡­ performing acts of debauchery that cannot be spoken of. Now, take your bloodhounds and leave.¡±

    The stunned man could only stumble onto his feet and leave the room. When his father questioned him, he only stated that there was no evidence, but they had to get rid of Rein and a ¡®bitch¡¯ in the western wilderness.

    Baejenh and Lyne also soon left. Rein felt rather odd. Lyne seemed to have transformed somewhat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she monotonously said as she left. ¡°I won¡¯t pursue matters pertaining to today.¡± She then pursed her lips slightly before leaving.

    Rein sighed as he embraced Suey in his arms. ¡°Elder Baejenh spoke of many paths. What is yours, kitten?¡± He was attempting to introduce levity to their stressful situation.

    ¡°Why, of course!¡± Suey replied seriously instead. ¡°I did not realize it previously but I never bothered to retighten the precious passage between my legs.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve always known deep in my heart¡­ that I want you to utterly¡­¡± she brought her lips to Rein¡¯s ear. ¡°Ruin me for other men.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite an obvious solution really!¡± She beamed as her hands discovered Rein¡¯s hardening crotch, feeling relief that the man liked her approach. ¡°If in all those possible futures in which I do not die, I get captured and turned into a sex slave¡­ then the most obvious solution is to turn myself into an¡­ unsellable woman. Obviously, I still want to, well, look good on the outside.¡±

    ¡°But imagine. Who would even bother selling or buying a sex slave with her tunnel loosened to the limit? My only concern is that you would abandon me after marking me in such a manner. But perhaps your body-tempering art will ensure that I remain pleasurable for you¡­¡±

    Rein suddenly realized that he might just have discovered the first use of a future draconic metamorphic form¡­ That would be a worse case scenario.

    How had the day turned out this way? He could only sigh. Perhaps it¡¯s his fate to encounter these half-mad women.

 Ch60: Peering into the Mind of the Allfather

    Rein had thought that this incident would cause Beincen to return the next day with renewed vengeance. That did not happen. Instead, there was not even a hint of Beincen¡¯s shadow within the Hall of Heroes!

    At the end of that week, when the team gathered to remain in touch with one another, Chirh informed Rein that Beincen had entered seclusion to train. Rein now understood that this was just the calm before the storm. Lyne¡¯s actions had made Beincen a far more dangerous foe.

    The benefit of this was that Rein no longer had to worry about potential harassment from this specific noble, at least until he entered the western wilderness.

    Rein soon achieved major success in the red draconic lightning body-tempering stage, and his whole body had increased another five percent or so in size. That decreased the tempering process to a snail¡¯s pace, seeing as the red lightning now only tingled Rein¡¯s flesh.

    He began trying many different approaches and soon discovered one-- immersing himself in a small tub of water. He forcefully and repeatedly ejected a hint of his red draconic lightning into the water, an exhausting task for an upper-inner advancer.

    However, he persisted, and eventually, the water contained a concentrated charge that assisted him in maintaining a reasonable progress with his body tempering. He alternated between this bucket and a thick wooden aurae bamboo forest in the Halls¡¯ mountains.

    As for why he still remained as an upper-inner advancer? His focus was on the body-tempering art for now. He also needed to maintain his cover-- if he were to become a peak inner advancer too quickly, that may raise suspicions. Those that join this branch of Hall of Heroes are meant to be dreamers struggling to absorb aurae, after all.

    Once he had adjusted to his increase in strength from reaching major success with the red draconic lightning, he felt it safe to test out the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ skill he had previously gotten from the Pavilion of Arts.

    No one had ever successfully executed this skill before. Those that had attempted, including the creator itself, had fractured their own legs in the initial activation of said skill.

    The creator¡¯s notes in the booklet had mentioned his inspiration from observing a tree frog, which supposedly could leap fifty times its own body length with only its physical powers. Beastkins are born with much higher physical abilities, and as such, no one has been able to further develop this skill. Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder how many years this skill might have languished in the inner advancer section.

    The thought of further developing this skill came from the spring lady that he still occasionally visited. Many advancers did not bother on developing unique arts, simply opting to adopt well-established advancer arts. The benefit of doing so meant that they had a well-tested and well-explored advancer art. The downside was that all arts had certain weaknesses. A well-known advancer art? That meant many would know its weaknesses.

    With regards to the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ art, Rein imagined that some advancers must have built upon some scaled-back version of it. It should be possible for a body-temperer to use a version where the aurae circulation and imitation was adjusted to reduce the leaping power to only ten times the body length, instead of fifty times.

    However, that would severely weaken the art, since every additional stage of the skill in shell, outer and above would be built on top of the weakened inner stage of the art.

    Rein was confident, but still felt some anxiety as he circulated his aurae into the veins, muscles and tendons of his right leg. Though one might think the skill¡¯s name meant to leap with two legs like a tree frog, that was but a misconception. The skill imitated the power generated from a frog¡¯s legs and could be used on a single leg.

    In his cave abode, Rein took a deep breath and activated the art in his right leg.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± He swore as his vision spun in the air while his body was like a shooting star, crashing into a cave wall. His body did not stop. The cave wall shattered and Rein found himself tumbling into someone else¡¯s cave abode!

    His half-senior brother Chenhr was not wrong. Rein had to admit to himself that he sometimes failed to think things through. He had activated ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ in just one leg, thinking to test out a short leap. He was sent spinning. Rein now realized that even if he only wished to push off on one leg, he needed to provide some support with the other leg while tightening his frame to stabilize the body.

    He stood up gingerly and was relieved to find that his leg was still very much intact. He bounced up and down to check his right leg-- he estimated that he could probably perform this with full power quite a number of times, likely continuously for a minute straight before exhausting himself. If he slightly lowered it, or performed this skill sporadically, he would last much longer. However, he could not lower it too much-- the aurae circulation would require change, and the art itself would no longer be the same if he did so.

    The cave wall had been thoroughly shattered, and the inscribed patterns dimmed. The defense had failed to prevent his tempered draconic body, supported by the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, from punching through.

    A woman¡¯s yelp sounded behind him, and Rein turned his eyes to discover an unacquainted naked lady covering herself as she peered out from the shower room.

    ¡°I apologize, noble lady.¡± Rein could only cough and come up with an excuse. ¡°Someone attempted to cause trouble with me and the wall¡­¡±

    He sheepishly stepped through the hole and returned to his own cave abode, before putting on his gray Halls robe.

    ¡°Miss¡­ I mean-- o great watcher, I need a bit of help with my cave abode¡­¡±

    He only heard the clucking of a tongue, before a magical scene filled his eyes. The pieces of stone flew into the air and perfectly fitted back together to form the wall. The inscriptions lit up again, before disappearing into the wall as hidden protection.

    ¡°Rein. Do not test such skills in your quarters,¡± the watcher said through Rein¡¯s hood.

    ¡°As you say.¡±

    News of this incident spread like wildfire. The lady of that neighboring cave abode had accused Rein of being a pervert attempting to break into her cave abode to peek on her. What could Rein say? He wasn¡¯t about to reveal that he had achieved initial mastery of the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯.

    Suey seemed overjoyed though, now visiting Rein on most nights.

    ¡°I¡¯m all yours and none of these women should set their sights upon you!¡± was what she said while bubbling with mirth.

    Lately, they have been playing a game. Rein¡¯s ever strengthening physical body placed Suey in a precarious situation when they engaged in their debaucherous acts.

    The minx had to wrap her incomplete watery shell art around her thighs and lower waist to protect herself against Rein¡¯s pummeling. She claimed that this was her ¡®favorite¡¯ method of ¡®training¡¯. As the night progressed, that water shell would soon begin flickering before eventually shattering into a thousand pieces.

    Rein would relentlessly attack her completely vulnerable pleasure tunnel for a few dangerous and powerful thrusts, eliciting squeals that rose to the heavens, before playfully lambasting the kitten for giving in so easily.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Suey would eventually respond with various phrases stating that she had yet to give up, that she would not allow just anyone to ¡®have their way with her¡¯, and reactivate her incomplete shell defense.

    On a night, Rein had somewhat lost control after Suey could no longer maintain her water shell protection, bringing the minx to a body wrecking release as she, clearly having given in, begged coquettishly for more.

    That next morning, the woman collapsed when she attempted to walk, while clutching her crotch with a wince.

    Feeling somewhat guilty, Rein fed his kitten a vial of wood aurae that he still had. He was not a healer, but he knew that wood aurae was beneficial to all in recovering their vitality and mild injuries. Luckily, Suey did rapidly recover after demanding Rein to feed her the wood aurae liquid using his mouth...

    ¡°I¡­I never knew from those visions that you could strengthen your body to such a stage¡­ ¡° Suey muttered as she licked her lips. ¡°I need to find a body-tempering art or I might die in bliss¡­¡±

    Rein himself wished to find such an art suitable for Suey, but he remembered none suitable for her in the Pavilion of Arts. He would have to slightly hold himself back in the future, especially if he reached the perfect stage of the red draconic lightning stage¡­

    One day, Rein discovered that another noble was working against him-- Supreme Guihnes. Having gained perfect control over the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ art in a secluded area at the back of the mountains, Rein had returned to the Pavilion of Arts to seek out more skills. He wished to learn some methods related to assassination, very much aware that his origin ability was perfect for such acts.

    He did not have the right to look at more inner advancer arts, but mortal arts are free and readily available to all.

    He was, however, blocked by a sky blue-robed middle-aged man.

    ¡°Rein of the inner realm. By Supreme Guihne¡¯s command, you are not allowed to enter,¡± he stated.

    ¡°Why¡­?¡± This was the first time Supreme Guihnes had directly acted against him!

    ¡°No reason,¡± this minor keeper replied in a harsh tone.

    Then , Rein¡¯s savior appeared-- Duzkr.

    ¡°Rein is under my tutelage,¡± Duzkr said. ¡°You have no right to block his progress. Mortal Arts are available to all.¡±

    ¡°Supreme Guihnes has given his orders. As such--¡±

    ¡°Watcher! I seek your judgment!¡± Duzkr intoned in an ephemeral projected voice that rang in Rein¡¯s ears.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use. Supreme Guihn--¡± The man suddenly discovered his lips sealed.

    Rein watched in shock as the sky-blue robes of the man lit up in golden flames and the minor keeper screamed as he tried to remove the robe. Yet, the robe had a life of its own, tightly wrapping itself around the man like a gigantic python, its fire burning the man to ash in a short five breaths.

    This was the first time Rein had seen the Halls robe used in such a manner. In order to benefit from the powerful protective inscriptions on the robes, Halls members had to wear this robe most of the time. That also meant that the watcher could pass judgment on all at any time she so desired!

    Rein left the Pavilion of Arts with skills relating to flying daggers and flitting needles. He would not be able to use these skills unless he had a large number of weapons to discard. However, these might become increasingly useful in the future if he were to survive until the outer advancer realm, or gain knowledge of more poisons.

    As he returned to his cave abode, Rein was surprised to find the watcher engaging him in conversation.

    ¡°Rein, of the fallen merchant House Hehr. Do you wish to know why that minor keeper was burned to his very soul?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Rein wasn¡¯t sure of how to reply and could only listen. ¡°Yes, I do, respected watcher.¡±

    ¡°I speak to you, as I see potential. However, that potential can only truly be proven if you survive the western wilderness for many months.¡±

    ¡°That man was executed , for he failed to resist the coercion of Supreme Guihnes. This is the Allfather¡¯s will. Those who truly become one of us must understand the Allfather¡¯s will.¡±

    ¡°These are his words. Those who fail to resist coercions must be removed from the Hall of Heroes. A woman who gives in to fear and engage in sexual relations with a powerful man? Such a woman cannot be trusted as a partner or a wife. What man would truly trust such a woman?¡±

    ¡°The opposite, too, is true. A man who gives in to fear easily will undoubtedly perform acts of betrayal, even if unintentionally. Such a man cannot be a trusted husband either, nor a friend.¡±

    ¡°How harsh¡­¡± muttered Rein. ¡°We humans can learn, no?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. However, that minor keeper has been with us for decades. If he has not learned by now, he never will.¡±

    ¡°But consider this, Rein. If a friend of yours cave to the pressure of an influential individual and reveal critical information on you and those close to you, thus leading to their harm or even deaths¡­ would it matter if this was the first time this¡­ ¡®friend¡¯ gave in to coercion?¡±

    ¡°The Allfather has lived for many years, encountered many men and women, of various races. He has stated that a woman who cannot resist coercion, especially those of the most intimate acts-- it¡¯s almost guaranteed that such a woman would give in to lesser demands, harming those around her including her children.¡±

    ¡°He has been betrayed by those he thought brothers, traitors who caused the deaths of millions of humans due to their fear of demons in an age where the demons were dominant.¡±

    ¡°I have seen some women who do so to protect their child¡­¡± Rein muttered a retort.

    ¡°Hah!¡± The lady watcher only scoffed. ¡°Some of you men have too much of a softness for women. Tell me, Rein. Would you prefer to endure hardship with your mother, or would you rather she sacrifice herself to such demands?¡±

    Rein knew the answer. He himself would be willing to endure¡­

    ¡°You know the answer, Rein. Harm is not just physical, but also mental. A child under such a woman is highly likely to grow up mentally scarred, making it difficult to comprehend the truth of the world, and rise in their advancer realms. Those children that might have worse childhoods yet they endured alongside their unrelenting mothers and fathers? Steel in their hearts!¡±

    ¡°We cannot be shortsighted. We must be unyielding to each other in the Hall of Heroes. That is how we rose and overcame the dominance of demons and the wickedness of devils! These are the principles of the Allfather.¡±

    Rein processed the watcher¡¯s words. Although he had never met the Allfather, he could already glimpse into the being that he must be. He imagined that if he entered the same room as the Allfather, the very will of the Allfather might crush him to his knees.

    ¡°And¡­ Supreme Guihnes¡­?¡± Would the watcher punish him for the act of coercion? That was Rein¡¯s query.

    ¡°All beings that have gained any degree of strength and influence will undoubtedly exert pressure on others to shape the world around them,¡± the watcher stated.

    ¡°Mothers and fathers might threaten others to give more benefits to their children. Merchants, pulling whatever levers they have to gain more profit. Elders in sects, attempting to apply pressure to competitors, for their own relatives and favored disciples¡¯ benefits.¡±

    ¡°This is the nature of the world. Even a mindless low level beast will growl to protect what it views as its turf.¡±

    ¡°It is the role of the weak to accept losses and search for another doorway to rise to the top. Or cave and become the powerful¡¯s thrall. And so the cycle goes, as the Allfather has preached across eons.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for this knowledge.¡± That was all Rein could say. For the watcher to speak of the Hall of Heroes¡¯ principles to him-- that meant he had likely entered their eyes.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    In a hidden room within the Hall of Heroes labyrinth.

    ¡°How is that young man with the suspected fiend bloodline?¡± Overseer Jeahz asked the white-halls-robed woman beside him. This woman sometimes wore gray robes and played the receptionist in the Hall of Heroes entrance.

    ¡°We have long lost the ability to understand the various levels of the fiend bloodlines. It is said that back in the ancient era, the fiends had clans, and when two fiends of the same bloodline met, their bloodlines would resonate with each other, and those of weaker bloodline would find themselves feeling subservient.¡± the watcher said. ¡°We do know he is capable of executing that abandoned complete ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯.¡°

    ¡°At least a top-end fiend bloodline then¡­ It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve felt such excitement.¡± Overseer Jeahz began stroking his goatee in a frenzy.

    ¡°However, the young man doesn¡¯t seem to fully resonate with our principles,¡± the watcher frowned. She was always the first to reach out to those of high potential. The ones that became key members of the branches she had overseen, always accepted her words with a sort of zeal that she had failed to detect in Rein.

    ¡°Worry not. He is young and will understand once he sees the treachery of the sects. You and I both know that during the celebratory ceremony for this batch of initiates another week or so, the Great Sects¡¯ representatives will come with a vengeance. They cannot take Supreme Jensure¡¯s head, and they have reservations due to the origin user Xeeseir¡¯s skill. Rein will be their primary target, and their actions will only sway this young man to our beliefs!¡±

 Ch61: Beginning of the Ceremony

    Rein further strengthened himself in those two remaining weeks. To his surprise, many did not bother too much with dueling to make gains on the rankings board. It made sense-- its rewards are actually miniscule compared to mission completions.

    Still, Rein, knowing the approaching conflict with the Great Sects, requested many on the team to spar with him. The varied abilities of the different members raised his battle sense rapidly.

    Xeeseir forced Rein to be very careful when using the inscribed arts on the Soak Staff. Chirh taught Rein the frustrating difficulty of chasing an opponent who only knew how to run. Wilo taught Rein the necessary focus to continuously dodge multiple flying needles. Dahk taught him the scenario of an all-out aggressive brawl.

    As for Suey and Jory¡­? These twins were quite troublesome. They always started off rather serious, and their long bronze whips would force Rein to experience the feeling of being kept at bay by a longer-ranged weapon. Yet, those spars, sooner or later, would devolve into flirtation. Suey was the source, giving in to ¡®defeat¡¯ while blinking coquettishly.

    The celebratory ceremony for the batch of initiates Rein belonged to soon arrived.

    The ceremony was hosted at the very same plateau where the battle over the ancient relic occurred.

    This location was intentionally selected by the Hall of Heroes in provocation against the Great Sects, who had lost that battle along with a revered outer advancer of the Convergence Sect.

    Rein recalled his conversation with Supreme Jensure. Supposedly, that elite¡¯s name was Dunzkr.

    The Hall of Heroes, every quarter, with every new batch of initiates, would host this ceremony. They would invite all major factions, but what they prioritized the most was the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountain Ranges.

    Rein had long come to his understanding of the reason for this.

    The Great Sects were borne out of those exiled by the Minhr Nation centuries ago. Now their strength threatened the nation¡¯s clans, yet these Great Sects were important for resisting the demons and devils of the western wilderness. As such, the Minhr Nation accepted the intrusion of the Hall of Heroes and placed them here in the northwest corner of the nation.

    Rein suspected much more though. He knew that the Zoh Empire to the east was not always like it was now. It used to be very much as politically messy as the Minhr Nation, until the appearance of the Hall of Heroes subdued them into a place where seven sects ruled eternally, and the clans stood at the top of these seven sects.

    This historical point meant one thing in Rein¡¯s mind. This branch of Hall of Heroes might be interested in removing the Great Sects altogether. With the Great Sects removed, the Minhr Nation might fully cave in to the Halls¡¯ every whims and desires, begging for them to take on the role of defending against the western wilderness!

    Thus, this celebratory ceremony was actually a show of force, where advancers from the Great Sects would spar against the members of the Hall of Heroes.

    Rein had overheard some Hall of Heroes members discussing this. Generally speaking, the Halls always had an advantage in the shell and outer realm, but would always suffer in the inner realm. That made sense-- the members of the Halls who successfully enter the shell realm or above must either be important members of clans, or have survived the baptism of the western wilderness. Their inner advancers, on the other hand, are mostly rejects with unearthed gems.

    As Rein traveled towards the plateau, he could feel his blood boiling, but it was not because of the impending battles to come. Instead, the cause was the minx to his right side-- Suey.

    The male advancers of the inner realm cared not for looking presentable for this ceremony, but it seemed that many of the inner female advancers had opted to dress up. Rein understood-- it was quite possible that many would not return from the future missions, and this would be the last chance for any sort of fun. Rein had already seen many dressed in flowing gowns of intricate patterns.

    As for Suey¡­ this kitten of us was as audacious as ever. She had chosen to put on an ice blue halter neck backless mini dress with an incredible deep-V neckline. Her breasts were each supported by only a single flimsy strap, these straps around two fingers wide.

    Rein could not control his eyes as he glanced at the sides of those tits that spilled out from the support of those thin straps, bouncing and very nearly falling out of their support every single step.

    The woman¡¯s nipples were hard as diamonds, her arousal visible to all through the material. Rein met Suey¡¯s eyes, and the woman was thoroughly reveling in his attention.

    Beyond that, the dress was barely at a length below her crotch, and thus the bottom of her round and firm buttocks spilled out as well.

    At least she wore tight half-boots¡­ Still, Rein wondered what the woman would do if she was challenged to a duel. Perhaps many women avoided these duels using their beauty.

    ¡°More¡­my celest¡­¡± Those words from Suey loosened Rein¡¯s inhibitions. Rein discovered his own crotch was in heat.

    He was originally only stroking the minx¡¯s exposed back. He pulled her to the side behind a thick tree trunk, and began running his hands all over her bare skin.

    With her flimsy dress, it was rather easy for him to slip his hands under the material and manhandle every part of her body. Suey twisted and writhed under his touch with wanton abandon.

    It was at this moment that another couple stumbled into the very same area in the forested area, their tongues in each others¡¯ mouths and their hands roaming across each others¡¯ bodies desperately.

    Rein widened his eyes. The handsome man and beautiful woman both had dark hair and eyes, dressed in tight robes with the sigil of two lovebirds.

    The man soon noticed Rein and Suey, and yet he continued caressing his partner. Rein was encouraged and he, too, continued his manipulations of Suey¡¯s flesh, and the two women¡¯s whines filled the forest air.

    ¡°I¡¯m Aizen, Harmony Sect. This is my partner, Yuynan.¡± He had a friendly grin and suggested, ¡°Care to trade?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± This was rather common fun of mortal merchant houses. Rein also recalled Suey demanding he ¡®train¡¯ her.

    ¡°Give me a show, kitten,¡± Rein ordered Suey. Suey bit her tantalizing lips and nodded.

    The other woman seemed excited as well.

    ¡°Strip each other,¡± Aizen ordered. Rein already felt closer to this man.

    Suey and Yuynan circled around each other in sync, before sharing a sloppy kiss. Suey was the first to untie the sash holding Yuynan¡¯s Harmony Sect robes, unveiling a porcelain slender body. Yuynan had a similar body to Suey, but her breasts were a tad smaller on top of a taller frame.

    Yuynan untied Suey¡¯s halter neck and rolled her dress down, biting down onto the minx¡¯s nipples and eliciting a squeal. ¡°Ooo, sensitive~¡± giggled Yuynan, and the two fully naked women moved on to their new partners.

    The two men soon found themselves conversing while resisting the attacks from the others¡¯ women.

    Both men had their own difficulties maintaining the thread of their conversation. Suey was leaking drool while displaying her throat¡¯s expertise. Rein discovered that Yuynan had a unique talent. Her tongue was like a snake¡¯s split into ends while having the increased length and flexibility to wrap around his manhood!

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°So, who are you? We of the Harmony Sect support all kinds--¡± Aizen had to pause and prevent Suey from continuing her actions with his hands, not desiring it to end so soon. ¡°...kinds of lovebirds!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Rein, and thisss¡­ is Suey.¡± Rein himself nearly lost control when the two ends of the woman¡¯s tongue lashed his two family jewels at the same time.

    ¡°Hah!¡± laughed Aizen. ¡°So you are Rein. The Great Sects have turned you into an absolute villain. You¡¯re supposed to have an aggressive intimidating aurae with horns coming out of your head!¡±

    ¡°Oh, honey Yuynan,¡± he added with mirth. ¡°You¡¯re pleasuring the currently most hated villain of the Great Sects!¡±

    ¡°Oh no~¡± Yuynan whispered innocently in a high-pitched voice as she gave Rein a small break. ¡°But this cock is just so lumpy and tasty~¡±

    All this time, Rein maintained eye contact with Suey, while Aizen¡¯s eyes remained locked with Yuynan¡¯s.

    The two women increased their intensity and very soon, both men lost control of their manhoods and watched as their women swallowed the other¡¯s seed lasciviously.

    The two men now sat an arm¡¯s length from each other on a fallen tree trunk. Suey had returned to Rein, Yuynan to Aizen. Both women had chosen to lie on their back across their man¡¯s thighs. Rein held down Suey with one hand on her tender neck, while his other hand began a fingering frenzy on the flower between her legs. Aizen did the same to Yuynan.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have much hostility towards me?¡± Rein asked.

    Aizen laughed again. ¡°Hardly. We of the Harmony Sect are quite different from your average sect. Frankly¡­ We and the Demon Taming Sect-- we¡¯re both somewhat looked at with distaste by your average sect.¡±

    Both women stuck up their crotches into the air lewdly as they arched and climaxed with lovely squeals. Both men continued their finger manipulation, very much in agreement to not allow their women any rest.

    ¡°Oh! Why is that? I am actually quite curious, friend.¡± With how their fun was going, Rein had already developed a feeling of closeness to Aizen. Aizen felt the same.

    ¡°Well. You know the orthodox sects and the devil sects. Most consider the Harmony Sect and the Demon Taming Sect to be something in between. We of the Harmony Sect are also unique in that it is difficult for us to find members.¡±

    ¡°Our advancer arts require pairs to work, and it¡¯s quite rare to find a couple willing to risk using such arts. You never quite know if your partner will stay with you for centuries, you understand? So, the two of you¡­ if you are such a couple and wish to visit our sect, we are certain to welcome you and even share some of our advancer arts!¡±

    ¡°Now, as for why we¡¯re considered something in between¡­ The reality is that many of our Harmony Sect¡¯s arts have a long history of being bastardized and misused. Despite our attempts to control the spread of our arts, some have gotten into nefarious individual¡¯s hands, even devil hands. These people bastardize our advancer arts, to sometimes consume the energies of the opposite sex, or even train aurae ¡®cauldrons¡¯ to be drunk by other advancers.¡±

    ¡°As for the Demon Taming Sect¡­ they have a different kind of struggle. Many advancers often develop feelings with their subdued demon beasts over time, especially if the demon beasts under them begin to metamorphosize into a human.¡±

    Rein felt something within his heart calling out to him at this juncture. He had long recognized this feeling as a vision calling of the dragon Gent¡¯s will within the draconic metamorphose bead. He was rather confused as to why this conversation had triggered a vision.

    ¡°Even recently,¡± Aizen whispered agitatedly, ¡°One of the Demon Taming Sect members eloped, wishing to live forever in bliss with her demon beast as partners. She was caught and executed by the Great Sects, of course. She was a good friend¡­¡±

    ¡°Mercy, my celest~¡± Suey¡¯s body was twisting and turning, assaulted by many simultaneous releases. Rein ignored her struggles as he firmly locked down the twitching minx and continued delivering an endless pleasure with his fingers.

    ¡°How¡­ horrendous¡­¡± Filled with curiosity about Aizen¡¯s claim that the Harmony Sect might offer advancer arts, Rein further asked. ¡°By any chance, do you have an advancer art that could help my kitten better receive my tool down her throat?¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡± chortled Aizen as he glanced at Rein¡¯s intimidating dragon. ¡°The Water Ripple Dissipation Tempering Art should fit your requirements. However, you might need to win the approval of my leader. That art is quite useful.¡±

    ¡°I will have to give you my thanks ahead of time.¡± Rein was overjoyed. He had been rather concerned that Suey would suffer injuries if his body¡¯s physical strength kept rising. Just by the name, he imagined that this tempering art dissipated force and was water-based, which seemed quite compatible with Suey.

    ¡°Friend,¡± Aizen continued. ¡°There¡¯s also the Snake Tempering Art, which transforms the body and offers specific and unique changes, unlike the generalized Water Ripple Dissipation Tempering Art. This is how Yuynan here got her split tongue capable of delivering untold pleasure, along with a flexible body capable of mesmerizing undulations.

    The two women were finally sent into an all-consuming pleasure as fountains burst from between their trembling thighs

    A blaring horn sounded in the distance, signifying the beginning of the celebration. Rein pulled the glazed-eye Suey back to her feet and placed her back into her skimpy dress.

    Rein hooked his fingers and bowed to thank Aizen.

    ¡°New friend.¡± Aizen clucked his tongue in warning. ¡°The Great Sects have prepared body-temperers to dominate the inner realm this time. They have also used some unique advancer art to lower experienced shell advancers down to the inner realm, with desire to heavily kill or injure you. If you survive, I hope we will meet again at the Harmony Sect!¡±

    Suey was tottering about unsteadily, and her tits repeatedly fell out of those thin supporting straps due to her stumbling movement.

    Rein roughly mauled those lovely tits as he helped them back into those straps. Suey whined and moaned repeatedly and began teetering about even more exaggeratedly, desiring Rein¡¯s hands on her body. This was seen through and Rein had to give her a hard smack on the bum to set her straight.

    ¡°Be serious,¡± he sternly glared.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be a very distracting body for your enemy~¡± Suey stated confidently with a wink.

    Upon reaching the plateau, Rein¡¯s eyes came upon a raised platform where all the leaders of the major factions sat. They all had maloewood cylindrical stands next to each seat, filled with delicacies. These maloewood cylindrical stands had many humans battling demons and devil motifs carved throughout their bodies.

    He instantly recognized Supreme Jensure, Overseer Jeahz and Elder Baejenh. As for the others, he recognized the imperial robes of the Dingien Clan, those of the Convergence Sect as well as the Harmony Sect. However, there were quite a number of leaders that Rein could not identify.

    ¡°You¡¯re late. Is it because of that toy?¡± The rather dissatisfied voice of the watcher sounded in Rein¡¯s Hall of Heroes hood. Indeed, the center arena already has two advancers in combat. Judging by the lack of aurae clouds around their bodies, they must be inner advancers.

    On his approach, many heads simultaneously turned towards Rein, many of them filled with hostility. Yet, many of these eyes were also distracted by Suey to his side, who despite having regained some ability to walk properly, had one of her breasts slip out of the flimsy strap¡­

    Though slightly red in the face, she still daringly met eyes with those figures, arching her back to tease these hostile gazes before slipping her breast back under the strap of cloth.

    Rein rejoined their inner advancer team, the other members having long arrived and together watching the current spar.

    Rein sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, welcoming the calling within his heart! He had the time to view this vision while the others battled on stage.

    His vision was filled with a scene that became increasingly clear.

    He once again inhabited Gent, and was flying forward at breakneck speeds in his muddy-scaled dragon form. Alongside him was another serpentine dragon, and when Gent looked up, Rein discovered that Gent and the other dragon were carrying the feet of a god!

    ¡°There!¡± The God above hollered.

    Gent and this other dragon changed directions, and they weaved through many white clouds that parted to the sight of two very different bloody beings, both as large as the battle god on top of Gent. One appeared somewhat humanlike, except he had sharp ears and an extra pair of arms. The other was a red-skinned being. Both were bleeding out of their orifices, at death¡¯s door.

    ¡°Gent and Auromirrar. Finish the Asuran. I will deal with the traitorous God. Yuahxin! For you, a God to conspire with an Asuran to create a lovers¡¯ art¡­ I sentence you!¡±

    Meanwhile, Rein, as Gent, opened his jaw and bit off an arm of the barely resisting red-skinned humanoid.

    ¡°You dragon traitors! It is we Asurans who created you!¡± The Asuran yelled in exasperation. ¡°Yuahxin¡­¡± The Asuran woman suddenly activated some sort of crimson glowing magic and sped towards Yuahxin, who now had a battle axe lodged in his chest.

    ¡°Do not hesitate, Gent and Auromirrar! The Asurans dared not give you intelligence, desiring to only use you as completely obedient slaves. That is why we Gods gave you intelligence, for you to have a mind and conscience!¡±

    As Gent, ¡®he¡¯ was invigorated and alongside Auromirrar, sped forth and cooperatively tore the Asuran into two halves!

    Then the vision faded.

    When Rein opened his eyes, he only felt befuddled. He did not understand the point of this vision. He had no frame regarding the forces in an ancient era¡­nor did he know which point in life Gent might be at during this scene. It must have been early on, when magic was still undeveloped.

    When he raised his eyes from his thoughts, he saw the Great Sect advancer, with a forceful shoulder tackle, knock the current Halls advancer out of the ring.

    A woman overseeing the arena raised her arm and declared, ¡°Uni Sect, victory. Next challenge?¡±

    A man similar to Rein¡¯s age stepped forth. ¡°I, Munzkr, of the Convergence Sect, do hereby challenge Rein, Hall of Heroes!¡±

 Ch62: Dueling Convergence Sect advancers

    Conv-Munzkr. Those who joined the Great Sects abandon their original family name, and take on the name of the sect. Still, it was obvious that this man, Munzkr must be related to the fallen outer advancer Dunzkr from the Convergence Sect. It was rather common for families to name their descendents in a similar way.

    ¡°Rein,¡± the watcher sounded in the hood. ¡°Due to the current unique circumstances, the Halls have a mission for you. You will be awarded five thousand contribution points, the equivalent of a black star mission.¡±

    Rein felt his heart thumping in anticipation.

    ¡°Use this opportunity to truly ignite a war within the Great Sects. The Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains are a total of eight. They are led primarily by Convergence Sect and Uni Sect. The secondary sects are made up of the White Lily Sect, Sun Sword Sect, One Formation Sect, and Pill Ignition Sect. The remaining fringe sects are Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect.¡±

    ¡°Your mission? These eight sects do not see eye-to-eye. Convergence and Uni Sect have been butting heads for decades. The Sun Sword Sect has staunchly stood behind Convergence Sect, while One Formation Sect has supported Uni Sect. Now, Convergence Sect has lost Dunzkr. Take advantage of the discordant situation. Push it to the brink. Kill their talents and upset the balance of power. We will prevent any interference from the sect representatives.¡±

    Evermore, Rein felt that the Halls¡¯ message of hunting demons and devils to not be entirely accurate. At least, to him, it seemed as if the Halls were very interested in the Great Sects being in turmoil.

    ¡°The Great Sects interfered and cost lives when we retrieved the ancient relic from the west. They clearly do not support our objectives.¡± Rein had to restrain a chuckle. Even now, the watcher sought to justify this mission.

    No matter. As long as he achieved his personal goals eventually.

    ¡°I will do my best,¡± Rein replied confidently. Playing mind games? A common trait of all merchants.

    Initially, Rein would not have participated in such a conflict. His original plan was to silently join the Hall of Heroes and quietly build a reputation from completing missions. However, he had to defend himself when Dunzkr, an outer advancer, had targeted him on the battlefield that night.

    Well, what happened has happened. Now, some within the Great Sects wanted to take his life, primarily because they could not target the main culprit, Supreme Jensure. Rein knew he would be hunted once in the western wilderness. But, if the Great Sects had an internal crisis, then he might face less retaliation. That was why he agreed to the mission, even if he might make many more enemies in the long run.

    The best method was to kill as many Convergence Sect talents as possible. This should upset the balance of power. Then, the next question was, should he attempt to kill the man named Munzkr that now stood before him in the arena¡­

    No¡­ Rein decided this for a simple reason-- if the Great Sects were targeting him, this first man must be feeling out the situation, and should not be an important talent.

    Already, he could see a few other men and women lining up on the side, ready to follow after Munzkr. Some of those should be valuable targets. He should lull them into a false sense of security.

    Rein picked up a bronze staff that was completely clean with no inscriptions, and removed his Halls robes. The rule of no inscribed armaments had long been implemented-- it was to prevent those of deep background from abusing their significantly better weapons during duels.

    ¡°Begin!¡± The female host announced. This female advancer belonged to the Fusion sect, judging by the sigil of five interconnected stars on her robes. They must have been identified as relatively neutral despite occasionally contending against the Hall of Heroes.

    ¡°How about a bet?¡± Munzkr sneered provocatively while brandishing a bronze sword. ¡°If I win, that woman of yours belong to me!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Rein played along. ¡°Very well. But who¡¯s your lover? For this bet to be fair, your lover will become my woman upon my victory, no?¡±

    He could see no sign of any woman that seemed intimately interested in Munzkr¡¯s impending battle.

    ¡°Unless you don¡¯t have one? You are of the Convergence Sect, right? Perhaps one of your fellow disciples can offer theirs up for the bet.¡±

    ¡°Unnecessary! Only half-shod disciples bothered with dueling the Halls in the past! Not this time!¡± declared Munzkr.

    Rein could see that a small group of women on the side appeared rather disgruntled by their conversation. On observation of their sect sigil, he identified them as members of the White Lily Sect. He quickly came to a conclusion that this was an all-female sect. His mind spun and came upon a chance, though he was beaten to the punch.

    ¡°You silly~¡± Behind him came Suey¡¯s coy voice. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the weaker one of your group, little Munzkr? Your brothers would surely beat you in a duel¡­ so perhaps if you win¡­ I might as well belong to one of your seniors~¡±

    Rein could see a vein clenching in Munzkr¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°Ohh wait nevermind¡­¡± Suey added with a giggle. ¡°Who¡¯s your sect leader? I might as well become his since he would beat every single one of you in a duel!¡±

    Rein could not resist a smile. Perhaps he and Suey had begun their interaction in a debaucherous manner, but since then, he discovered a ferocious element within the woman that had a habit of appearing at the right moments. It amused him to no end.

    The group of women from the White Lily Sect also had smiles on their faces.

    ¡°Shut your mouth, bitch!¡± Munzkr felt enraged with embarrassment. ¡°The Patriarch is a telekinetic advancer! It would be--¡±

    ¡°Oh dearie~¡± Suey patronized in a soft voice. ¡°Aren¡¯t you, yourself a shell advancer? Yet, here you are, in the inner advancer ring¡­¡±

    ¡°I limited my strength¡­¡± Munzkr replied lamely. It was an open secret that Rein was being targeted.

    ¡°How about this,¡± Rein interjected. ¡°The bet can still be on. However, since you don¡¯t have a lover to make the bet fair for me, one of your seniors must offer one of theirs. If I win, I will offer her up to the White Lily Sect.¡±

    Rein was attempting to take a shot in the dark. If the Convergence Sect stood at the top¡­ he wondered if any of its men had ever targeted the female members of the White Lily Sect. The White Lily Sect shouldn¡¯t be directly interested in a conflict against him. Perhaps his words would ignite some historical bad blood between the two.

    Munzkr¡¯s response was to charge at him with his bronze sword. He had no desire to continue the trading of words, concerned that he might accidentally anger one of his seniors.

    In a few blows, their weapons already broke. Weapons with no inscriptions lacked magical reinforcement, especially with lower grade materials. Convergence Sect had sent forth someone who had tempered their body, since this was an advantage in the inner realm, where most advancers are unable to fully expel aurae up to their skin. Rein, too, had tempered his body. As such, those bronze weapons broke, and the two men could only rely on their fists.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Rein knew that his draconic body along with its unique tempering art, only possible with draconic lightning, was one of a kind. However, he wasn¡¯t completely sure how it measured up against the tempering arts of the Great Sects.

    He had contended against Xeeseir, who had tempered his body as well extensively. Upon reaching major success in the red draconic lightning stage, Rein only needed fifty percent of his strength to overpower Xeeseir physically. Xeeseir had claimed that his tempering art was a hard-earned unique art.

    Rein began with but thirty percent of his physical strength.

    The two simultaneously struck each other in the chest, and Rein easily stood his ground while Munzkr was sent stumbling backwards by ten feet.

    The skin of his body seemed to undulate in a pattern similar to the hypnotic circles of the Convergence Sect. Rein¡¯s keen mind soon understood the opponent¡¯s art.

    The Convergence Sect practiced advancer arts that relied on the concept of amplifying their strength through combining multiple waves of power. The body tempering art of its members must rely on some sort of concept where its flesh and muscle cooperate to gather strength in waves.

    Rein grinned. An interesting concept. Yet, what would happen if he struck multiple times in succession with no rhythm? Rein had come up with this idea based on his understanding of disrupting the flow of water ripples.

    He lowered his strength to twenty percent, and began a flurry of fists with no particular rhythm. Initially, Munzkr kept up with the flow, but the undulating flesh of his body soon seemed to ripple with a disorganized pattern. The man must not have mastered the tempering art of the Convergence Sect. Rein suddenly raised his strength to forty percent. The skin upon Munzkr¡¯s body began breaking and the man was sent tumbling out of the arena with blood leaking out of his whole body. Rein had yet to even test out his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ skill¡­

    ¡°Victory. Rein of the Halls.¡±

    Rein had allowed the battle to drag on, hoping to draw better advancers into a lull-- his goal was to earn favor with the watcher by removing the more talented seniors of Munzkr.

    ¡°Nunzkyr.¡± A beautiful female advancer from the Convergence Sect stepped forth. Rein widened his eyes. He initially thought to avoid killing for a few rounds, but this was the perfect opportunity.

    Based on his understanding of human nature, Rein knew that many men had an instinct to protect women, especially a beauty. If he were to take this woman¡¯s life¡­ it should enrage the following advancers from Convergence Sect. He might easily take a few more lives due to their rage-filled carelessness.

    A hook of the fingers and the second battle began.

    Unlike Munzkr, Nunzkyr immediately wrapped parts of her body in an aurae-skin. She wasn¡¯t breaking the rules-- peak inner advancer are capable of wrapping around fifty percent of their body in an incomplete aurae shell. Munzkr simply did not have the time to do so once Rein began his onslaught.

    Her mouth opened and she began a series of screeches with the aurae skin around her throat forming a half-complete art.

    Rein found his ears ringing as he was stunned by a sudden crescendo in his ears. Then the red draconic lightning within his body responded and reawakened his mind! He barely reacted in time to block one of  Nunzkyr¡¯s fists that made him fall back a single step.

    He had to admit, he was surprised. He had assumed that only outer advancers could perform such ranged attacks, but now he understood that was not the case. Nunzkyr had attacked with sound to stun his mind. Sound was something that even a baby could make, and Rein¡¯s guess was that the Convergence Sect had an art that allowed its users, even their inner advancers to create some sort of sound that would converge and amplify to stun their opponents.

    Luckily, the red draconic lightning in his body also had a protective mechanism. Not that his toughened body would suffer much anyway.

    Rein¡¯s guess was that this art would be significantly more potent if used by an outer advancer, who should be able to integrate their aurae directly into the sound waves.

    With this woman now so close, Rein quickly recovered and a flurry of fists began.

    ¡°How is this possible? How could he recover so quickly? Our sister has the highest mastery of the Convergence Scream amongst us!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s also faster! She already has the strength of fifty stones among the top of body-temperers in our sect!¡±

    These words affirmed Rein¡¯s desire to take the life of Nunzkyr. If the Convergence Sect were to lose such a talent¡­

    No longer hesitating, Rein lowered his body, gathered strength in his legs and performed the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ skill!

    The concrete blocks of the arena cracked as his body shot forward like a meteor. His shoulder crushed Nunzkyr¡¯s chest and shattered her ribs and lungs, who could not react to the exploive ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ skill in time.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± yelled a man on the side as he charged forth, but he was too slow.

    Nunzkyr was now pinned to the ground by Rein¡¯s weight, and the woman broke the rules in a bid to salvage the fight, wrapping her whole body in an aurae skin as she attempted to activate a shell realm art, believing that she still had a chance if she could use those more powerful arts..

    Rein did not afford her this luxury as he activated his full strength. With a rapid number of fists, Rein repeatedly hammered the already breathless Nunzkyr¡¯s head against the ground.

    Nunzkyr lost her focus, her head vibrating under the aurae skin. In just two breaths, her aurae skin shattered. Her expression was one of disbelief at Rein¡¯s strength of flesh, and she did not even have the time to concede as Rein¡¯s fists splattered her brain matter across the concrete!

    The Fusion Sect representative flicked her sleeves, and nonchalantly sent the approaching enraged man back to the side of the arena. A few attendants dragged the corpse of the woman off the arena.

    ¡°These fights were negotiated to be life-and-death struggles, unless one concedes or rejects the challenge outright. This is Rein¡¯s victory.¡± Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder where Fusion Sect stood with the conflict between the Halls and the Great Sects.

    As for conceding mid-fight¡­? One had to have the time to concede. Rejecting a challenge? Some fearful Halls members had, in fact, already been doing that. However, it is always a loss of face for those who did so, and such members are usually punished.

    Rein himself had considered simply rejecting every challenge, prior to being given the mission by the watcher.

    The remaining Convergence Sect members fumed, especially the men.

    At the front table overseeing the whole event, a man dressed in Convergence Sect stood up in anger, only to find the Overseer Jeahz was also on his feet.

    ¡°Was this not the agreement, Sect Leader Xunzkr?¡± Overseer Jeahz casually wondered. He knew Dunzkr was a son of his. Nunzkyr? Probably his grandchild. Sect Leader Xunzkr¡¯s eyes narrowed and an invisible force sent the platform vibrating.

    ¡°Calm down,¡± Jeahz scoffed. He, too, was a telekinetic advancer. He raised an eyebrow and the vibration dimmed to nothing. Sect leader Xunzkr was forced to sit back down with a harrumph.

    The man that had been sent back by the Fusion Sect member overseeing the duel stepped forth again.

    ¡°I  am Conv-Runzkr! I challenge that woman beside Rein!¡± The man was seeking revenge by targeting Suey, no doubt.

    ¡°I reject the challenge,¡± Suey replied with an innocent smile. She cared not for demerits from the Halls as a result of rejecting such a challenge. Only Rein knew-- she did not join the Halls to gain opportunity within it. At least, if her words are true¡­ she was here to well¡­ capture him, one could say.

    And this ceremony was no official competition.

    ¡°This is highly inappropriate,¡± commented a leading woman of the White Lily Sect group observing this arena. Suey must have earned her favor with her earlier words. ¡°You Convergence Sect pigs are repeatedly challenging Rein with desire to kill, and you all are even shell advancers claiming to limit your strength in these duels.¡±

    ¡°Yet when defeated, you seek to drag another on the side in? As shameless as ever!¡± She spat at the ground while her sisters nodded. One of them appeared to be glaring hatefully at another man amongst the Convergence Sect group.

    The watcher¡¯s words were right. The members of the Great Sects must have long had disagreements. Rein was not surprised at all-- judging by their behavior, Reini honestly believed that some of these elites within the Great Sects behaved no differently to Beincen of House Larne.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± An invisible pressure suddenly brought everyone around the inner advancer arena to their knees.

    ¡°Now, now. Calm down, Sect Leader Xunzkr. These were stated in the rules. Lyne is also of the noble Xuere Clan!¡± Overseer Jeahz¡¯s voice echoed over the plateau and the pressure was lifted.

    Rein widened his eyes. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t the only one given a mission. Lyne was said to be the most talented of the current shell advancers in the Halls. Did she receive such a mission too? She must have taken the life of a peak shell advancer belonging to the Convergence Sect.

    Unbeknownst to Rein, Runzkr now received a telekinetic message from his sect leader.

    ¡°Runzkr. Use your shell advancer arts to kill the target, Rein, immediately. I have received assurance from the Fusion Elder Baejenh that the Fusion judge will not interfere!¡±

 Ch63: Convergence Sect Arts

    The female judge clapped her hands and a thick dome fed by aurae tendrils wrapped itself around the arena, locking in Rein and Runzkr!

    Elder Baejenh did not only order the judge from the Fusion Sect to not interfere upon Runzkr breaking the rules and activating shell advancer power against Rein in a supposed inner advancer battle. She also ordered the outer realm judge to lock in the two young advancers!

    Overseer Jeahz immediately flew into the air from his seat, only to be blocked by Convergence Sect Leader Xunzkr.

    ¡°Are you truly capable of blocking me?!¡± He growled. He had reached the mid-telekinetic stage. ¡°You are just a lower-telekinetic advancer. Step aside or suffer the consequences!¡± He did not actually care about Rein-- what he cared about was using Rein to draw out the hidden House Larne advancers in the Great Sects!

    ¡°And what if I block your path as well?¡± Elder Baejenh, too, hovered and obstructed Overseer Jeahz¡¯s path.

    ¡°Are you not meant to be neutral? So you showed your real nature finally,¡± Overseer Jeahz sneered as he placed his hands behind his back, helpless. The watcher, however, should arrive soon! She, too, was a telekinetic advancer. That would change the tides.

    ¡°Who says I¡¯m not being neutral?¡± Baejenh smiled as she asked mysteriously. To Overseer Jeahz, she was simply attempting to enrage him with these words.

    Within the now domed-off arena, Runzkr had already covered his body in a layer of earthy aurae, fully engaging his shell advancer arts.

    ¡°Rein,¡± he scoffed. ¡°You are a dead man. No one can save you now. You may have taken the life of that cousin of mine. But my sect leader has many children and grandchildren. And I am the best of them! The true strength of our convergence tempering art can only be shown when used alongside the accompanying shell art!¡±

    The earthly brown aurae layer pulsed, sending multiple aurae waves to concentrate towards Runzkr¡¯s right fist and left leg. The pulses converged as Runzkr pushed off his left leg and punched with his right fist!

    That focus of power gave Runzkr an explosive acceleration towards Rein.

    Rein had no time to dodge and could only react reflexively, as he raised a left arm to block the fist with his elbow.

    He could feel his flesh and bones creaking as he was sent stumbling backwards, and was forced to slightly twist his body to dispel the force from Runzkr¡¯s fist.

    He had to admit, he was intrigued. He wasn¡¯t about to just stay passive, and soon responded by activating ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, pushing his body forward as he swung a fist.

    ¡°See my lovely tits~¡± The sound of Suey¡¯s flirtatious voice sounded.

    Runzkr¡¯s eyes seemed distracted by something, and he failed to block Rein¡¯s fist! Rein¡¯s full-powered fist struck Runzkr square in the chest, and it was his turn to be sent stumbling backwards like a drunk man!

    ¡°Look at the scar on her face! That will help you stay focused!¡± A woman dressed in the Convergence Sect robes shouted to Runzkr.

    Rein threw another punch, but Runzkr had no fear as he successfully blocked with a left elbow. This time, Rein was shocked to discover that on blocking his fist, a pulse traveled from Runzkr''s elbow towards his right arm¡¯s fist!

    That pulse combined with other pulses, concentrating a thick cloud of aurae around Runzkr¡¯s right fist. Runzkr returned this fist, and this time, Rein was sent flying before crashing into the dome formed by the judge. Runzkr shell art had the ability to absorb Rein¡¯s punch and combine it with other pulses to strengthen Runzkr¡¯s attack!

    ¡°This is the end!¡± Runzkr declared arrogantly.

    ¡°Look at this lovely sight!¡± Suey sounded again. Rein had no time to contemplate what the woman was trying to do. Runzkr¡¯s eyes retained its full focus-- he was clearly not falling for any more tricks.

    Runzkr was now up close before Rein. Rein blocked the first fist, and was surprised to find it not all that powerful. He blocked a second-- another weak fist! Then the third fist struck, and although Rein blocked it properly with an elbow, he was sent flying, his back crashing into the encasing dome again!

    This repeated a few times, and Rein soon noticed a pattern-- Runzkr¡¯s first two punches were somewhat weak, and yet the power of the third fist could never be resisted. The pulses on the aurae shell responded and converged with every serious third punch! Rein guessed that the first two punches functioned as a method to gather and store strength for the third punch.

    This was the first time that Rein¡¯s tempered draconic body had been pushed to the brink, and he was amazed to feel a wooden vitality healing his flesh. He wasn¡¯t quite sure of the exact strengths his body tempering would have, but he now discovered that his body had strong recovering abilities-- it was truly a vitality-based tempering art that drew life with its wood-based element.

    Having been knocked around a few times, a trickle of crimson blood rolled down the corner of Rein¡¯s lips. He wished to retaliate, but was very much concerned that the aurae layer around Runzkr would simply absorb his attacks and converge its power into Runzkr¡¯s own offense.

    Rein knew that he had to retake the initiative. Surely, Runzkr¡¯s aurae shell had a limit to absorbing the forces of repeated attacks.

    ¡°To think your body is this tough and durable¡­ but I came prepared! I will have your life! I will deliver your judgment!¡± Runzkr¡¯s hand forcefully ejected a stream of aurae and formed a bright sun blade!

    The Convergence Sect members observing the battle were all smiles. ¡°The Hand of the Sun. It¡¯s rare for mid-shell advancers to have the aurae depths to form such a blade! His blade will burn through even the toughest of flesh!¡±

    Rein had no desire to be struck by such a blade. He had no weapons to respond with-- the ones provided to the inner advancer arena lacked the strength to withstand his above inner realm physicality. His eyes glanced around him and he grinned. An idea popped up into his mind! It would have been difficult to put this idea into action without the strong dome encasing the arena.

    He activated his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ at the maximum, and crashed into Runzkr¡¯s body like a flying arrow! Though Runzkr grimaced, the pulse he absorbed now traveled across his aurae shell, threatening to be returned to Rein sooner or later.

    Rein was not done. He crouched and activated his unique inner advancer skill again. Runzkr swung his hand in an attempt to slice through the flitting form of Rein, yet missed! Rein did not aim at Runzkr this time, and had instead shot himself onto the underside at the top of the encasing dome.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Another explosive release from his legs, and Rein¡¯s fist smacked Runzkr flat against the ground! With the encasing dome, Rein¡¯s ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ allowed him to push off in every single direction. If that dome was not there, Rein would only have been able to angle himself by pushing off the ground, a far less effective application of power through his legs!

    His form was now a zigzagging light dot, repeatedly bashing into Runzkr¡¯s body. Rein was ecstatic to find his hypothesis correct-- The pulses across Runzkr¡¯s aurae shell had begun to grow discordant with the rapid irregular tackles that Rein performed. Though Runzkr attempted to stab his sun blade at Rein form, he could never quite get the angle and timing right, with Rein coming from every single direction at him.

    Runzkr had come across a weaker variation of the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ before, but those were many times less explosive due to their users not having the toughness of Rein¡¯s body. As such, his eyes struggled to keep up with Rein¡¯s form. He spun around in the center of the arena in an attempt to keep Rein¡¯s position within his sights!

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Sect Master Xunzkr could see that the situation inside the encasing dome had changed. He truly cared about this talented descendant of his, unlike some of the others. He dashed forward to break the dome, only to be blocked by Elder Baejenh!

    ¡°I did say I was impartial,¡± Baejenh expressionlessly stated.

    Xunzkr attempted an attack, his mouth opening in a scream as waves of aurae pulsed and threatened to converge into an all-powerful ear-splitting sound. Elder Baejenh simply thrust a palm forward, and an icy projection formed from her compressed aurae flew forth, severely freezing the converging pulses and preventing the compilation of power.

    Xunzkr circled around as he attempted to avoid Elder Baejenh, only to now be blocked by Overseer Jeahz! This Sect Leader could only glare at the two with venom as the aurae shell protecting Runzkr cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces!

    Rein maintained his relentless assault, bouncing off the inner surface of the dome and ground, repeatedly hammering the increasingly dazed Runzkr. The pulses on Runzkr¡¯s flesh, too, was now a discordant mess, and Rein knew he had successfully pushed the man¡¯s body to the limit of his tempering art. A final fist and he bashed into Runzkr¡¯s neck with an angled fist, his ears filled with the clear cracking sound of the man¡¯s neck snapping before the body crumpled onto the ground.

    Rein then straddled the limp body and repeatedly pounded Runzkr¡¯s skull until it was nothing but crushed bone and pulp-- he had to ensure that the man was unsavable!

    The encasing dome was removed. ¡°Victory goes to Rein of the Halls,¡± announced the judge.

    A brawl began as the Convergence Sect members on the side rushed at Rein to take revenge, only to be met with a wave of the Halls¡¯ members from the other side. A fool activated a powerful inscription art on his weapon as he swung his sword, only to be blocked by Xeeseir!

    Before he even knew what had happened, that powerful art had been reflected by Xeeseir¡¯s origin skill, ¡®Rebound¡¯! His eyes were filled with disbelief as his body was quite literally split into two by his own strike.

    ¡°Withdraw!¡± A deafening roar from Sect Leader Xunzkr stopped the brawl. ¡°All members of Convergence Sect. We will have our justice another day!¡±

    ¡°You are not justice,¡± muttered Rein in reply.

    ¡°An ant dares to speak?¡± Sect Leader Xunzkr glared at the man who had killed one of his beloved descendants.

    ¡°You are no justice!¡± Rein declared as he raised his voice. ¡°You came here to take my head, blaming me for Dunzkr¡¯s death. I am quite incapable of killing Dunzkr! I am but an inner advancer! All of you know it was Supreme Jensure who righteously claimed his head-- he wished to defend me, for I am an underling within his faction! You only target me because prior to his death, Dunzkr, an outer advancer, had shamelessly attacked me, an inner advancer!¡±

    ¡°If you were just, you would lay the blame at Dunzkr for attacking an inner advancer as a noble ouer advancer!Or attempt to take Supreme Jensure¡¯s head! But you are weak and incapable, and thus sought to target me to vent your anger! I can only respond and defend myself with equal force! This is fair. This is justice!¡±

    The Halls¡¯ members roared with approval at Rein¡¯s words. By now, Rein¡¯s impression of the Great Sects had dropped significantly. Frankly, all the opponents he faced today seemed to be related to the sect leader too¡­

    Sect Leader Xunzkr had the desire to kill this young man before him, but he was blocked by Elder Baejenh and Overseer Jeahz. His only retort would be through words, yet he could find none due to Rein¡¯s sharp tongue.

    Then, out from the west, a messenger with a panicked expression raced towards Xunzkr and delivered a message to the Sect Leader. Xunzkr only had an alarmed expression.

    ¡°All Convergence Sect members! Return to the Sect!¡± He turned to Rein. ¡°Step foot into the western wilderness, and you will find your death!¡±

    Rein¡¯s response was to wrap his arms around the deceased Runzkr¡¯s ankles and fling his body towards Xunzkr! Sect Leader Xunzkr had no choice but to catched the corpse with a shattered skull, else Runzkr''s body would be flung onto the ground! Though humiliated, Xunzkr could once again, do nothing!

    The Convergence Sect quickly left. They weren¡¯t the only ones-- the Sun Sword Sect also left.

    ¡°We have matters to deal with.¡± The Uni Sect and the One Formation also left!

    ¡°Well done,¡± the watcher¡¯s voice sounded once Rein had reequipped the Halls robe. It had been disabled for his duels, the rules stating that none could bring a defensive armament onto the arena.

    ¡°A war should be starting. The Convergence Sect has been severely weakened, and the Uni Sect should pounce and take advantage. Even if the Convergence Sect cannot be conquered, they will lose resources and the grudges will be deepened!¡±

    Rein sighed in relief at having completed this mission. He lacked experience with the various skills of the Great Sects, and had relied on intuition to win that last battle. Indeed, the best method to deal with Convergence Sect Arts was to relentlessly attack with a powerful force to disrupt their odd pulsing artform. Rein¡¯s legs had turned numb from the repeated use of the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯.

    ¡°Who¡¯s this young man?¡± A handsome white-haired prince approached Rein. Rien knew this to be the prince, for his robes had the white black-striped tiger sigil of the Dingien Clan!

    ¡°Rein,¡± he replied with hooked fingers and a deep bow.

    ¡°Second Prince Tohrsen. He has yet to pass the test of surviving the western wilderness,¡± commented Overseer Jeahz.

    ¡°No matter,¡± replied the prince. ¡°I am simply drawn to talents! Especially those not corrupted by the Great Sects!¡±

    He strode past Rein, who maintained his head lowered in reverence.

    ¡°Xuere Lyne!¡± Rein could hear the second prince exclaiming behind him. ¡°I¡¯ve come to see you. A good battle. You are worthy of--¡±

    ¡°Rein!¡± Lyne¡¯s cool voice tickled Rein¡¯s eardrums.

    No¡­ please don¡¯t. Rein complained in his heart as he pretended not to hear Lyne, dreaming that her utterance of his name was but an illusion. He knew that the second prince was here to ask for Lyne¡¯s hand in marriage, and also to gain Xuere Clan¡¯s support for his fight for the throne. He had no desire to get on the wrong foot with a member of the Dingien Clan.

    ¡°That was an amazing battle!¡± Lyne continued joyously. Her voice was getting louder, meaning that she was approaching Rein! ¡°I did not know you had such a strong and robust body¡­ hmm.¡±

    This had to be intentional. Rein¡¯s impression of Lyne had always been her rather cool demeanor, very much a more innocent precursor to Baejenh¡¯s more hardened icy nature.

    Luckily, at this very moment, Suey plastered her body against Rein¡¯s right arm, her tits crushing obscenely against his body. Rein turned and raised his head.

    ¡°If it isn¡¯t Miss Lyne, the future princess of our nation!¡± He could already feel a glare of dissatisfaction from the second prince. ¡°The second prince is here, so I will be retiring with my kitten!¡±

    He tenderly stroked Suey¡¯s cheeks before dashing off while carrying the minx by slinging her body across his right shoulder. Due to the woman¡¯s short dress, and lack of undergarments, this position essentially displayed the flower between her thighs to all present! The honeyed liquid between her legs from their previous action within the woods still flowed lewdly¡­

    Rein thought perhaps he¡¯d avoid the second prince¡¯s anger by taking such action, displaying debauchery not befitting of a man acquainted with the cool Lyne. He was wrong-- he could feel the heat of the second prince¡¯s gaze following his back as he left!

 Ch64: Foes Lurking in All Corners

    Rein slowed down once he had escaped from the somewhat dangerous situation with Lyne. Perhaps some might think him to be a coward for doing so, but there is a difference between bravery and recklessness.

    Lyne was at best an acquaintance, and she was simply trouble, even if it weren¡¯t necessarily her own fault. Rein, having spent some time in the Green Trout City, had come to know that the Xuere Clan controlled much of the trade from the western wilderness to the Minhr Nation through the singular point of Green Trout City. The volume might be small, but the value is immense.

    That, combined with Lyne¡¯s beauty and her status as a scion of the Xuere Clan, meant she was very much desired by quite literally every House in the Minhr Nation, particularly the princes of the Dingien Clan that contended for the throne.

    Rein had no desire to run afoul of any of those princes-- he had already offended quite a few troublesome powers in his vicinity.

    Rein could only sigh-- that second prince might now hold a grudge against him. He recalled Chenhr¡¯s information that someone in the Dingien Clan had sought help from the devil sects far into the west¡­

    By now, he was beginning to understand some of Suey¡¯s words regarding the nature of fate. Looking back, he was able to connect the dots.

    His current situation began from the very moment he had come upon Chirh. Chirh¡¯s nature was a bit of a wimp, and as such, he attracted Rekcen. Rekcen was a bit of an idiot, thus he recklessly used Rein¡¯s armaments despite knowing that many armaments had blood defenses.

    Thus, Rein became the enemy of House Larne, their patriarch not willing to accept a son¡¯s mistake.

    After joining the Hall of Heroes, Rein needed to build his reputation. Thus, he had participated in the sudden event of escorting that chest with ancient runes. Since half-senior Chenhr had taught him how to use a javelin of heaven, and he had received an aura-restraining art from Master Yirn, he had attracted Dunzkr of the Convergence Sect.

    One thing led to another until his current situation. Rein had every intention to remain low-key, but now that Convergence Sect was hellbent on taking his life, he had no choice but to remove any future enemies-- frankly, it was easier to take the lives of these enemies in duels, than be even more outnumbered in the western wilderness¡­

    One could say this to be his inevitable fate.

    Rein glanced at the pair of long and slender legs that dangled mesmerizingly from his right shoulder. He comforted himself by caressing the delicate skin and squeezing those springy thigh flesh.

    ¡°More¡­¡± Suey whined in pleasure as she shifted her legs in nervous anticipation.

    Rein smacked her perky bum and continued running his fingers and palms over those lovely legs.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡±

    To his astonishment, the minx sprayed liquids from her snatch just from his repeated handling of her legs. Did this woman enjoy being mauled by his hands that much? Or perhaps she was already at a high from earlier on. Luckily, the smell of fighting advancers obscured her arousal earlier in the arena.

    Rein lowered the woman back onto her feet. Seeing her wanton face, he couldn¡¯t resist leaning in.

    ¡°Slut kitten¡­¡± he whispered sternly into her ear.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ punish this slut kitten~¡± Suey puckered up her lips, and Rein responded, the two sharing a sloppy tongue-dancing kiss.

    He brought Suey back into the Halls¡¯ Labyrinth and to his cave abode.

    ¡°My celest¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, kitten?¡± Rein could see that Suey was anxious, her hands fidgeting endlessly.

    ¡°The scar on my cheek¡­¡± It was rare for Rein to see Suey insecure. Rein recalled that during his combat against Runzkr, someone on the sideline had told Runzkr to look at her scar to avoid the distraction of her antics. The scar across her cheek was certainly jagged, but well¡­ Rein couldn¡¯t care less.

    Plus, ¡°you can always remove the scar as you rise in your advancer realm,¡± he said in a comforting tone. ¡°To my knowledge, the physical features only get locked in once you fully form the soul in the telekinetic realm and imprint the nature of your body into the soul.¡±

    ¡°But I wish to keep it,¡± Suey replied with her eyes downcast. ¡°It reminds me. It reminds me of my mission to protect my home.¡±

    Suey hadn¡¯t revealed much of her home. Rein only knew it to be a backwater place.

    ¡°A respectable mission.¡± Rein himself had lost his hometown already. He understood without any additional words.

    ¡°You won¡¯t throw me away because of this scar, right¡­?¡± Suey whispered.

    Rein was beginning to wonder if something had come over the woman today. She had always been confident, throwing her body at him if given the opportunity.

    ¡°I¡¯ll throw you onto a bed and ravage you, kitten,¡± he replied as he held and lifted the chin of the woman, such that her eyes no longer stared at the ground.

    ¡°I¡­ I wasn¡¯t very useful today,¡± Suey continued in a downcast mood. ¡°There aren¡¯t many inheritances of advancer arts from my isolated home. I don¡¯t have a tempered body, most useful for dueling in the inner realm. I only have a few tricks¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the Harmony Sect.¡± Rein recalled that the man Aizen had mentioned that Harmony Sect was often quite willing to share some of their arts with advancers that are couples. ¡°If we complete missions, you should be able to obtain some from the Art of Pavilion as well!¡±

    Suey nodded, still somewhat dispirited. Rein could not find skills for Suey-- members of the Halls weren¡¯t allowed to share advancer arts of the Halls, even with each other.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Rein left his cave abode and Suey was left inside, unsure of why her man had suddenly left. She rolled around in the furs covering Rein¡¯s stone bed, wondering if her visions of the future might have changed. Not that she could tell-- currently, she does not have the materials and environment to perform such an extensive art.

    After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Rein returned to a Suey tossing and turning on his fur bed in the nude.

    He stood to the side and enjoyed the erotic show. After satiating his eyes, he went forth and handed Suey a jar that contained a resplendent cobalt blue fluid.

    ¡°Something from my merchant days,¡± he informed the curious-eyed Suey. ¡°It¡¯s from the northern desert tribes. They have a history of decorating their bodies with paint, each of their different-colored paint sourced from a unique spiritual location.¡±

    ¡°This one is cobalt blue, sourced from rare underground caves where the water wells are saturated with the magical color of cobalt. The northern desert tribes turn this into paint.¡±

    Suey now brimmed with joy and clutched at the jar of cobalt blue face paint.

    ¡°Do it for me please, my celest,¡± she begged as she bit her lips, before adding, ¡°then use me as you see fit~¡±

    How troublesome. Rein¡¯s left hand wrapped around his kitten¡¯s neck, slightly squeezing down to both limit the woman¡¯s ability to draw breath while locking her in place. He dipped his right finger into the cobalt blue paint, ready to decorate the woman once again.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    In Supreme Guihnes¡¯ Garden of Rapture.

    Unlike the time when Overseer Jeahz visited, this garden, every single feature intentionally placed to give the zone a hyper-realistic combination of man and nature, was now filled with many refined beauties of different ages, all in flowing silky dresses, robes, and even martial outfits.

    This was Supreme Guihnes¡¯ business and his influence. Beincen himself could not help examining every different beauty on entry to the garden. He knew that all these women are virgins, sold to the highest bidding nobles and those of influence. Supposedly, some of these beauties had even been bought by the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains.

    One might assume Supreme Guihnes to be hated for this type of trade. Not so. It is believed that the man followed certain rules. All these jade beauties here are here because they chose to do so. Not that Beincen fully believed these claims himself.

    He had come to request assistance from Supreme Guihnes. At least, he believed the supreme had every reason to act against the twin ladies, Suxeire and Joxeire, who had rejected his offers.

    What he received instead, was a rebuke!

    ¡°Beincen of House Larne,¡± Supreme Guihnes gravely intoned, his voice filled with a threatening air. ¡°Do not accuse me of mistreating Suxeire or Joxeire.¡±

    ¡°I fully accepted their rejection. I am a Supreme, an outer advancer closing in on the telekinetic realm. It is not me who has acted against those two-- I never gave such orders. It is the common folk, who believe that by mistreating them, they would gain my favor. It is common folk, who believe that by distancing themselves from the two, they are less likely to suffer my ire.¡±

    ¡°This is not something under my control-- why would I go out on a limb to protect them after being rejected by the two? I have already chosen not to give orders to punish the two. The behavior of the common folk is not my concern.¡±

    Beincen could only bow his head, unsure of how to rope in Supreme Guihnes into acting against Rein.

    ¡°I have also attempted to provide you help already,¡± sighed Supreme Guihnes exaggeratedly. ¡°The aurae bloodhounds for one. I also lost one of the minor keepers I had control over. I ordered them to prevent Rein from learning more skills, only for the Halls to take the minor keeper¡¯s life. He was gone in a single snap. You should know the rules of the Halls.¡±

    ¡°Rein is a difficult opponent,¡± Beincen repeated, his head bowed before Guihnes. ¡°He has gotten so much stronger already. How has he gotten so physically advanced? Is it a good idea for him to continue his growth? I need your assistance in the western wilderness.¡±

    ¡°Very well¡­¡± Guihnes had a mysterious look. ¡°You must know that it is believed by the higher-ups that Rein has awakened the bloodline of the fiends.¡±

    Beincen felt fear upon hearing this knowledge. Such physically gifted inner advancers had always been hard to deal with. Human¡¯s rise and dominance only came due to their numbers and ability to grow quickly, overcoming such physicality after entering deep into the outer advancer realm. Tempering the body required much tolerance and endurance.

    ¡°Come, Malak!¡± Guihnes yelled. A hulking man appeared beside Supreme Guihnes. He had a mark on his forehead. Beincen knew that mark to be the slave sigil of the Lurdi Clan. A metal-spiked collar with the same sigil was also tightened around the hulking man¡¯s neck.

    ¡°This man has the bloodline of a fiend as well, and stands at peak shell realm,¡± explained Supreme Guihnes. ¡°I will give him his orders and lend him to you. However, he will not follow your orders-- these northern tribes respect strength. You¡¯re too weak-- he won¡¯t listen to you.¡±

    Beincen was overjoyed and repeatedly bobbed his head in gratitude. The hidden House Larne members in the Great Sects had expressed their concern with revealing their identities, and would prefer if someone else could deal the killing blow-- Malak would solve this issue!

    Beincen soon left with his heart full of confidence. After all, he had raised his own strength to the mid-shell realm as well.

    ¡°Iurzy.¡± Guihnes stopped a beauty who was walking past this seat. ¡°How is your brother doing?¡±

    ¡°Supreme!¡± Iurzy smiled. ¡°My brother has been promoted in the Dingien Corps. Thank you for your support!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Guihnes beamed. He did not just train these women and sell them to those of influence. What he valued that most, was in fact, the talented relatives of these women that he funded into influential positions of the Minhr Nation. This was why he had connections to the Dingien Clan.

    Once the area around him was empty, Supreme Guihnes¡¯ expression returned to neutral.

    ¡°Old friend, are you not going to come out?¡± he scoffed.

    A man dressed in regal purple robes with jet-black lines zigzagging down the edges appeared. This was the man who had accompanied Overseer Jeahz on the day when Beincen had attempted to attack Rein at Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s forge.

    ¡°Guihnes. I¡¯m surprised you still care about these women and their relatives. Overseer Jeahz has already promised your clan a place if you succeed in locating the Great Sects¡¯ secret jade mine.¡± He lowered his hood, revealing a young man with black middle-parted long curtain hair, along with a right eye with the emblem of the sun, and a left eye filled with the moon.

    ¡°Huhrz. I am not you. I am not guaranteed success.¡± Guihnes was not praising Huhrz. They had known each other for a century. Guihnes hated Huhrz to the core back in those days. Yet, Huhrz had bailed him out of trouble so many times that eventually, he had to cave to the man¡¯s will. Huhrz was dedicated to the Halls¡¯ principles in a way that Guihnes knew he never could be. He was a shadow that desired no influence, but if an order was given, a corpse would return.

    This man is Supreme Huhrz of the Green Trout City Halls branch.

    ¡°And you are a sneaky bastard as always. Placing that combat slave beside Beincen when your targets are his hidden ancestors.¡±

    Guihnes could only shrug nonchalantly at these words¡­ especially as he had attempted quite a number of these ¡®sneaky¡¯ acts on Huhrz when they were new to the Halls.

    ¡°Don¡¯t indulge yourself in the influence you have built here anymore,¡± Huhrz advised as he left the pavilion that stood at the center of the Garden of Rapture. ¡°If you cling to these desires, your mentality will suffer. You do know finding the location of that hidden jade mine is not the end.¡±

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    In a guest room of the Hall of Heroes.

    The second prince Tohrsen shattered a porcelain cup of wine against the ground in rage. He had been rejected by Lyne and the Xuere Clan again. The first time, he had thought the woman was simply playing hard to get, only to discover today that she was, in fact, capable of displaying some expressions.

    ¡°That fucking bitch. Does she think the Xuere Clan can still stay neutral?!¡± He split a maloewood table with a kick of his right leg.

    What enraged him the most was that the bitch seemed to dispel her cool demeanor and speak quite ¡®normally¡¯ with some random nobody named Rein.

    ¡°Second prince. Calm yourself. Our investigation has shown little-to-no relations between the two. The other princes are our foes. They sacrificed a whole town to kill your older brother. This nobody is not worth it. He is but an initiate that will die in the western wilderness in a few days.¡± These words came from the mouth of an attendant prostrating to the ground before Tohrsen.

    His words certainly helped the prince steady his heart.

    ¡°Let us ensure that then!¡± He harrumphed. ¡°Send the image of this¡­ Rein to the devil sects out west. Reward them for his corpse. And Lyne¡­ I have heard she has been recklessly throwing herself into the western wilderness like a desperate commoner. How embarrassing. There¡¯s no need for us nobles to sacrifice our lives! Have the devil sects capture and deliver her to me!¡±

    ¡°Yes, second prince.¡±

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    In the Evergreen Mountains

    The Convergence Sect Master slammed a fist onto a polished mahogany table.

    ¡°How dare that young man even retort. If not for that being the Halls homeground, I would have taken his life there and then.¡± He sneered derisively, ¡°let¡¯s see how you survive in the western wilderness!¡±

    ¡°Sect Master¡­¡± An elder interrupted. ¡°We have far more pressing matters. The Uni Sect and One Formation Sect are attempting to gain a larger share of the jade mine, along other long-established resource locations of our sect. They see us as weak-- we must retaliate against them first!¡±

    ¡°No matter,¡± the Sect Master grumbled. ¡°At least put up a poster such that if some of our disciples come across him, we can take his life!¡±

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    The Uni Sect

    ¡°House of Genesis.¡± The Uni Sect Master said to a group of full-black cloaked men. ¡°As per agreement, we have housed you. And now, we also provide you with information about a man with the origin skill, ¡®Rebound¡¯.¡±

    ¡°He has joined the Hall of Heroes, and will be a part of the new initiates group traveling to the western wilderness.¡±

    ¡°I believe the Halls will not retaliate. This man has supposedly been stuck as a peak inner advancer, with psychedelics not being effective for him.¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡± one of the black-cloaked men chortled. ¡°It has been a pain trying to find a sample with ¡®Rebound¡¯. Those who have had this echo awakened in them always die too early due to the users¡¯ reckless and unyielding nature. I even once thought that someone had a vendetta and was specifically targeting those who have had ¡®Rebound¡¯ awaken in them.¡±

    ¡°Well, regardless, thank you for providing assistance to our prodigy,¡± the Uni Sect Master replied. ¡°He has already mastered the ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯ advancer art. Even a telekinetic advancer will be tricked by his mastery over the skill!¡±

    An image of Xeeseir was handed over to the group of black cloaked men.

 Ch65: Mission Preparation

    The initiates were given a few days to settle their affairs and prepare for their life-or-death experience in the western wilderness.

    Xeeseir had opted to name the team, ¡®Iron Ant Team¡¯. Supposedly, there is a species of ants that consumed iron to turn as hardy as iron, and Xeeseir named the team in hopes of their members¡¯ survival, combined with the fact that they would certainly be swarming like ants against mightier foes.

    The members of the group came together in the mission hall to determine their approach in the western wilderness. They had taken a cursory stroll through this place on their orientation day.

    Dahk did not even speak a word, shrugging his shoulders when questioned.

    ¡°As long as I gain the contribution points needed, and become a riser,¡± said Wilo.

    ¡°I am of the same mind as Wilo.¡± Xeeseir nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I¡¯ll follow the words of my celest¡­¡± declared Suey brazenly in front of the others. Rein knew that the woman truly did not care, assuming her words on her attempts to twist fate are true.

    ¡°Rein. It is your choice then. You joined because of your hometown¡¯s destruction, no?¡± Xeeseir nodded to himself unconsciously, confirming his own memory.

    ¡°Yes¡­ but¡­¡± Rein replied, somewhat hesitant, not wishing to place others at too much of a risk solely for his personal goals.

    ¡°Go ahead. We have already agreed to take on red diamond and above missions.¡±

    ¡°Very well then.¡± Rein hooked his fingers in thanks to all those present. ¡°I wish to find and kill devils. Perhaps some of them may have information on my younger brother.¡±

    ¡°Although I have come to terms with the likelihood that my younger brother has likely lost his life by now, perhaps I can at least recover a corpse and kill his kidnapper.¡± Rein¡¯s tone was sullen, and the others could sense the deep sorrow within his heart.

    ¡°I would recommend you to project a vision of whoever might have captured your younger brother, such that others may identify the individual or group of devils with a vision egg,¡± Xeeseir advised as he tapped his own chin in thought.

    ¡°As for finding devils, allow me to share my own experience,¡± he continued. ¡°Those of the fallen devil sects-- they lack the ability to cooperate with each other, often stabbing each other in the back for benefits.¡±

    ¡°You may think the disagreement between us, the Halls, and the Convergence Sect to be colossal. I wish to inform you that it is highly different in nature. For one, if that outer advancer named Dunzkr had just a tinge more inhibition, he would not have chosen to go so low as to attack an inner advancer, and none of this would have happened.¡±

    ¡°If Dunzkr had successfully taken mine and Rein¡¯s lives, the Halls might not have escalated the situation for just us two new initiates.¡±

    ¡°The devil sects on the other hand¡­ they follow no rules. They will murder for the smallest of benefits. Or perhaps just because they dislike your appearance. A whole human settlement can be wiped out for no obvious reason. They follow their primal urge, and only fear can limit their actions.¡±

    ¡°As such, they have zero trust even amongst their own members. That is why they can only reside in the western wilderness. Perhaps their continued survival hinges on the minute cooperation they can sustain in fear of the orthodox advancers.¡±

    ¡°Regardless, the point is-- they do not work in groups, and often take action solitarily. And thus, it¡¯s incredibly difficult to track down these targets.¡±

    Xeeseir¡¯s words pointed out the difficulty of even finding the notorious devils of the bounties. For a group made up of inner advancers, the bounties on upper-to-peak devils are considered red diamond missions, while those of lower-to-mid outer devils are considered black star missions.

    For these devils to be selected as bounty targets for the Hall of Heroes, they naturally needed to have ability. A far higher ability than the corpse-man that Rein, Chenhr and those under Master Yirn had taken out.

    ¡°This is mad¡­¡± muttered Chirh, his voice quivering.

    ¡°Hardly¡­¡± Wilo replied. ¡°Did you not see Rein physically dominate that mid-shell prodigy of the Convergence Sect?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s completely different!¡± exclaimed Chirh hysterically. ¡°The Convergence Sect relies on combining pulses to gather and generate force, thus, their less experienced members lose control when pummeled endlessly by continuous and powerful forces.¡±

    ¡°The devils¡­ they use all sorts of poisons, captured slaves and demons, bloody arts and more, combined with despicable methods!¡±

    A smack was delivered across his face by Dahk, the spearman. ¡°Keep your mouth shut.¡±

    ¡°Chirh,¡± Rein could only sigh. ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t forgotten House Larne. You won¡¯t have a future in the Halls if you don¡¯t go all out.¡± Rein¡¯s words quietened down the scaredy cat who was close to losing his mind.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Xeeseir had been deep in thought the whole time, and paid no heed to Chirh¡¯s outburst. ¡°The only way for us to target these devils is to draw them to us. If we have something extremely attractive to them¡­¡±

    ¡°The bodies of demons¡­¡± Wilo noted.

    ¡°Yes¡­ Yes!¡± Xeeseir repeated as he confirmed his thoughts. ¡°Many devil advancers use poison, and as such, they are very much drawn to harvesting the poison glands of demon beasts and plants!¡±

    ¡°They are also drawn to areas of death, where they can gather aurae and materials relating to their nefarious magical arts. And of course, the western wilderness, being inhabitable to the average person-- much sustenance comes from demon beasts.¡±

    ¡°As such, the best method for us is to target some of these valuable poisonous demon beasts and plants, while laying an ambush for any of these devils.¡±

    Rein widened his eyes. Would that not mean that they would have to complete two red diamond missions back-to-back? Or maybe two, simultaneously! Valuable poisonous demon beasts-- these are considered red diamond missions as well. The danger level was rising. There was also the possibility that a black diamond bounty-- an outer advancer-- might show up to rob them of the demon beast¡¯s resources.

    Chirh¡¯s face was pale as a corpse, knowing full well the madness of the group¡¯s plans.

    ¡°Perhaps I can be of assistance.¡±

    The members of the team twisted their heads in surprise to see Lyne of the Xuere Clan standing beside them, accompanied by four other unknown advancers.

    ¡°If an outer devil appears, we will handle them. You will handle shell-ranked devils,¡± she coolly stated.

    Why had Lyne made such an offer? Rein only felt baffled. There are many other teams much more experienced than theirs. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Baejenh was involved in some way, seeing as Lyne seemed to idolize that Fusion Sect elder.

    ¡°Our contribution¡­ Will it count if we¡¯re alongside a shell advancer group?¡± Xeeseir asked.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°These mission rankings are only estimations. Your visions will be assessed for an accurate determination of the difficulty,¡± Lyne replied. ¡°Worry not. I can guarantee you that your method will succeed. It might even draw too many moths to the flame.¡±

    Why exactly was Lyne risking herself in the western wilderness? That was something that Rein was trying to figure out, now also recalling that day when Lyne, upon a steed, had trotted down the avenue to the Halls while dragging captured demons and devils in a wagon.

    The most obvious possibility was that she wished to earn Baejenh¡¯s favor. Lyne must have a strong desire to enter the Fusion Sect! The Hall of Heroes must be aware of it¡­ If so, the Halls¡¯ relationship with the Fusion Sect must be far more complex than Rein initially thought.

    The other possibility was that she wished to avoid marriage to a prince of the Dingien Clan. Or, she might just be some virtuous angel willing to die against demons and devils.

    ¡°These are four of my companions, all shell advancers. Zehz--a master of creating illusions using light aurae. Nunan--She¡¯s a formation master. Bohr-- a man of incredible defensive capabilities. Karsutz-- A thief and assassin.¡±

    The members on Lyne¡¯s team had far more defined talents and roles.

    ¡°They all have joined the Xuere Clan, while maintaining their contribution to the Hall of Heroes. Highly talented and reliable.¡± Lyne¡¯s words reminded Rein of her attempt to recruit Xeeseir. The nobles did not share one singular belief. The Xuere Clan belonged to the faction that believed in absorbing the bloodlines of talented advancers.

    The two that stood out most to Rein were Zehz and Nunan. If Lyne¡¯s claim that many moths would be drawn to their flame turns out to be accurate, then these two advancers would be pivotal in creating mismatches in such a fight.

    Rein did not share the same degree of concern as Xeeseir did for contribution credit. If he could interrogate and find out what had happened to his younger brother¡­ That was his priority.

    Chirh had an inscrutable expression. Rein had assumed he would be leaping in joy due to Lyne¡¯s assistance. Not so.

    Comparatively, the others were overcome with joy, but Xeeseir was not blinded into immediately accepting the offer.

    ¡°How will we distribute the spoils?¡± he wondered.

    ¡°Naturally, the outer devils will belong to us, the shell devils to you. As for the demon beasts or plants that we use to lure the devils? We require antidotes against all types of poisons to hunt these targets. We will require an alchemist¡¯s assistance, and as such, those spoils will all have to be handed over to the Halls. The flesh, however, we may consume-- though some demon beasts do have poisoned flesh¡­¡±

    Rein had forgotten that much of the spoils had to be given to the Halls. However, they would be allowed to keep the personal belongings of the devils.

    All-in-all, this was a pretty generous deal. Thus, Xeeseir accepted the cooperation.

    ¡°Anyone here know one of the primary alchemists in the Halls?¡±

    All heads turned to Rein. Out of all the initiates, only Rein had chosen to put a degree of effort into alchemy.

    ¡°He has never given me his name, but I will make an attempt,¡± Rein agreed. If he failed, then they would have to purchase antidotes with other more costly methods.

    Soon, a stack of parchments was handed over to Rein. These contained all the demons that they intended to target. These were picked by Nunan. The formation master had rapidly assessed which demon beast and plant was likely to attract which shell and outer devils. This allowed them to request more specific antidotes alongside general ones.

    In the next few days, Rein made his preparations. He had received more contribution points for his role in sowing discord within the Great Sects. He traded these points for a bottomless pouch. He had avoided doing so previously because with his current level, he could barely force aurae to the tip of his finger to activate the pouch.

    He also bought many more vials of wood and lightning-aspected aurae infusions. Previously, he had used these vials solely on his body-tempering, fearful that a rapid rise in his advancer realm would attract suspicion. Now, if he survives the western wilderness, returning with a peak inner advancer realm would not raise such suspicions.

    Then, there was his meeting with the alchemist instructor. It went much more smoothly than he  anticipated. The alchemist negotiated directly with the watcher in his hood, and reached an agreement that by providing the required antidotes for the various poisons of the different targets, he would receive the poison glands and the herbs harvested by the two teams of Lyne and Xeeseir.

    ¡°Rein,¡± the alchemist instructor added. ¡°My name is Vahrk. You deserve to know now that you¡¯re close to memorizing all the herbs and their variations.¡±

    ¡°Additional advice for you¡­ Certain elemental powers can be useful against poisons in different ways. Water, for example, can dilute and weaken all poisons. Lightning is very effective against many poisons, easily igniting plant-based spores, fully penetrating water-based poisons. However, its most effective use is to counter devilish poisons. It has one single weakness, that being earth-based poisons-- do take care against such demons.¡±

    ¡°And fire¡­?¡± Rein was rather curious.

    ¡°Fire is very effective at nullifying large area-of-effect plant-based poisons. I should clarify that lightning is better at dealing with more limited areas, such as specific targets and your personal body.¡±

    Just with those words, Rein could already hypothesize that wind must be effective against airborne poisons, probably by simply¡­ blowing them elsewhere, even back at an enemy.

    That moment of seriousness from Vahrk quickly vanished. He soon returned to his half-crazed behavior as he madly began mixing ingredients within multiple cauldrons. The fire below these cauldrons turned into different colored- flames, and the liquids within these cauldrons boiled, switching between shades of purple, dull green, vibrant red and contaminated blue.

    ¡°Up, up, up!¡± The man yelled and raised his arms up in reverence. His outer advancer tendrils forced the fluid within the cauldron to form a sphere, and peering in, Rein could see the ball of liquid becoming increasingly solid as more water was evaporated and siphoned from the ball.

    This single sphere was split into ten, and gradually condensed into hardened pills. Vahrk repeated this for all the other cauldrons, and Rein soon received many bottles of pills, each labeled with the pills¡¯ effects and which demon beast and plant each bottle of pills was intended for.

    There were twenty of each type of pill, except for two types. There were only ten of these two other types, the reason being that Vahrk had blown up two cauldrons. His hair was now singed and his face decorated in soot.

    ¡°Failure is normal, unfortunately,¡± Vahrk sighed. ¡°However, it should still be enough unless you fail miserably during the fight. Good luck!¡± He dismissed Rein with a grumble, somewhat discontent at himself for failing two cauldrons.

    Based on what he had studied so far, Rein had learned that compared to liquids, pills are capable of holding medicinal effects for far longer, and also much more effective at delivering continuous long-term effects. They are also capable of carrying higher density of aurae.

    These pills must have been designed to slowly release the antidote to allow the Iron Ant team to battle over a period of time against their targets while resisting the poison.

    The day for departure soon came, and Xeeseir¡¯s team, Lyne¡¯s team, alongside many groups waited at the Tavern of Reverie.

    ¡°Clear the tunnels and brace yourselves!¡± The watcher announced, her voice reverberating through the underground labyrinth.

    Then, the sound of rumbling earth filled Rein¡¯s ears as he observed the tunnels outside the Tavern of Reverie switching in a mind-bending manner.

    Soon, the exit of the Tavern of Reverie only led into one single room, with a complicated inscription on the ground surrounding a stone stele in the middle. A sky blue-robed woman was already waiting within the room.

    Initially, the inscription on the ground confused Rein, and yet as he observed longer, the inscriptions swum in Rein¡¯s eyes, and he discovered that its secrets unraveled in his mind! He could but assume that his origin ability¡¯s affinity with the spatial element allowed him to understand this inscription.

    One group after another entered the teleportation room. The blue-robed woman slotted a power gem into a concave indentation on the stone stele, and the figures vanished with a flicker as the inscription on the ground shone in a silvery light.

    Soon, it was the Iron Ant team¡¯s turn. Rein stepped in alongside his group members. The minor keeper activated the teleportation circle, and Rein¡¯s vision flashed as they teleported to another room.

    They walked out the doorway of this new room and Rein was greeted with an awe-inspiring city.

    Swiveling his head around, Rein soon changed his opinion-- this was more like something in between a fortress and a city. The back of the fortress was against a steep mountain peak to the north, impossible to climb based on Rein¡¯s assessment.

    Only an outer advancer who can fly would be able to ascend this mountain. Even then, they would have no stable place to land. Defensive towers touching the heavens also defended those peaks. Any outer advancer and above from the western wilderness attempting to sneak over would be shot down by those towers.

    High walls of unidentified stone lined with complex inscriptions, wrapped around Rein¡¯s sight. The whole location was certainly more like an extended castle. Looking farther south, Rein could see the beginnings of a mountain range.

    He turned his eyes southeast and could barely make out the glittering surface of the Green Trout River. This meant that the mountain range to the south must be the northern tip of the Evergreen Mountains.

    A gray-Halls-cloaked man greeted them with hooked fingers.

    ¡°Welcome to the City of Zyne, the unbreakable stronghold of the Xuere Gap!¡±

 Ch66: Harmony Sect Trial

    Having arrived at the City of Zyne, Rein gained a much better understanding of the Xuere Clan. he had been told that the Xuere was only recently recognized as a clan. That remained true, but in advancer metrics. Seeing as the Dingien Clan¡¯s succession might take decades into centuries, perhaps the ¡®recent¡¯ rise of Xuere actually covered the past few decades up to a century.

    As for Zyne-- he was the man who brought the Xuere Clan to the pinnacle. Lyne informed the two groups that Zyne was still very much alive, secluding himself as a hidden security blanket for the Xuere.

    Anyhow, this stronghold was just a departure point for the Halls members. It also functioned as a point of trade between the western wilderness and the Minhr Nation. The primary function of the stronghold was naturally to prevent the demons and devils from entering the Minhr Nation, and as such, was a highly surveilled place of no freedom.

    They soon departed southward to the northern beginnings of the Evergreen Mountains. Rein  had been invited by Aizen to visit the Harmony Sect, and it was best to visit the sect for benefits. Rein wasn¡¯t sure whether he himself would directly draw any of the benefits, but he could not deny the value of that water-based tempering art for Suey. In his mind, any additional strength to a member of their team was a benefit to him. And¡­ she is his kitten!

    Speaking of Suey, with the threat of the western wilderness, she wore appropriate leather armor with the Halls robe¡¯s inscriptions activated for a complete defense. They all did.

    Rein and most of the members resided inside a horse carriage. Their wooden carriage was pulled forth by two stallions. Currently, Xeeseir along with Jory sat at the very front of the carriage to control their path. They had opted to take turns leading the carriage in teams of two, while others rested within.

    As for the other contents of the carriage? They had been instructed to escort its resources to a Halls outpost in the western wilderness before going even deeper into the west for their intended mission.

    They soon arrived at an archway decorated with the sigil of intertwined swans, an entrance to the Harmony Sect.  One man and one woman wrapped in a robe of pastel blue and pastel lavender respectively guarded this archway.

    ¡°Greetings, seniors,¡± Rein and Suey hooked their fingers and bowed. ¡°We¡¯re here at Aizen¡¯s invitation.¡±

    ¡°Inners¡­?¡± The woman glanced at the man and they seemed to reach a conclusion with just a single look. The woman entered the archway while the man remained to guard the entrance.

    Rein could only patiently wait. He recalled information of the Xuere Gap. This was an opening in the land between the Evergreen Mountains to the south, and the Sheer Peaks to the north.

    Any invasion of the Minhr Nation by the inhabitants in the western wilderness had to pass through this gap. The Evergreen Mountains are occupied by the Great Sects-- the sects had long set up many defensive formations and traps in the humongous mountain range.

    Any opening farther north was not the Minhr Nation¡¯s concern, as those invasions would lead into the Golden Desert of the desert tribes.

    As for why the Harmony Sect was located at the northern tip of the Evergreen Mountains-- The Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect were not trusted due to the nature of their advancer arts, and was pressured to set up their sects in northern Evergreen Mountains to guard the gap.

    The woman in pastel lavender robes soon returned, and Rein recognized the face of the man she brought back.

    ¡°Well met, friend.¡±

    ¡°We will soon truly be brothers, I¡¯m certain of it,¡± stated Aizen as he returned the greeting.

    Rein and Suey followed Aizen through the arch, and they began ascending a stone path. The others had to wait outside.

    It was the first time Rein had been inside a sect, but he doubted that what his eyes recorded was the norm in most sects. As he ascended the path, he noticed many openings leading to teahouses, lakes, massage parlors and the like, filled with men and women engaging and indulging in one another¡¯s company.

    ¡°These are troubled times, brother Rein,¡± Aizen muttered softly. ¡°We need to protect those close to us.¡±

    ¡°More than normal¡­?¡± Rein wondered. He lacked any previous reference points.

    ¡°The new prodigy of the Uni Sect, Wahrzein, wreaked havoc a year ago. He vanished six months ago, and this can only mean a calm before the storm. Moreover, you Halls retrieved an ancient treasure from the Wildwoods past the western wilderness¡­¡±

    Rein was surprised to learn this new information.

    ¡°Whenever such an event occurs¡­waves of demons enter the western wilderness then assault this gap.¡± Aizen¡¯s tone was grave.

    ¡°This new prodigy¡­ Wahrzein. What did he do?¡±

    ¡°The Uni Sect is, in fact, a religious sect across many realms. They believe in the legend of Uni, the belief that all things originate from one. They worship Uni and seek to merge all advancer arts. As such, their recruitment is based on finding saplings where there is a balance in between as many elements as possible.¡±

    ¡°It does not matter to them if one has a peak affinity with an element-- they''d rather take one whose elements are all balanced at average level of affinity.¡±

    ¡°When it comes to Wahrzein, he has a high affinity with all elements of the world. Not even dragons can match this-- the demonic dragons only have affinity with nature-based elements.¡±

    ¡°Here is the crux of the issue. The Uni Sect has a skill called ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯, which has stringent demands to use. And Wahrzein has mastered it. This is all known by the Great Sects, due to the infamy of its previous user many years ago.¡±

    ¡°You surely know that despite each of us having different elemental affinities, we are all made of the elements in the world. The ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯ art allows an advancer to quite literally generate a shell of real skin, and requires an advancer to have balanced elements combined with deft control.¡°

    ¡°Wahrzein¡­. He imitated many advancers and sabotaged many plans, and unveiled many secrets. He vanished over six months ago. Ever since his appearance, us members of the sects can¡¯t even trust our fellow disciples.,¡± Aizen sighed exasperatedly.

    ¡°Surely, there are methods to detect it¡­¡± How intimidating. The man had done nothing the past six months and yet these sects could not rest easy.

    ¡°How? It¡¯s not like the bastardized devilish ¡®Hundred Faces¡¯ version of it, where an outer advancer steals the skin of another to stitch it over theirs with aurae tendrils.¡±

    ¡°Under that situation, a probing aurae tendril of an outer advancer, or the divine sense of a telekinetic advancer, would easily sense the mismatch of the skin and the internal body.¡±

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°But this ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯ art-- the skin is constructed by the user¡¯s aurae into perfect and real flesh. Its downfall is its stringent requirement, and thus, a prodigy who can use it has only shown up recently after centuries of failed inheritance.¡±

    ¡°Do take care,¡± Aizen whispered to Rein, somewhat aware of the expectation of the Halls¡¯ initiates. ¡°He might be lurking about pretending to be someone while robbing others¡¯ treasures in the western wilderness.¡±

    The two arrived before an enchanting mature ivory woman with highlighted dark brown hair flowing down to her waist. An incredibly busty woman with melons the size of a head, barely contained by the loose robe of intertwining streams of pastel lavender and blue. Both her shoulders were revealed , the robe threatening to drop straight onto the ground, only held up by those proud melons.

    The beauty was smoking from a pipe, and she blew out a ring of smoke at their approach.

    ¡°This is the couple?¡± She sternly asked as Rein could not resist giving her humongous chest a good look. ¡°This man already wants to violate my body.¡±

    ¡°Sect Leader Meynzy,¡± Aizen bowed his head. ¡°Please don¡¯t joke around. Every man and even some woman would wish to¡­ violate you if given the chance¡­¡±

    ¡°Including you?¡± The Sect Leader of the Harmony Sect whispered enticingly. ¡°What would Yuynan say?¡±

    Aizen only coughed in reply. He must have long been teased by this Sect Leader¡­

    Rein lowered his eyes. He did not know this was the Sect Leader of the Harmony Sect, and could only hope that he had not gotten on her bad side. After all¡­ the Sect Leaders of the Great Sects should all be in the telekinetic realm!

    Sect Leader Meynzy strode forth, and to Rein¡¯s shock and pleasure, pressed her heavenly orbs against his chest. Due to Rein¡¯s body-tempering, he was much taller, and had the chance to peer deep into her wondrous cleavage.

    Her hand slipped under his robes and trousers to gauge his manhood.

    ¡°I do love a virile young man¡­¡± She grinned.

    Rein turned his head sides to see Suey stripping out of her leather gear in a huff, ending up in only undergarments wrapped in the Halls robe.

    ¡°Calm yourself, silly one,¡± chortled Sect Leader Meynzy.

    She waved her arm. Rein, Suey, and Aizen felt their bodies lifted into the air by some unknown means, and they floated behind as the Sect Leader led them in flight towards the central mountain peak in the area.

    On arrival, Rein¡¯s eyes came upon an exquisite wooden structure decorated with carvings of swans.

    ¡°This is the temple of love trials.¡±

    A man dressed in a similar intertwining of blue and lavender streamed robe was already waiting in front of this temple.

    ¡°Seeing as Aizen recommended you, we will hold this trial to test if you¡¯re worthy of our assistance. If so, we simply expect you to also provide assistance to other lovers during your future journeys. You are also welcome to join us if you ever become shell advancers.¡±

    ¡°Let the trial begin!¡± The temple was split into two paths. Meynzy gestured for Rein to follow her.

    ¡°You will follow my husband Aihr.¡±

    Suey followed the man down the other path.

    Rein trailed after Meynzy into a half-room filled with various wooden furniture. Many carvings of couples engaging in various acts decorated the walls.

    ¡°You had better be honest, youngling,¡± said Meynzy. ¡°We telekinetic advancers are not easy to trick. Especially when it comes to perceiving love.¡±

    Rein nodded, He wondered what this trial might be.

    ¡°Do you love her?¡± Meynzy¡¯s words sent Rein into a double-take. Was he simply going to be interrogated? Rein could only sigh as he decided that it was best to be honest. Although he might have fooled Baejenh in the past, it was probably because Baejenh¡¯s truth-seeking art relied on detecting killing intent, and she was possibly going easy on him as well. He wasn¡¯t sure if Meynzy might have a different truth-seeking art.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rein replied. ¡°I¡¯m not even certain what love is meant to feel, to be like.¡± He had felt numb after the events in the Golden Desert Town. Ever since then, he was never quite sure of where he stood when it came to love.

    ¡°Yet, you dare to come here, knowing that we only seek lovers?!¡± Meynzy glared at the youngling in front of her, miffed at his response. ¡°What would your partner Suey feel if she heard your words? I know she must have thrown herself at you many times.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never sought to deceive her in any way,¡± replied Rein. ¡°I can only treat her fairly for her desires. As long as she does me no harm, I do sincerely hope she will live a good life. That she would save her home. I¡¯ve already lost my home, and am willing to give her a hand if I am in the position to do so.¡± Rein believed that such information would not reveal Suey¡¯s unique nature in any shape or form.

    ¡°As for coming here,¡± Rein continued undauntingly, ¡°I may not know what love is anymore, but I am certain that I wish for her to obtain methods such that she can grow stronger and more capable, to increase her chances at success.¡±

    ¡°As for our physical pleasure¡­ My upbringing has long taught me that it can exist without emotional intimacy. As such, I dare not claim that love has birthed itself out of our interaction. Regardless, I have no intention of mistreating her.¡±

    ¡°Is it only for her benefit? Or yours?¡± Sect Leader Meynzy harrumphed unhappily.

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that one of the arts I hope she will obtain is the water-based tempering art of your sect. I, myself, am a body-temperer, and do not wish to have to hold back during our¡­ fun. Her increase in strength will also increase our mission success rate, which is certain to provide both me and her with many benefits.¡±

    Meynzy¡¯s expression turned inscrutable, as she squinted at Rein before her. She suddenly had an odd feeling that the man before her was but a numbskull.

    Meanwhile, she shared senses with her husband-- they ruled the Harmony Sect together, and all the information she had just obtained was transmitted to the man through divine sense. The information her husband received was also sent to her.

    ¡°Your partner dared not claim to be in love with you. What say you?¡± He bluntly informed Suey.

    ¡°I don¡¯t blame him,¡± muttered Suey with a lowered head. ¡°I was desperate for progress and thus launched myself at him.¡±

    ¡°But your physical intimacy?¡±

    ¡°There are sex slaves across the realm. Some are even captured just to function as cauldrons, power sources for the eventual devourer. I never expected love to be born out of it.¡±

    ¡°So do you love him?¡±

    ¡°A version of him.¡±

    Aihr widened his eyes. A version of  him? By the fallen gods-- what does that even mean?

    ¡°Has he done anything¡­ romantic for you?¡± He asked. ¡°Flowers? Sharing the most aromatic tea at sunset?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Suey shook her head. ¡°But he did buy a unique face paint to decorate my scar. I use it every day.¡±

    In the other room.

    ¡°So¡­ you bought cobalt blue face paint sourced from the Golden Desert for her?¡± Meynzy pointed out. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Rein shrugged. ¡°She told me that her scar reminded her of the necessity of saving her home, and she was clearly also concerned about her looks. I had knowledge of this lovely paint, so I simply purchased it. If a stranger on the street told me a similar concern, I would give the very same recommendation.¡±

    Rein¡¯s words only made the woman squint her eyes even narrower.

    Back to Suey¡¯s room.

    ¡°Do you not wish for him to shower you with flowers?¡± Aihr questioned.

    ¡°I am not a naive woman,¡± Suey beamed. ¡°Some men shower their women with flowers while fooling with many on the side. Others, despite their loving displays, abandon you the moment the sky falls.¡±

    ¡°I wish for him to gather strength. If he spends an extra few heartbeats everyday gathering strength instead of buying flowers, he¡¯d be far stronger in the future, for me. The occasional display of his heart is a good enough surprise for me!¡± She had a determined expression.

    ¡°That is true. And yet, feelings must be cultivated, no? To encourage his presence on the day of a sky falling,¡± Aihr probed.

    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Suey shook her head with a small smile. ¡°Many men do not take action simply because of their feelings. At least¡­ I believe when the time comes, Rein will do what needs to be done. I, too, strive to be such a person. If I require a man to hand me flowers in order for me to take the correct course of action, to adopt the correct set of behaviors¡­ then I am simply¡­ lesser.¡±

    ¡°If one day our hearts combine to become something more¡­ Well, such a thing cannot be forced.¡±

    Meynzy and Aihr communicated with one another. What an odd couple. And yet¡­ they felt that there was something potentially beautiful hidden underneath it all. Just that, a step was skipped¡­

    ¡°We will proceed to the final test,¡± the husband and wife simultaneously stated. ¡°Strip.¡±

 Ch67: A Heart-wrenching Final Test

    Rein was only somewhat surprised by these words. The Harmony Sect had a rather dubious reputation within the orthodox sects due to their infamous debauchery.

    The wall that separated the two rooms vanished as Sect Leader Meynzy snapped her fingers. Rein witnessed the sight of the other Harmony Sect Leader, Aihr, forcibly undo the sash and disrobe Suey into her undergarments. She had no ability to resist the powerful telekinetic advancer.

    ¡°The advancer world is a harsh world,¡± whispered Meynzy softly. ¡°Some mortals who enter this world fail to understand that they only live under law and order because someone in a position of power enforced those principles of human civilization¡­¡±

    ¡°Take the western wilderness. One could murder, steal, rape and not be caught and punished for it. Both the heavenly and hell realms have numerous locations of both opportunity but also risk, where these sorts of deeds go unpunished.¡±

    ¡°Some prefer to look away, ignoring this reality. We Harmony Sect cannot-- our disciples and partial members must always deal with the possibility of losing a loved one to the most evil of acts.¡± Meynzy paused and glanced at her husband¡¯s actions. Rein followed her sight.

    Aihr used a cloning art, and five figures now surrounded Suey. Her arms were forcibly tied above her head with a rope while the five hands of the man roughly groped every finger of her body.

    Then, these clones transformed into the images of bandits and mercenaries!

    ¡°You see. After the Convergence Sect deemed you a target, we performed our own investigation,¡± Meynzy said. ¡°We know your home was razed to the ground by hired mercenaries and bandits¡­Although you may know this is but a test, the human heart is not so easy to control.¡±

    Her words rang true. Rein certainly felt discomfort at the sight.

    ¡°If you wish for it to stop, you can say so¡­¡± whispered Meynzy. ¡°However, she will not receive that water-based tempering art if that is your choice.¡±

    Rein felt conflicted for a few heartbeats, but his mind soon calmed. The water-based tempering art mentioned would be critical for Suey in following years, maybe even centuries to come. Luckily, he had come to terms with the events while training under Chenhr. His half-senior Chenhr had lashed him with many words during those six months, and Rein now discovered that his ability to control his mind had risen to an extreme height.

    Sect Leader Meynzy snapped her fingers again, and invisible hands stripped Rein of his clothing. Meynzy teasingly spun as she undid the sash on her robes, her melons swinging and swaying as she twirled.

    Her delicate hands soon began working on his stiffening rod, fingernails tracing the underside. Her voluptuousness was a contrast to Suey¡¯s form, and Rein¡¯s eyes could not resist her enormous rack¡¯s hypnotizing movement.

    ¡°What tempering art are you practicing? This snake is magnificent and beastly in ways I¡¯ve never seen~¡± A chair controlled by telekinesis swept Rein into a sitting position and Meynzy knelt between his legs, wrapping her soft yet devastating pillows around his manhood.

    Rein did not deign to answer this question. He knew he did not need to-- it was taboo to talk about another¡¯s art in the advancer world.

    ¡°No wonder you desire for her to gain a tempering skill¡­ she would break under your dangerous tool¡­¡±

    Rein closed his eyes, wishing to forget what was occurring in the opposite of the room and enjoy this Sect Leader¡¯s heavenly orbs. A biting sensation around his stick opened his eyes.

    ¡°Rein. Keep your eyes on Suey. Or you will fail this test.¡± Sect Leader Meynzy¡¯s words forced Rein to point his eyes back to Suey. The sight of those five mercenaries and bandits raised his discomfort again, but he remained stiff under ministrations of the mature sect leader¡¯s wondrous rack.

    One figure inserted his manhood into Suey¡¯s love tunnel.

    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ incredibly loose¡­¡± muttered the Aihr clone.

    ¡°Rein has already wrecked me!¡± Suey declared proudly.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± an Aihr clone scoffed. ¡°Just a moment ago, you¡¯ve already sprayed your honey just from our hands alone. Do you know these mercenaries and bandits were the ones who destroyed Rein¡¯s hometown? Shameless woman!¡± Two Aihr clones adjusted Suey before positioning themselves, one under and one on top, to simultaneously place their rods into said loosened tunnel!

    Aihr¡¯s words and actions caused Suey to struggle briefly, but Aihr is a telekinetic advancer after all. Soon the two clones hammered into her and the other three clones roughly tweaked the beauty¡¯s sensitive nipples while occasionally laying a red handprint on her glossy beige skin.

    ¡°Look at Rein!¡± Aihr ordered as he began further raising his clones¡¯ tempo.

    Rein and Suey¡¯s eyes met and the minx came to a climax as she arched her slender red-hand printed form with a erotic moan. She could see the somewhat conflicted expression in his eyes.

    ¡°No... Rein! I¡­¡± The two Aihr clones continued their relentless assault and she continued writhing and twisting her body sensuously as a tear rolled down her right cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my celest! I¡­ My body has long betrayed me! I never wished to¡­I¡¯m just a¡­ slut!¡± She squealed as she was sent to another body-wrecking peak. The two Aihr clones reached their limit and simultaneously forced themselves as deep as possible before coating the woman¡¯s insides.

    The five clones stood and discarded Suey to the ground, who laid on her side with her hands between her legs. She dared not meet Rein¡¯s eyes and stared with fear at the wooden floor of the temple.

    Rein soon also reached his limit between Meynzy¡¯s jiggling melons, and coated the Harmony Sect Leader¡¯s upper torso with a grunt. He himself felt rather mortified at having been brought to a climax while witnessing the mercenaries and bandits ravishing Suey. Although he knew they were just clones with illusory appearances, and it was all just a test¡­ he could not dispel his current ill feelings.

    Meynzy gave a strong kick into Suey¡¯s abdomen, causing the ashamed woman to whimper.

    ¡°You see my perfect breasts?¡± The Harmony Sect Leader swayed her melons while standing over Suey. Suey had a slender form with ample chest, but it was nothing compared to Meynzy¡¯s. ¡°Your celest must have felt horrible watching your performance. And yet I still brought him pleasure.¡±

    What kind of test was this? Rein began to think coming to the Harmony Sect was a horrible idea. Before he could indulge this thought, the Harmony Sect Leader approached him again, her orbs swaying with weight and her hips swinging left and right.

    ¡°Rein¡­¡± She whispered into his right ear. ¡°We women¡­ our love tunnel can recover even from the largest of insertions, being capable of giving birth. I hope you are aware of it. If Suey is this loose, it¡¯s because she opted to modify her internal body herself, whether consciously or subconsciously, to suit your needs. I can see your tempering art has a rather strong side effect on your¡­ tool.¡±

    Both Aihr and Meynzy exited the temple, leaving Rein and Suey inside by themselves.

    They stood outside and closed the temple doors again to give the two younglings inside privacy.

    Aihr sighed. ¡°Was this necessary?¡± He always felt conflicted after performing such tests.

    ¡°It is, husband,¡± replied Meynzy. ¡°Two cannot be lovers unless they are able to resolve these potential issues.¡±

    ¡°You know it yourself,¡± she continued. ¡°These moments define a couple. Will they develop ill will against one another? Will they be able to come to an agreement and understanding? Will they hold long-term deep-seated blame? One cannot be truly a couple worthy of the Harmony Sect unless they can resolve such issues and face realities of life.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Within the Temple of Love Trials.

    Rein closed his eyes and sighed. He sunk deep into thought. After the time it took for an incense to burn, he opened his eyelids again-- his eyes had gained a gleaming brightness in the dim interior temple, like stars in a dark night sky.

    He picked up the sweaty nude form of Suey and sat back down in the chair. Suey rested her head and raven hair against his chest as she failed to control another tear from rolling down her right cheek. She pressed herself against his muscular-toned chest, seeking his warmth.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my celest,¡± she whispered as she held back a choke. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have performed my divination with such reckless abandon. Even now¡­ all those timelines of me becoming a sex slave is etched into my body.¡±

    Rein only stroked her silky hair in response.

    ¡°I¡­ I was also born with a bloodline of seductive qualities,¡± Suey continued as she wrapped her hand in a partial pink shell filled with pheromone power. ¡°And I know I will definitely use it if it becomes necessary to protect my home. I¡¯m¡­ just a broken woman after all¡­¡±

    ¡°This home of yours,¡± Rein replied in a calm tone. ¡°If I can, I will give you a hand. As long as you do not become an obstacle to what I hope to achieve-- determining my younger brother¡¯s fate. Or rooting out the source of my family¡¯s destruction in the Dingien Clan.¡±

    ¡°It is unnecessary for you to continue throwing your body at me. I will still give you a hand when the time comes.¡± Unknown to himself, Rein felt it right. One might think Suey had used her body to seduce him into such an action. Rein knew this was not so-- after all, if Xeeseir now asked for a hand in a task he deemed noble, he would act as well.

    ¡°Even if you save my home and change these disastrous futures that I see¡­ I will still put my body in danger,¡± Suey said as another tear rolled down her cheek. ¡°I need to infiltrate sects. To bring back advancer arts for my home. For my home and its people will experience many more extermination wars in the future, endlessly. I wish that no accidents would occur, but there is no perfection-- sooner or later, I will be captured and my body played with, treated as nothing but a piece of pleasure meat¡­ Will you abandon me then¡­?¡±

    Perhaps no other man would bear having such a woman. Rein sighed. He was different, having been brought up in a merchant house. He had seen many women sacrificing their bodies for their families and merchant houses. He recalled a rule that many merchant households abided by when it came to partners having fun, or using their bodies to secure deals.

    ¡°As long as you abide by a few rules.¡±

    ¡°That being¡­?¡±

    ¡°If you were to become pregnant with a child not of mine¡­ you must kill that child.¡± Rein¡¯s statement would shock many. ¡°In addition, you can only provide those others with physical pleasures. And you must answer to me immediately if I were to call for you.¡±

    ¡°I accept!¡± Suey immediately agreed to these rules.

    ¡°Do not accept so easily,¡± Rein shook his head. ¡°If the baby conceived from another man were to grow inside your belly¡­ you will still feel a connection to said child.¡±

    ¡°I do accept!¡± Suey repeated herself.

    Due to his upbringing, Rein¡¯s views on physical pleasures are quite different to the norm. It was just what Suey needed. She knew that her chosen path was likely to put off many other men. Luckily, the man she had picked out from her many visions of the future was such a person.

    ¡°The mercenaries and bandits¡­¡± Suey muttered, bringing back up that moment of disgust.

    ¡°I do not blame you for this. You performed divination to save your home. It is only unfortunate that all these futures have similar results, thus etching its effect on your body,¡± Rein¡¯s voice was firm in his judgment. ¡°Worry not. If I last the conflict and become an outer advancer, I will create a hundred-- no-- a thousand of such clones. They will be your punishment then, slut kitten.¡±

    Rein lifted Suey¡¯s chin and brought his lips against hers. They shared a long and deep kiss.

    As for his own guilt of having come to a climax while watching Suey¡¯s earlier ravishment? He had long come to terms with it.

    ¡°You did look quite delicious writhing in those five¡¯s arms. It¡­ was a good show,¡± he hesitantly praised Suey.

    ¡°When it comes to Sect Leader Meynzy¡¯s¡­¡± Rein hesitated, recalling how that Sect Leader had intentionally mocked Suey.

    ¡°She does have the largest pair of breasts I¡¯ve ever seen¡­¡± Suey interjected playfully with a glimmer in her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, my celest. You have my permission to ravish any woman.¡±

    ¡°And even impregnate them,¡± she added with a sensuous whisper. Rein was astonished at her words. He had demanded the woman to kill any children in her womb not of his. He had thought that she would demand the same. Not so, it seems.

    ¡°Just ensure they understand that this¡­¡± Suey wrapped her hand around his recovering manhood, ¡°conquering dragon belongs to me. Ensure they envy me. I have the first right in your heart!¡±

    ¡°All these other women and children¡­ enlist them to defend my home!¡± This statement of Suey enlightened Rein as to why she did not mind him having children with other women¡­ what deviousness!

    ¡°Unfortunately, I cannot have you be first in my heart,¡± he replied.

    ¡°What¡¯s first?!¡± Suey glared. She had recovered from her earlier dismal state, and was teasingly running her delicate fingers over the lumps and knots of Rein¡¯s transformed manhood.

    ¡°Strength!¡± Rein declared. ¡°Without it, I might not be able to achieve my goals, or provide assistance to your home¡¯s defense. Or even survive the western wilderness.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯m second?¡± Suey¡¯s gaze softened.

    ¡°No. Second is¡­ fairness!¡± Rein declared. ¡°If you murdered a whole town of mortals, I will have to hunt and take your life!¡± Just as he had attacked Wolf Syrup Town.

    ¡°I would kill myself if I performed such an egregious act!¡± quipped Suey. ¡°Then¡­¡±

    ¡°You can be third,¡± Rein smiled.

    ¡°Good enough¡­¡± Suey pouted cutely.

    The pair got dressed and found the Sect Leaders of the Harmony Sect waiting patiently outside. Seeing their revitalized eyes, Meynzy and Aihr shared a look of relief.

    ¡°We will now bring you to our many inheritances.¡± The two sect leaders flicked their sleeves, picking up Rein and Suey with an invisible force. They flew through the air towards another mountain peak, entering a tower with a ¡®Inheritance Library¡¯ plaque.

    During the flight, Meynzy explained more on the Harmony Sect.

    ¡°We are a branch of a larger Harmony Sect of an upper realm,¡± she explained. ¡°We Harmony Sect are quite different from your usual sect. Our techniques are generally based with¡­ the connection of a man and a woman in mind, and serve to enhance this experience. Of course, usually, these skills can be used for combat as well.¡±

    ¡°As such, we are unable to recruit those under age. Thus, we have to stick with finding unknown rogue advancers, marketing and recruiting for our sect through pleasure houses, and being more willing to distribute some of our sect''s inheritances to build support among those not of our sect¡¯s full membership. Some of these members become full disciples eventually.¡±

    ¡°Suey¡­my dear¡­¡± Meynzy pitied the woman as they landed before the Inheritance Library. ¡°You will be allowed to pick anything you want.¡±

    Rein was amazed by this. Aizen was already waiting for them at the Inheritance Library, and he, too, was astonished when informed of this by the Harmony Sect Leaders before they left to attend to other matters.

    Was there a reason for this? Rein did not know. He was certainly glad though.

    As promised, Suey received the water-based tempering art. Its actual name was the ¡®Boundless Dissipation Tempering Art¡¯. A long established tempering art that allowed a body to be incredibly flexible, stretchy, and dissipate forces through and off the body. If one were to attach themselves to a body of water such as a lake, the body would be able to send forces acting on the body through the lake itself.

    This art was quite different to that of Convergence Sect. It aimed to weaken and dissipate. The Convergence Sect arts had no interest in dissipating the forces, and instead sought to maintain their strength and further combine pulses together to create a powerful blow.

    They peered through many other inheritances. Many of them required pairs, such as engaging in physical pleasures to gather aurae for one another.

    Aizen soon led them to the highest room of the tower.

    ¡°These are the forbidden arts¡­¡± muttered Aizen in a daze.

    The guards of this doorway had already been informed by the sect leaders. The three easily entered the forbidden floor at the top of the tower.

    It did not take long for Suey to begin spinning in joy as she pressed herself against Rein while handing him two booklets.

    One had the name, ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯. The other was ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯.

    Aizen widened his eyes at Suey¡¯s choices.

    ¡°For you to pick this¡­¡± Aizen released a nervous breath. ¡°The sect leaders must have known that this is what you wanted. Another name of this is called the ¡®Slave Cauldron¡¯ Art, after it was bastardized by the devils¡­¡±

    After reading through the manual, Rein felt uneasy with the art. It is an aurae gathering technique for couples to use, but one of the couples would effectively become a cauldron for the other. This person would effectively be in a position where at any time, their strength and power could be absorbed by the one not the cauldron!

    In their case, Suey would be the cauldron while Rein functioned as the key.

    ¡°I do not think it¡¯s necessary to go this far.¡± Not even Rein trusted himself with such a power. Who knew if one day he would lose his way and become a devilish being?

    ¡°It¡¯s my choice!¡± Suey demanded and then blinked coquettishly at Rein. ¡°I won¡¯t feel assured unless it¡¯s this one¡­¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Aizen furrowed his brows. ¡°This art has been abused by bad actors, but its original intention has much value in it. It has a unique strength.¡±

    ¡°Unique strength?¡±

    ¡°Yes, brother Rein. This art employs a law of universal truth. Such advancer arts tend to display more power to their counterparts. This art integrates elements of sacrificial law and balance law!¡±

 Ch68: Sole Cauldron Art

    ¡°The original name was far better for one¡¯s ears, but that name has long been lost,¡± Aizen continued. ¡°Especially after the misuse of this art by many.¡±

    ¡°This art¡¯s strength lies in the fact that the ¡®cauldron¡¯ ties herself to the ¡®key¡¯. Many other paired-aurae gathering magics give their users the freedom to perform their art with many different partners. Some prefer one partner, but there is usually a high degree of freedom.¡±

    ¡°This ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ art binds the ¡®cauldron¡¯ to the ¡®key¡¯ permanently. Naturally, this is a huge risk for the ¡®cauldron¡¯, but it also activates the inherent laws of sacrifice and balance within the fabric of the universe.¡±

    ¡°Meaning, the one playing the role of the ¡®cauldron¡¯ gains many benefits at the price of having the fatal weakness to the ¡®key¡¯.¡±

    ¡°The Convergence Sect¡­¡± Rein muttered wide-eyed.

    ¡°Yes, brother,¡± confirmed Aizen. ¡°The Convergence Sect¡¯s arts sacrifice the power of certain pulses to gather power into one singular attack. They, too, employ this universal law.¡± This confirmed the Convergence Sect¡¯s methods.

    Rein began examining the booklet on this art within his hands. Suey was filled with excitement, brazenly staring into Rein¡¯s eyes, wishing for his agreement to perform this art with her.

    The booklet listed many benefits of this art. For one, the ¡®cauldron¡¯ would become near untouchable except to the ¡®key¡¯. Although Rein and Suey are still inner advancers, if they practiced this art, even if that horrific future Suey had seen were to come to pass, perhaps not even outer advancers would be able to absorb the aurae power gathered within Suey. The law activated by the price she sacrificed for this art activated this realm-breaking defense.

    And if both Rein and Suey raised their realms and practiced this art as shell advancers, then Suey would be resistant to the plundering attempts of a telekinetic devil.

    Rein could see why this art was placed in the forbidden section of the Harmony Sect¡¯s library. Whoever created this art, assuming they were well-intentioned, must have intended this art to be used for protecting a loved one from being captured and her powers plundered.

    However, such an art could also be used by one of devilish nature to turn another into one¡¯s complete slave. Aizen could see that Rein had gained at least a surface-level understanding of this art¡¯s nature.

    ¡°The issue is when a couple using this art separates from one another on a sour note¡­¡± he added. ¡°Often, those situations do not end well. Or¡­ if the two end up playing around outside of their relationship with one another, and fail to navigate such a situation¡­¡±

    Rein glanced at Suey¡¯s devoted eyes, and he himself felt fear. Rein was not concerned about compatibility-- this art could be combined with all other advancer methods. Instead, he had no desire to use this art because of the weight of responsibility it would place on the ¡®key¡¯.

    ¡°No.¡± Rein disengaged himself from Suey¡¯s embrace. ¡°This is wholly unnecessary. I will still give you a hand when you so require.¡± At least, Rein did not fully trust himself. Chenhr had made him aware that he occasionally had streaks of recklessness.

    ¡°My celest¡­¡± Suey pouted. ¡°I want it. I desire it! If¡­ even if things might turn sour, I will risk the price!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Rein began to feel agitated. He felt that this was madness.

    ¡°So she picked this forbidden art¡­¡± Sect Leader Meynzy had returned along with Aihr after tending to some sect affairs. The two observed a crestfallen Suey and an agitated Rein.

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid,¡± Aihr stated as he sternly glared at Rein.

    ¡°I simply do not trust myself. No one should.¡± Rein replied as he squared his jaw.

    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s more than that.¡±

    ¡°I know myself!¡± Rein was becoming flustered.

    ¡°Do you?!¡± Sect Leader Aihr came before Rein and placed an arm firmly onto Rein¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Look into my eyes!¡± Rein stared into the man¡¯s eyes and his surroundings warped into an empty space!

    ¡°Where is this?¡± Rein asked as he looked around at a number of crystals.

    ¡°Your memory space,¡± Aihr replied. ¡°We of the telekinetic realm can examine our own memories, and assist ones such as you in aligning your mind.¡±

    ¡°Have you examined your memories of Suey? Go ahead.¡±

    Rein willed his mind and the crystals relating to Suey surrounded his body. He peered into each and every one. It was like re-experiencing parts of his life from an outsider perspective, giving him far more insight into himself.

    ¡°Do you see? The dissonance within your mind?¡± Aihr pointed out. ¡°You claim you are numb to her approach. Yet through the sexy fun times, she reminds you of your merchant lifestyle. You also claim you are simply being kind when you feel guilt and choose to take care of her, such as bringing her Golden Desert face paint.¡±

    ¡°Even recently, the two of you shared your hearts after the final test me and my wife delivered upon you. You claimed to feel nothing yet agreed to having her third in your heart.¡±

    ¡°So the two of you did listen in after all!¡± Rein defended himself with a pointed criticism of Aihr¡¯s spying.

    ¡°It was a part of the test,¡± Aihr replied. ¡°We are being incredibly generous with providing our advancer arts as is. Now realign your dissonant mind!¡±

    ¡°I was¡­ simply playing along,¡± Rein hesitatingly explained. ¡°I only clarified that I needed strength to protect her, and needed to be fair so that I do not become similar to those who slaughtered my hometown!¡±

    ¡°Then should you not treat her fairly? For her devotion?¡± grumbled Aihr with a sharp glare.

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid, Rein,¡± Aihr accused. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of forming a deep bond. You¡¯re afraid of losing another loved one again. You fear being responsible for Suey. Do not hide from yourself.¡±

    ¡°This ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art-- if things ever turn sour, you are fully capable of simply walking away without causing further harm. We men must be stoic, and act appropriately. Walking away without being caught up-- you have the ability to do so if necessary. Let us end this here.¡±

    A snap of his fingers and Rein found himself returned to reality. To those present, barely any time had passed. Rein¡¯s eyes glowered into Aihr¡¯s challenging gaze, but he failed to maintain this confrontation, deep down realizing that there was truth to Aihr¡¯s words.

    Sect Leader Aihr warmly smiled at his wife when they shared a look. ¡°It is done,¡± he telepathically informed her.

    ¡°For you to go out of your way¡­¡± She communicated through their divine sense connection.

    ¡°We were sent here for a purpose of connecting hearts,¡± Aihr replied. ¡°However, the Grand Ancestor also stated that during our many years here, we would, at some point in time, return a favor in her stead.¡±

    ¡°You think these two are connected?¡±

    ¡°Who knows.¡±

    Their telepathic communication ended here.

    Rein sighed and wriggled a finger, bidding Suey to return to his side. He had the mental capacity to acknowledge Aihr¡¯s words, but it would no doubt be a process that he wasn¡¯t confident of navigating. He should try, at least. Relaxing his mind and just allowing it all to happen.

    Suey¡¯s crestfallen expression transformed as she leaped with joy into Rein¡¯s embrace. They shared a sloppy kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The minx then hooked her slender legs around his waist and began grinding in full view of the others.

    ¡°Behave yourself, slut kitten,¡± he hissed as his manhood began rising. He supported Suey¡¯s posture by roughly handling her round bum.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Suey cooed. ¡°I¡¯ll soon be my celest¡¯s¡­ slave kitten~¡± She was, of course, referring to the implied nature of the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art.

    The two Harmony Sect Leaders were not perturbed. The two instead embraced each other as well.

    ¡°Do you see how small and vulnerable she looks against his frame¡­?¡± Meynzy muttered to Aihr.

    ¡°You enjoy observing such a scene?¡± Aihr asked. Meynzy murmured her approval.

    Their words certainly made Rein more conscious of his own transformation. When he had first met Suey, she was only half-a-head shorter. After he had gone through his body-tempering, Suey now felt almost petite against his frame. His eyes filled with a strong desire to rail this kitten immediately.

    ¡°Hold your horses,¡± Meynzy interrupted the flame in Rein¡¯s eyes. ¡°Allow us to assist you in activating the ¡®One Cauldron¡¯ Art. With our inscriptions, we can kick start the process such that Suey would have protection against telekinetic advancers, maybe even those above.¡±

    ¡°Additionally, you should examine some of the other effects that you can combine with the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art. This advancer art is unique in that certain effects added on trigger a higher degree of the laws of sacrifice and balance within, further strengthening the art¡¯s defense.¡±

    ¡°Also, as the ¡®key¡¯, do recognize that your key has to be unique. Occasionally, you will need to use the memory of the ¡®key¡¯ to adjust and upgrade the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ art when your own powers advance.¡±

    Rein was not at all concerned about this. At least, he believed himself to be a unique key His aura consisted of the spatial-elemental base of a fallen god, draconic lightning, basic wood, and a tempered body of the draconic nature. That kind of combination made a very unique key that was nigh on impossible to imitate.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡°Kitten. Take your pick.¡±

    ¡°My celest,¡± Suey huskily whispered as she reached down to free his dragon from his trousers. ¡°I¡¯m your sole cauldron. It is you who should pick.¡±

    Rein flipped through the booklet, looking for a combination that he believed would be useful, doing his best to resist being distracted by the sensation of Suey pressing her abdomen against the underside of his rod.

    A cursory glance and he could see his girth one-fourth the width of Suey¡¯s narrow waist.

    ¡°Did you enjoy that young and loose harlot earlier on, hmmm?¡± Suey¡¯s debauchery had spread to the two Harmony Sect Leaders. Meynzy brought up her dissatisfaction with her husband¡¯s enjoyment of Suey in their earlier test.

    ¡°No.. I¡­ well, she was writhing and--¡±

    ¡°How could you blame her? It was you who took such action¡­¡± Meynzy¡¯s words made Aihr speechless. Was she jealous over the test?

    Hoping to dispel the lascivious air, Rein announced his decision.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided,¡± he stated with the booklet opened to a page. ¡°I will integrate this increased sensitivity art to strengthen the core of the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ protection mechanism.¡±

    Suey, who had been enjoying the threatening sensation of his stiffness pressing against her belly, gasped at his choice.

    ¡°My¡­ my celest¡­¡± she whispered, both nervous yet excited. ¡°I¡¯ll become even more of a nympho!¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Rein seriously explained in a deep voice that tickled Suey¡¯s left ear. ¡°You stated that if those futures were to change, you¡¯d still put yourself at risk to search for advancer arts to strengthen your home.¡±

    ¡°I thought to myself¡­ if ever you were to be caught and ravished¡­ I should be the one responsible.¡± Rein wondered if Suey understood his thoughts.

    It took a few heartbeats of contemplation before Suey¡¯s eyes brightened in epiphany.

    ¡°Yes, my celest¡­¡± She mumbled. ¡°If I were to behave like a slut after being captured by these other men and women¡­ It would be your fault! For increasing my body¡¯s sensitivities! I won¡¯t be at fault for my body¡¯s reaction!¡± She ferociously hammered Rein¡¯s chest at this point cutely. ¡°It¡¯ll be completely your fault if my body betrays me!¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Rein confirmed. ¡°But once I recapture your body, I will still punish you. That I promise.¡±

    ¡°Asshole¡­¡± cooed Suey as she pressed her lips into Rein¡¯s again.

    Rein did not fully know if this was the proper course of action. However, he wished to give Suey an anchor in her mind. Such that she could take action to protect her home. Not necessarily without fear, but with the ability to maintain a sane mind regardless of potential failures.

    As for himself? He initially wished to stop Suey from such risky actions, but then he realized-- he himself would be willing to take such risks if it meant he could have protected his destroyed Golden Desert Town. Thus, he reached the decision to steel Suey¡¯s mind and provide her with an anchor of sorts, instead of blocking her path.

    Sect Leader Meynzy and Aihr were both panting heavily, but they separated themselves.

    ¡°Let us begin. Lay down on your back and spread your legs.¡±

    Rein lowered Suey onto the ground, and his kitten, red-faced, opened her tantalizingly long legs open to reveal her dripping flower.

    The two Harmony Sect Leaders both held an inkbrush in their hands, and Suey moaned as the two ink brushes dipped into her honeypot. Meynzy and Aihr then began drawing across her abdomen, waist, and fleshy thighs.

    Soon, an intricate aurae inscription was drawn with the couple¡¯s telekinetic aurae. The couple picked up the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art booklet, and checked a few pages to ensure that the inscription had been done correctly. Normally, this process would not be necessary, but the two wished to use their telekinetic realm to strengthen the defense.

    ¡°Ravish her.¡± Meynzy ordered.

    Rein nodded, but he did not immediately perform the act. Instead, he teasingly dragged the tip of his dragon against Suey¡¯s opening.

    His kitten twisted her hips in desperation while whining and cooing.

    ¡°Please¡­!¡± She finally yelled shamelessly. ¡°Turn me into your cauldron. Your slave kitten!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll ensure you regret this,¡± Rein sternly stated as he rammed himself into Suey in one go. This would not have been possible if Suey hadn¡¯t already begun modifying her love tunnel. Despite Rein¡¯s increased girth, he still felt a comfortable fit.

    Rein pressed Suey¡¯s form against the ground, her legs straight and spread wide. He was relentless, sending those legs quivering in the air many times.

    ¡°Focus and circulate the art properly,¡± reminded Aihr as he observed the two. Rein nodded-- he had been performing the circulation method, but he wasn¡¯t sure if Suey, writhing under his weight, managed to maintain her focus. Luckily, she had the assistance of that drawn inscription.

    ¡°Do it!¡± Suey squealed.

    Rein acquiesced and injected his fluids deep into Suey¡¯s womb. The inscription around her abdomen and thighs lit up upon his act, and then faded into Suey¡¯s skin, leaving only a few artistic dark purple lines forming the sides of a cauldron stretching upwards from her snatch to her belly.

    A tear of joy rolled down Suey¡¯s cheeks, and Rein tenderly brushed away the tear as he took in her lovely cobalt blue jagged pattern on her cute face.

    ¡°Now, for the add-on strengthening effect.¡±

    Rein stepped backwards, and Meynzy undressed herself as she made efforts to re-energize Rein with her enormous mountain peaks and her thick lips.

    ¡°Wow.¡± The forgotten Aizen who had stood to the side all this time commented as he saw the copious fluids leaking out of Suey¡¯s embarrassingly wide tunnel.  Suey blushed while feeling rather proud of herself at the same time.

    Aihr ignored Aizen¡¯s exclamation and began drawing another inscription that connected to those dark purple lines.

    Thanks to the ministrations of Meynzy, Rein gained a second wind, and began the same process once AIhr completed and confirmed the inscription design.

    Suey¡¯s eyes rolled backwards as Rein¡¯s delivery of liquids integrated the increased sensitivity art.

    ¡°By Xune¡¯s spear,¡± she squealed as she ran her own fingers over her hot body while she twisted and arched in intense pleasure. ¡°This is too much!¡±

    Rein, curious, reached out a hand and flicked peaks of his kitten¡¯s lovely breasts. Suey¡¯s eyes fluttered under her increased sensitivities and Rein could feel her tunnel clenching down on his touch.

    He withdrew himself, and observed the results. The new inscription had also sunk into Suey¡¯s body. All that remained were two small pastel pink swirls that extended from the dark purple lines.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to the altered sensation during your daily life,¡± comforted Meynzy. ¡°Eventually, it will only become truly apparent when you engage in bodily pleasures.¡±

    ¡°Allow me to test your defense.¡± Aihr monotonously said.

    ¡°You just want to taste that young flesh again!¡± accused Meynzy.

    Rein nodded his agreement and gave Suey a teasing wink.

    ¡°Enjoy yourself,¡± he whispered into her ear. ¡°I placed the increased sensitivity into the art just for this.¡±

    ¡°How could you~¡± Suey squealed again as Aihr inserted himself.

    ¡°This is¡­ a bit¡­ loose¡± muttered Aihr. Then, he circulated his own art, attempting to draw aurae from Suey¡¯s body with every thrust.

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± he smiled and confirmed that ¡°the defense is incredibly strong. I am unable to draw and absorb any of her strength.¡±

    He could sense unique spatial and lightning elements that had qualities even he could not identify. Only the wooden element of the lock was basic. He was impressed, but continued thrusting his hips with abandon, filling the forbidden chamber with squelching and slapping noises along with the moans of a pleasured-dazed woman.

    That was when Meynzy¡¯s hand clamped onto Aihr¡¯s left shoulder.

    ¡°Honey. You¡¯ve completed your test, have you not?¡± Sect Leader Meynzy¡¯s voice carried an indecipherable tone, and Aihr knew he was in trouble and thus ceased his actions.

    He sheepishly removed himself and wrapped his robes back around his body.

    The two Harmony Sect Leaders stood side-by-side as Rein assisted Suey in getting dressed. She could barely stand on her feet and seemed to repeatedly rub her body against Rein¡¯s as she sought continued pleasure.

    ¡°Rein and Suey. You are free to leave. However, I do need to remind you,¡± Sect Leader Meynzy said. ¡°The ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art and the accompanying sensitivity art cannot be shared with outsiders. I hope you understand the danger of this becoming common knowledge.¡±

    ¡°The ¡®Boundless Dissipation Tempering¡¯ Art. That is not all that unique of a skill and as such, if you have someone close to you, you are free to share it with them.¡± Suey was overjoyed, for her twin, Jory, would benefit much from this art.

    ¡°Now. The ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯ Art. This is only an incomplete entry version. It is an incredibly unique high-level advancer art, and as such , you can only learn the further tiers in the future after you have mastered the entry-level, and prove your dedication to the Harmony Sect. We have many branches across the realms.¡±

    This art would be very useful to Rein as well.

    ¡°I hope you can see the value of these arts not only in lovemaking, but also in combat. The ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯, for example, will allow you to prevent an enemy severely striking critical parts of your body, such as the heart, and more. This art is also not allowed to be shared with others.¡±

    Rein now had an inkling as to why the Harmony Sect had offered them so many benefits. He was initially already aware that with the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, many others would frown upon him and Suey. Now, they would be tied to the Harmony Sect through the powerful ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯ Art.

    Meynzy continued. ¡°Remember that we of the Harmony Sect, regardless of being half or full disciples, are expected to provide assistance to one another.¡± Two tokens landed in each of Suey and Rein¡¯s hands. ¡°These will allow you to feel a connection to those associated with our sect.¡±

    ¡°Here!¡± Aihr threw another booklet into Rein¡¯s hands. ¡°These are healing arts built upon passionate lovemaking. However, since the two of you use the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, you will only be able to use these recovery arts on one another. Do not share this art with others either.¡±

    ¡°These are our rules. Break them and we will come for your heads.¡± Meynzy stated as she exerted her telekinetic realm that caused Rein and Suey¡¯s minds to shake under a crushing invisible weight. Suey fell onto the ground, and Rein would have failed to remain on his feet if Meynzy did not withdraw her force quickly.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Rein hooked his fingers and bowed in thanks. They had gained much coming to the Harmony Sect. Suey similarly acknowledged the deal after returning to her feet.

    Rein thanked Aizen as well for his help and the two left the Harmony Sect in high-spirits. Suey now sat atop of Rein¡¯s shoulders and Rein could not resist reaching up and squeezing those soft thighs around his neck as they traveled down the mountain peak.

    Suey began grinding her hips against Rein¡¯s neckbone¡­

    ¡°Seriously?¡± Rein mocked.

    ¡°It¡¯s your fault, Rein!¡± exclaimed Suey. ¡°You placed the sensitivity art on me!¡±

    Rein rolled his eyes. Sect Leader Meynzy had stated that the art would not be active during daily activities. This kitten was just finding more excuses to behave inappropriately. Not that he didn¡¯t enjoy her debauchery. They soon rejoined Xeeseir, Jory, Wilo, Dahk and Chirh.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    Beincen was dressed in a black-hooded cloak, Beside him were many other similarly dressed figures, all of House Larne.  The only one not of House Larne was Malak, the slave of fiend bloodline lent to Beincen from Guihnes.

    Beincen had been instructed to only seek his hidden ancestors¡¯ assistance if he hit a brick wall against Rein. Still, he had been given an advancer art belonging to the Sun Sword Sect.

    Only recently had he been informed that the Larne was in fact a prehistoric bird with affinity to the sun. His ancestors drank this prehistoric bird¡¯s blood, and thus, they had an affinity with advancer arts relating to that of the sun and wind.

    ¡°Was the plan executed?¡±

    ¡°Young sir,¡± a man answered. ¡°We¡¯ve already secretly placed the demon luring weed into the target¡¯s caravan. With the predicted impending demon waves these few months, the concentration of demons in the western wilderness has already increased. They are bound to be attacked.¡±

    A path was right before them. The group had hidden here, knowing that Rein and his allies had been instructed to deliver their caravan of supplies to the central Halls outpost.

    They were here to finish off Rein if he somehow managed to defend against the calamity about to be brought on by the demon luring weed.

    The sound of howling could be heard in the distance and Beincen observed a pack of a thousand long-eared wind wolves sprinting eastward from his hidden position in the trunk of a gnarly leafless tree.

    A nasty surprise awaited Rein.

 Ch69: Sieged by Demon Wolves

    Rein was currently feeling extremely conflicted with his actions. For quite some time, he had been beating upon Suey¡¯s willowy waist, his two hands clenched together as he hammered onto her flesh.

    His kitten, back laid across his knees, writhed in pain as his fists struck her soft abdomen. It was not just pain-- Rein could see in her eyes, pleasure within as well.

    Still, though Rein did not wish to perform such action, he had to! He had to accelerate Suey¡¯s mastery of the ¡®Boundless Dissipation Tempering¡¯ Art!

    He finally understood why most women avoided tempering arts. Even those that adopted them would usually only dabble somewhat in it. After all, most tempering arts required torturous training of the body!

    The ¡®Boundless Dissipation Tempering¡¯ Art is a water-based skill that integrates qualities of water into the flesh, designed to allow its user to gain a body that could dissipate even the most powerful of strikes to the body. A vital part of the art involved putting the body under forces to train the dissipation skill.

    Suey¡¯s body was red from his strikes, and the sight filled Rein with guilt. However, his kitten had begged him to use his physical strength to accelerate her training in the art. Luckily, this did not cause any permanent damage to her body. Due to the tempering art being water-based, her flesh would maintain its softness and even become more springy after mastery.

    The process, however¡­

    Rein sighed again. He once thought it ridiculous that many fathers did not pressure their daughters to master tempering arts. He had thought it a no brainer with the dangers of the advancer world. Now, he finally understood.

    Rein then placed a hand around Suey¡¯s neck, and his other on her hips. Applying force through both arms, he used his knee to bend Suey¡¯s body to a painful limit. This was another aspect of the art-- stretching the body to increase flexibility, thereby allowing odd postures to dissipate incoming attacks to the body.

    Examining Suey¡¯s enticing outstretched body, Rein found his manhood rising past the encroaching sky. In fact, this was the actual reason why he felt guilt. During the initial beginnings of the training of this art, this had not happened. Yet, increasingly, he found himself unable to control his reaction as he punished Suey¡¯s body.

    He partly blamed the masochistic woman for writhing and moaning erotically under his hands despite the pain. Suey stuck out her tongue in a cheeky satisfaction when faced with this accusation, before completely absolving herself of responsibility. She blamed her pleasure on the increased sensitivity art now integrated into her body-- thus, to her, the fault laid with Rein!

    In order to feel better about himself, Rein had to go through a mental process. He was quite aware that some women found beat-up men, and scars on a man to be attractive, as it demonstrated their toughness to bear through the very worst.

    This was how he explained the reaction of the dragon between his legs. He simply found it incredibly attractive that this woman could bear through this punishment and even derive pleasure from it, partly for herself but also for him.

    After all, he knew that partly, Suey wanted to master this art so that she could avoid being injured in her nightly battles against his own tempered body. That, and her form was simply too erotic as she arched and writhed on top of his knees¡­

    Rein had been assisting Suey the past few days with practicing this art while they cooperated to lead the horses pulling the caravan towards the central outpost.

    Rein soon leaped onto the lead horse. Suey wrapped her arms around his neck and connected her crotch to his as she relied on the trotting of the horse to pleasure their bodies.

    Both began circulating the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art. Rein had learnt a few tricks from the booklet on the paired healing arts given to him by Aihr.

    Rein had long gained a good experience in the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art over the past few days.

    It was certainly a dastardly advancer art. As he was the ¡®key¡¯, he could completely plunder all of Suey¡¯s gathered aurae, her power, with zero resistance. Normally, a person being plundered would be able to put up some resistance, but the art essentially placed Suey in a position of zero defense against him. Against others, however, she would have a perfect defense.

    While connected, they gathered aurae into their bodies at a significantly increased pace. Currently, this mostly benefited Rein, because Suey was already at the peak of the inner realm. Aside from using some aurae to activate a paired healing art, most of the aurae ended up going into Rein¡¯s body. He had a feeling that very soon, he would reach the peak of the inner realm himself.

    Every trot of the horse elicited a whimper from Suey.

    ¡°Take it¡­ take it all, my celest~¡± the woman nonsensically moaned.

    Rein had been dealing with this crazy ¡®slave¡¯ kitten of his for the past few days. She would often beg him to take and absorb all her strength.

    He naturally did no such thing, but her repeated utterance of this request finally aroused his sadistic desires. He circulated his art and began withdrawing Suey¡¯s powers.

    The kitten¡¯s eyes widened in fear but also desire. She stared into Rein¡¯s dark eyes as she felt her powers leaving her¡­ her mind became a mess as she felt herself dropping to the upper inner realm!

    Rein gripped her hips, and with a single ultimate thrust, returned all of her energies back into her body.

    A tear of relief leaked down her cheek as both of them reached a climax sharing in each other¡¯s flesh.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you¡­ You could have done it and I would not have blamed you~ Are you so soft¡­?¡± she playfully muttered after some time of recovery.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Rein scoffed with false arrogance. ¡°I simply wished to plunder your body after you become a top goddess of the realms. That would be far more attractive. I would be a fool to absorb your strength right now!¡±

    The truth was, of course, that he had the belief that unless he behaved like a reckless fool, he already had the tools to ascend to a greater realm, without needing to plunder the heart of a woman. That was his confidence. Devils, however, might view that as arrogance.

    The two soon redressed themselves after their session.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you reached the shell realm yet?¡± Rein wondered. After practicing the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, Rein could sense that Suey was filled to the brim and effectively stuck at the very top of the inner realm.

    As for psychedelics-- Master Yirn had ordered him to avoid using psychedelics, and he very much wished to better understand the proper process. He especially preferred sticking to Master Yirn¡¯s orders, after coming upon the knowledge that those who avoided psychedelics generally gained the benefit of a better understanding of the advancer realms, and thus a higher level of strength on breakthroughs.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Unless one relies on psychedelics¡­ it is incredibly¡­ difficult to undo the mortal shackles and enter¡­ the first of the demigod realms,¡± Suey replied, still somewhat out of breath from her hard work.

    ¡°To reach the shell realm without psychedelics¡­ one must be able to overcome a mental block that limits one¡¯s mind of the mortal world. Only then, can us mortals fully understand oneself and form the creed of the shell realm!¡±

    ¡°The creed is the start of one¡¯s path in the advancer world. It defines the form of one¡¯s advancer arts. The closer it is to the true heart of said advancer, the brighter and more golden the creed will shine!¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ your mental block? What is it?¡± Rein wasn¡¯t asking just because of curiosity. He simply thought that it would be very helpful to their team if they had a shell advancer. If he could give her a hand¡­

    ¡°You know it already, my celest¡­¡± Suey whispered. ¡°It is because I saw and experienced all those horrific futures. Unless I overcome the mental block formed, I can only rely on a psychedelic to form an incomplete creed. As for whether I can mend the malformed half-path later if I choose to employ psychedelics-- that is uncertain.¡±

    Her words sent Rein into contemplation. What was his mental block? Unlike Suey, he had no knowledge of what his very own mental block might even be!

    It was then that howling sounded in the distance, and when Rein squinted his eyes and peered into the far horizon, he discovered a sea of shadowy shapes to the front of their caravan approaching!

    He immediately rapped his knuckles against the caravan.

    ¡°A group of demon beasts should be approaching,¡± he informed the team.

    ¡°What?! I¡¯ve been meticulously maintaining this camouflage and sensory obscuring inscription!¡± Chirh had been placed in charge of operating the caravan¡¯s defenses. The team assessed that this scaredy cat was most likely to execute this task well due to his fears.

    Chirh had operated the Halls¡¯ many defensive inscriptions on the caravan masterfully. ¡°Something must be off!¡± He immediately declared, having full knowledge that he was and still is a most vigilant controller.

    Rein normally would have rolled his eyes at what he perceived to be Chirh¡¯s maddening suspicions, but he lacked experience of the western wilderness. Was it normal to run into swarms of demons in this entry zone into the western wilderness? How was he to know?

    The team began making preparations for their defenses. They all hoped that the swarm in the distance might not have them as the target, but it soon became apparent that the swarm was coming directly towards them.

    Soon, the team could clearly see their enemies.

    ¡°By the fallen gods,¡± Xeeseir exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s a pack of long-eared wind wolves! Some of their attacks have elements of wind interwoven within, and their long ears allow them to also have a far keener sense of sound along with their keen sense of smell!¡± Xeeseir had been to the western wilderness before. This was something that the members had discovered after the man told stories about some parts of the western wilderness during their mind-numbing ride within the caravan.

    ¡°Found it!¡± Chirh yelled. Rein widened his eyes as he observed Chirh hanging upside down, staring at the underside of the caravan. He brought the horses to a stop, and Chirh crawled underneath the caravan.

    Chirh climbed back out with a weed in his hands. Rein instantly recognized this as the demon luring weed! He recalled this herb thanks to the thousands upon thousands of vegetation recorded within the vision egg provided by his alchemist instructor.

    Chirh activated the most basic of flames to burn away the demon luring weed, but it was already too late. By now, the group was surrounded by a pack of a thousand long-eared wind wolves! The demon wolves circled around the caravan, biding their time against their prey with eerie howls.

    The Iron Ant Team immediately leaped into their defensive position.

    Chirh sat atop the caravan, once again functioning as bait. He continued to activate the defensive inscriptions of the caravan with a hand upon the roof while defended by Dahk. The man quivered in fear, but with the inscriptions activated, the caravan was impenetrable. Thus, any demon wolves that wished to attack him needed to launch themselves to the top of the caravan, a small area defended by Dahk¡¯s swift spear!

    Meanwhile, both Xeeseir and Wilo stayed inside the caravan. The caravan had many narrow slits that could be opened to allow one from within to fire arrows against enemies, and this was perfect for the two.

    The caravan had been pulled along by two horses through their journey-- it would be silly to simply abandon these horses. As such, they disconnected the two and Rein himself leaped upon one, while Suey and Jory rode on the other.

    These horses were trained by the Halls to stay calm under such situations, and had a heightened intelligence. These two, for example, nervously swayed their ears back and forth, but remained calm in their Halls leather armor, fully aware that any attempt to race through the pack of wolves would be even worse.

    A larger-sized wolf, the leader of the pack, soon howled and initiated the attack.

    A first ring of long-eared wind wolves tentatively scooched closer to surround the caravan, but the first strike did not come from the. Instead, it was Wilo who sent a huge crescent wave of poisoned wooden needles into the pack of demon wolves.

    Many of the wolves¡¯ pelts defended against these needles, but some were struck in their sensitive noses and defenseless eyes, and others entered howling wolves¡¯ mouths. A few corpses slumped to the ground with Wilo¡¯s deadly poison.

    How did Wilo angle and fire those wooden needles in such an elegant wave from that narrow slit on the side of the caravan? Rein himself had been practicing certain techniques from the manuals on hidden weapons. He could tell Wilo¡¯s mastery over needles was high.

    As for the strength of these long-eared wind wolves? Demon beasts are ranked differently than human advancers due to their different ascension path. They have a starting beast form, beginning of metamorphosis, mid-metamorphosis, end-metamorphosis, then humanoid form. As for intelligence, that was far harder to access due to the different base intelligence of various species.

    Wolves, for example, have a higher intelligence to begin with. As such, despite their coherent coordination as a pack, the fact that they remained in full beast forms indicated that these long-eared wind wolves were properly only rank one demon beasts.

    The pack leader, however, must be a rank two demon beast because of its heightened intelligence. If that pack leader showed signs of transforming and occasionally fought on two legs, he would then be considered a lycan, a rank three demon beast.

    Despite their low ranking of the demon wolves, the Iron Ant Team was at a severe disadvantage due to numbers. Another arc of wooden needles curled through the air, while an arrow fired by Xeeseir exploded on impact, frying a good five wolves in its vicinity.

    Seeing this, the larger wolf howled in rage! Rein discovered that the demon wolves originally warily eyeing him and the twin ladies on their staunch horses now temporarily backed off. Then, ten wolves, shoulder-to-shoulder charged at the left side of the caravan with reckless abandon for their own lives!

    Both him and the twin ladies attempted to engage the wolves in combat, yet the wolves only ran and corralled them, having no intention of engaging in combat. The demon wolves would back off whenever he urged his steed forward, making it impossible for him to attack. If he dared to chase, he would end up stranded far from the caravan!

    Wilo, who was guarding that left side of the caravan, was still recharging her needles. Frankly, Rein was surprised she still had any needles left, judging by the number already fired from the two waves. Well, he himself had gotten a spatial pouch-- Wilo must have one as well!

    Regardless, those ten wolves side-to-side, charged forth and threw their bodies against the left side of the caravan!

    Rein now knew what the wolf pack leader wished to do-- topple their caravan! Doing so would indeed end the danger of Wilo¡¯s and Xeeseir¡¯s projectiles from the inscription-reinforced caravan.

    The left wheels of this box lifted off the ground dangerously-- Chirh nearly slid off in shock! However, Dahk was quick to react and stomped down both feet and placed his weight onto the left side of the caravan, preventing the team¡¯s safety box from flipping onto its side.

    The pack leader growled in frustration-- it would be difficult to send more demon wolves to simultaneously bash into the caravan with their combined weight, due to the limit of bodies it could send side-by-side.

    A howl, and the pack of wolves shifted under a new order. Two waves of demon wolves charged forth, one on each side of the caravan, and they simply plastered their bodies against the identified slits of the caravan where arrows and needles could be shot out, effectively sacrificing themselves to completely remove the threat of WIlo and Xeeseir¡¯s projectiles!

    Then, the rest of the remaining nine hundred demon wolves turned their hungry gazes onto Rein, the twin ladies, Chirh and Dahk!

 Ch70: Baby Roar

    The intelligence shown by the pack leader frightened Rein. That, combined with the willingness of the demon wolves to sacrifice themselves in such a manner! Rein knew no humans would be willing to listen to such an order.

    Chirh paled as he sensed the bloodlust within these mad demon wolves. He had been repeatedly using the flashing skill on his weapon to blind approaching wolves, while Dahk covered any that slipped through the gaps.

    ¡°I should have stayed inside the caravan,¡± he whimpered in defeat.

    ¡°Harden your resolve, babe,¡± Dahk mocked as he activated the inscription on his spear. The spear extended and bent, rapidly stabbing in multiple directions like a hundred headed cobra. ¡°If our death is inevitable, all the more reason to burn bright before the end!¡±

    Demon wolves with their skulls and bodies punctured flailed limply as they rolled down the corpses slumped against the sides of the caravan.

    ¡°Let us come out!¡± Wilo demanded from within.

    ¡°No!¡± Xeeseir adamantly expressed his disagreement. ¡°Once we come out, the wolves will no longer care about the caravan and the situation might be even less favorable! We need to find a way for all of us to hide inside the caravan until help comes!¡±

    They weren¡¯t that far off from the central outpost of the Halls. In theory, there should be reinforcements coming. The pack of wolves should alert the one in charge of the outpost, especially since they must have already been informed of the new initiates'' impending arrival.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Rein no longer tarried. Initially, the demon wolves had been circling around him but backing off whenever he attempted to engage in combat, with the pack leader seemingly more concerned with keeping Wilo and Xeeseir within the caravan in check.

    Now, it seemed that the pack leader had decided to command the demon wolves to target them while sacrificing demon wolves to block the slits of the caravan. Rein galloped forth on top of his leather-armored steed, with the twin ladies, Suey and Jory, following behind!

    Rein spun his Soak Staff, smashing the heavy ends into the skulls and jaws of demon wolves that now finally surged towards them instead of recoiling. Many wolves attempted to dismount him by throwing themselves at his body, while others attempted to bite at the Soak Staff to disarm him.

    Yet, upon leaping forth, all were accurately punted back down to the ground like balls of meat by the spinning staff. Any wolves that managed to chomp onto the Soak Staff were instead lifted and their bodies used as a bludgeoning tool against other wolves-- Rein¡¯s physical strength allowed him to treat these wolves¡¯ weight as leaves in the wind!

    Another howl from the pack leader standing at the very back, and the wolves switched to targeting the horse instead. However, the horse had picked up a pace that made it difficult for the wolves to get their teeth in, and Rein¡¯s wielding of the Soak Staff protected the stallion as well.

    Behind him, Suey and Jory held their own, their bronze whips dancing left and right of their horse in perfect coordination. With the longer-ranged whips in reverse synchronized action, they fared even better than Rein. Whenever Suey swung her bronze whips to the left, Jory flung hers to the right. Their defense was perfect.

    The flexibility that Suey had gained from the ¡®Boundless Dissipation Tempering¡¯ Art demonstrated itself with her even more elegant manipulation of the whip. Jory had also begun this tempering art, though her progress was far less since she did not have the assistance of Rein¡¯s fists.

    ¡°Water!¡± Rein activated the water drop inscription skill on his Soak Staff, and a huge ball of water floated above his head.

    Suey and Jory knew what they had to do-- they had done this before. They took control of that ball of water, and twin water serpents formed a vortex, sending a whirling storm into the wolves blocking the slits of the caravan¡¯s side!

    Twenty or so wolves were forcibly sent rolling under the torrent of water, reopening the slits for Wilo and Xeeseir to fire through.

    Rein and the twins circled around to free the other side of the caravan as Wilo successfully launched another wave of needles accompanied by another explosive arrow from Xeeseir that sent demon wolves yowling with burning fur and flesh.

    The pack leader¡¯s body suddenly suffused itself in a bloody-red aurae, and it tilted its head upwards to the moon. A crackling ominous howl sounded.

    This howl sent the wolves into a state of frenzy. The demon wolves abandoned any semblance of cooperation as their furs rose and their eyes turned crimson. With no concern for their own lives, the wolves simply threw themselves forward in one meat wave after another!

    This was what Rein most feared. The pack leader had been carefully controlling the wolves to test the Iron Ant Team¡¯s defenses, with a desire to limit losses to the pack. This gave the Iron Ant Team time to respond and counter its moves. The reality was that the thousand wolves-- now nine hundred-- was certain to obtain victory just by forcibly swarming the Iron Ant Team!

    Soon, Rein began struggling to clear through the sea of demon wolves. His body, having been tempered, had a much heavier weight. This led to his horse fatiguing rather quickly, finally succumbing to the fangs of the wolves as its pace slowed to a crawl.

    Rein rolled forward then tumbled back onto his feet as his horse skidded and flopped to its death. He barely avoided being struck by the collapsing body of the poor stallion.

    An ice arrow whistled through the air and struck approaching wolves, freezing ten in their place.

    ¡°I¡¯m out!¡± Xeeseir had run out of arrows to fire! This was a common issue with inner and shell advancers using bow and arrows. An outer advancer would be able to form arrows using their aurae!

    Surprisingly, Wilo was still able to send out waves of poison needles, seemingly having an endless supply. Unfortunately, the demon wolves had grown wise and now lowered their heads to protect their eyes and snouts against every wave. Their furs and pelts prevented the penetration of the wooden needles.

    Now grounded, Rein quickly found himself surrounded on all sides. He stabbed the staff into the earth and activated the wood-based aurae art on the staff to infuse his tired body with vitality and increased strength. He began a death struggle against the surrounding demon wolves.

    His body was tough as iron, but the wolves¡¯ claws were sharp, some even carrying a glimmer of wind-aurae. Luckily, he had the Halls robe, which provided him with an extra layer of defense.

    The light of the Halls¡¯ robe was originally bright with hope, but it gradually dimmed under the repeated bites and swipes of the demon wolves. Soon, the Halls¡¯ robe would run out of its aurae reserves and be torn to shreds by the wolves-- Rein would then be fully exposed!

    His body might be strong but Rein knew that repeatedly being struck and bodied by over a hundred rank one demon wolves would still be the end of him.

    Already, a group of demon wolves had gathered together, ready to charge and drag him to the ground.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°My celest!¡± Suey and Jory had successfully remained on their steed, having two long bronze whips to defend the horse. Their advancer arts also did not increase their weight, thus the horse still remained capable of swift movement. However, they certainly would not be able to provide Rein with assistance, separated by the denseness of the demon wolves.

    The amount of demon corpses surrounding the caravan also made Chirh and Dahk atop the roof much more susceptible-- these corpses functioned like an ascending ramp for the demon wolves still standing. Dahk had quite a number of lacerations, and though none were severely debilitating, the man would soon lose too much blood if the battle continued.

    Unfortunately, the team had been unable to create any windows during which they could retreat into the caravan and rely on its defenses to wait for reinforcements. The demon wolves had relentlessly attacked under the pack leader¡¯s berserk command.

    At this critical moment, Rein¡¯s mind spun, analyzing every option he had. Before his very eyes, a group of demon wolves began swarming towards him.

    He recalled a past vision of Gent, and opened his mouth wide.

    A dragon¡¯s roar vibrated the eardrums of all humans and demon beasts! By no means was this comparable to what Gent had performed in Rein¡¯s visions. Why was Rein capable of this? He had shared the body of Gent in his visions! As such, he had felt how Gent controlled his body to activate this skill. He unknowingly had full knowledge of exactly how to control his muscles and veins to generate the dragon¡¯s roar!

    Only now with the situation dire, did he dare to make an attempt at copying the sensation he felt while occupying Gent within those visions. He was currently only an inner advancer though, and thus could only create the sound, unable to integrate any aurae into the roar.

    Rein betted on this move, after recalling how one of the Convergence Sect disciples he had dueled against used pure sound to disrupt opponents.

    To his disappointment, although the demon wolves were momentarily stunned and tottered on their legs, they remained standing, very much ready to resume the confrontation.

    It was then that the pack leader lowered its front legs and dipped his head in a bow. With a howl, the demon wolves gathered around their leader and left the scene!

    The members of the Iron Ant Team were all open-mouthed, unsure of what to make of this despite their relief. Rein himself was confused-- he had opted to try something this ridiculous only because of the highly unfavorable situation they were facing, yet did not quite expect this outcome.

    The only two that didn¡¯t seem at all fazed by this event were Suey and Jory. Suey dropped down from their remaining horse and threw herself into Rein¡¯s right arm, while Jory hesitantly pressed herself into Rein¡¯s left!

    Rein had expected this from Suey, but not Jory. The younger twin had remained silent and distant all this time after their initial coupling. Rein had left her be-- he assumed that Jory only wished to discard her virginity to avoid attracting the devils in the western wilderness.

    Yet now, the younger twin had opted to approach him after the startling end to their predicament. Rein was naturally befuddled to no end.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    In the far distance, Beincen observed the battle alongside many accompanying members of House Larne and Malak. They did so with the assistance of handheld scopes.

    Upon seeing the demon wolves activate their berzerk state, Beincen was overjoyed to see the Iron Ant Team begin their last struggles. It would soon be over, and the hated Rein dead. He would avenge his younger brother¡¯s lost arm! He still held the gut belief that Rein was responsible for the contaminated medicine despite the lack of any proof.

    Yet, at the very last critical moment, a majestic eardrum-shaking roar that even he heard from in this far-off hiding spot caused the demon wolves to willingly retreat.

    ¡°Fuck! What in the twelve hells was that?¡± He swiveled his head around, attempting the pry answers from the other House Larne members. They had gathered information on the whole Iron Ant Team. Where did this roaring art come from?!

    Some of these members were perched on the leafless trees like carrion vultures. Uncle Naohr was one of the elders that accompanied Beincen to the western wilderness. Unlike before, he no longer whispered endlessly into the young man¡¯s ears, and instead offered occasional information when requested.

    ¡°It must be the ¡®Demon Voice Imitation¡¯ Art¡­¡± He muttered atop a branch as he observed the wolves leaving. His knowledge was the deepest within House Larne. That was why the patriarch placed him beside Beincen in the first place.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that some idiot of a bygone area discovered that low level demon beasts are highly susceptible to suppression from a more powerful bloodline. Thus, he thought to imitate the beastly voices of superior bloodline demons. That person was and is still considered an idiot because this art only works on weak rank one and rank two demons¡­ the art is useless against metamorphic stages for demon beasts, the equivalence of upper shell to mid outer human advancers in terms of power.¡±

    Of course, Rein knew no such art. However, those knowledgeable often base their guesses on what they knew. As such, another misunderstanding of Rein¡¯s abilities was formed, alongside the idea that he had a fiend bloodline due to the physical capabilities of his body.

    ¡°Should we attack? They are weakened¡­¡± another elder wondered.

    ¡®No,¡± Beincen held down his own desire for bloodlust. He had reached the mid-shell realm, and believed himself capable. However, ¡°we¡¯re too close to the central outpost. Reinforcements may come soon.¡± Now that he was in the western wilderness, he certainly had a lot more freedom to throw his weight around. Yet, he still needed to be careful of the Halls¡¯ rules while in the vicinity of the outposts.

    Frankly, Beincen along with most nobles disliked having to restrain themselves and abide by the Halls¡¯ rules. It was just that they simply had no choice if they wished for the Halls presence in northwest Minhr Nation to block the western wilderness while serving as a bulwark against the Great Sects.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make a move. It¡¯ll be quick. I might be able to severely injure your target-- Rein.¡± It was Malak who offered to strike.

    ¡°How long will you need? The reinforcements might arrive soon.¡±

    ¡°A few heartbeats!¡± Malak grinned.

    ¡°Quickly, then!¡± Beincen wondered how this bulky man with supposedly a fiend bloodline would complete such a task! Malak was lent to him by Supreme Guihnes, after all!

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    The Iron Ant Team began cleaning up the battlefield. These rank one demon wolves just weren¡¯t worth all that much. The reason for this was their undeveloped heartblood. Some of these wolves could barely strengthen their swipes with wind-aurae. As such, their heartblood only contained the beginnings of understanding with regards to wind swipes. Not even worth the effort, really.

    The rest of the bodies would certainly be useful for blacksmithing, weapon and armor creation. Once again, the issue was that the bodies of rank one demon beasts just lacked quality.

    Regardless, there were just too many corpses, and the Iron Ant Team soon decided that it would be best to wait for reinforcements to assist in harvesting the demon wolves.

    ¡°Rein!¡± A voice hollered out of nowhere.

    Rein turned and blinked in astonishment at the sudden appearance of an unknown bulky man in a full hood and robes, holding a tube-shaped object on his right shoulder that was hidden underneath another piece of red cloth.

    ¡°Take this shot!¡± The man cackled and pulled the piece of flowing red cloth with his left hand, revealing a canon perched on his right shoulder!

    The inscriptions on the surface of the cannon¡¯s barrel lit up and a heavy metal ball blasted forth with a resounding boom and billowing smoke! The low mist that occupied the surroundings in the dusklight parted concentrically as a cannonball, also augmented by inscriptions, flew directly at Rein!

    Rein side-stepped, thinking that the cannonball would miss with this simple movement. Instead, the cannonball swerved at the very last moment and Rein could only gasp in surprise and lament his own foolishness!

    Despite the rigorous tempering of his body, his ribcage cracked as the cannonball struck his chest, carrying his body into a spiraling flight with limbs trailing.

    The other members of the Iron Ant Team had been cutting up demon wolf corpses, their minds turned off after their stressful predicament. Everything had happened so rapidly that they were unable to react and assist Rein in any manner.

    Already, the bulky man with the cannon had dashed away at a frightening speed that none of them could reach.

    Eventually, Rein tumbled across the barren ground for a kilofeet like a ragdoll before coming to a stop while coughing up blood from his internal injuries

    The cannonball that carried him this far also came to a stop beside his body, and its inscriptions dimmed before the sphere shattered into multiple pieces, revealing a note inside!

    Rein, struggling to move due to his injuries, still reached forth to pick up this note.

    If you survive and recover from this attack, you are worthy. Join me at the northern outpost on the first full moon of the next month! I will wait an extra three days.

 Ch71: Halls Central Outpost

    Rein slumped onto his back and activated what little he had mastered of the ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯ art. Was it a coincidence that this art had its use so soon? He wondered if Harmony Sect had a seer in their mists as well, with the skills he received from his visit proving useful so quickly.

    The ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯ allows a user to shift their critical body parts to avoid fatal injuries. That is not its only use. After all, the method behind the advancer art relied on the user developing the ability to finely control many parts of the body to push and pull bones and organs with regards to their positions.

    Currently, Rein used what little he had learnt to set his bones, before activating the vitality-based recovery ability within his draconic body tempering art. He stabbed his Soak Staff into the ground again to draw more wooden-aurae to accelerate this recovery.

    ¡°Rein! Are you alright?!¡± Suey was the first to reach his landing position, followed by the others of the Iron Ant Team. He nodded and simply held up a hand to calm the others¡¯ concern, focusing on the proper circulation of Gent¡¯s wood-lightning dual draconic tempering art.

    His breathing stabilized, and he felt an itch all across his chest and abdomen. Looking downward, he could see that the Halls¡¯ robe remained undamaged. That was the strength of blunt intent-- Rein recalled Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s explanation. Weapons of blunt intent could pass through defenses using the concept of transmission of forces.

    The Iron Ant members gave Rein the private space to heal himself. Galloping sounds were soon heard, and the Iron Ant Team looked up to find reinforcements arriving from the Halls¡¯ central outpost.

    A white-robed tall and slender man with a long face hopped off his leading steed and greeted the team with hooked fingers.

    ¡°Forgive me for being late. I am one of the vice-leader of the central outpost. Name¡¯s Kurhz. The concentration of demon beasts this month has been significantly higher. We are undermanned.¡± He gestured and pointed at all the demon wolf corpses, and his crew began slicing and dicing their bodies into manageable meat and fur. ¡°Worry not-- most of this will be counted to your team¡¯s credit.¡±

    When he saw rank one demon beast cores harvested from the corpses before his eyes, Rein suddenly felt a deep sense of hunger. He barely stopped himself from demanding for the demon beast cores and consuming them there and then.

    This ravenous hunger shocked him deeply. He wondered if this desire to devour was due to his current injuries with his bronze-ranked draconic tempered body. Perhaps he could accelerate his recovery from devouring these demon beast cores¡­ At least, Rein believed there to be a reason behind his body reacting in such a way. With regards to his draconic body, Rein lacked any depth of understanding. He would only know if taught by a dragon.

    Kurhz came before Rein and took a cursory examination of his body. The vice-leader of the central outpost could tell that this young man was in the midst of healing himself. His injury was clearly not from the demon wolves though¡­

    ¡°Who was it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not certain. A bulky man popped up out of nowhere with a cannon on his shoulders¡­¡±

    Kurhz sighed at Rein¡¯s words. He had been in the central outpost for quite some time, and had seen many nefarious incidents, usually nobles settling scores with commoners who overly relied upon the Halls¡¯ rules for protection.

    ¡°Our hands are full. You should not have offended any of the nobles.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, there is no choice.¡± Rein replied calmly with his eyes closed. He had never wanted to become enemies with House Larne. What could he do when the the idiot scion Rekcen attempted to use his blood-protected Soak Staff?

    ¡°If ever you give up on your own path and still wish to contribute to humanity, our corps would welcome you,¡± the man smiled mysteriously. ¡°Our corps can clean up the dregs of society dragging you down. House Larne, for example.¡±

    Rein turned his eyes to the Halls members accompanying Kurhz. They were all Halls-robed soldiers with silver plates peeking out from the cloth. Rein very much recalled that their gazes could burn intruders alive.

    Was this how the Halls recruited survivors of the western wilderness? He had to admit, many might find the deal worth it. Trading the rest of their lives for the deaths of their enemies. The price was being stuck at a certain advancer realm as well as serving the Halls for the rest of their lives. As for the ¡®stuck¡¯ level? That depended on the level of the joinee and how much he or she could be forcibly augmented to.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to test my luck in the advancer world first,¡± Rein replied warmly. ¡°Perhaps, if one day I am at my wit¡¯s end...¡±

    He was soon stable enough to at least walk on two feet. He had not fully healed-- his bones and flesh would at least take a few days to fully rebind together under the vitality built into his tempered body.

    As for the note that revealed itself to him after the cannonball shattered? He determined it was best not to reveal its existence to all. Whoever that bulky man was that had shot the cannonball at him may have done so to obscure his true intentions. Granted, if not for Rein¡¯s tempered body-- from what he understood, he likely had a body approaching the pinnacle of bronze-rank-- he might have died from the hit.

    Body-tempering is a separate system to the typical aurae-based ranks. It went from bronze to silver to gold to non-specific.

    Regardless, now that Rein was back on his feet, the whole Iron Ant Team naturally felt much more relieved.

    Rein approached Xeeseir, hoping to show him the note. He trusted this middle-aged man due to experience.

    ¡°The best method would have been for us to kill the pack leader,¡± Xeeseir was discussing their lack of initiative against the demon wolves with Dahk. ¡°Unfortunately, we needed to protect the caravan of supplies, or the central outpost might find itself lacking critical supplies. If those supplies were to be damaged or even completely lost, our team would be severely punished for failure.¡±

    Dahk nodded in agreement with Xeeseir, whose words made sense to Rein as well. If they did not have to protect the caravan, carving a path to kill the demon wolf pack leader would likely have sent the other wolves scrambling with their tails between their legs.

    Xeeseir read the note that Rein had discovered within the cannonball.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°If I were to guess, it must have something to do with your tempered body,¡± he mused. ¡°The western wilderness is the largest zone in this world, chaotic and ever-changing. It is littered with inheritances. This crazed man must have chosen to test you for such a reason.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ why would¡­¡± Rein was naturally baffled, and his words trailed into silent contemplation. He had assumed the cannon man to be either one of Beincen¡¯s lackey or an ally to the Convergence Sect. Why would such a man make an offer to him? Unless¡­ he wasn¡¯t associated with those two enemies?

    ¡°Regardless, this is an opportunity, so you must go when the time comes, assuming we complete our mission targets,¡± encouraged Xeeseir.

    They soon arrived at the central outpost alongside the silver guards of the Halls¡¯ corps.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    ¡°You call that an attempt?!¡± Beincen hollered, ballistic at what he viewed as a pathetic attempt by Malak.

    Supreme Guihnes had lent Malak to him. Malak is supposedly an upper shell advancer, with a fiend bloodline, a body strong and durable beyond imagination!

    Yet, Malak had simply fired a shot from his cannon, and though Rein was sent flying, they could see that it was not fatal.

    Having returned after confirming that none on the Iron Ant Team was quick enough to chase after him, Malak only raised an eyebrow as he stared soundlessly at the young Larne scion.

    In fact, he had barely escaped in time, with the reinforcements from the central outpost now arriving. If he had tarried any longer, he would have found himself pursued by the silver guards to his death.

    ¡°Yes, yes, you only had a few heartbeats to launch your attack before the reinforcements arrived,¡± Beincen shamelessly corrected himself. ¡°But how can you, an upper shell advancer, only use such a weak attack?!¡±

    Once again, Malak stared at Beincen unflinchingly. The stare from his ferocious features introduced a deep-seated fear but also loathing for the man within Beincen¡¯s heart. Malak had the typical slanted bushy eyebrows along with angular features of the northern golden desert tribes. This intimidation wounded Beincen¡¯s pride.

    A coughing sound was heard.

    ¡°It is said that those of tempered bodies could fight for days on end,¡± Uncle Naohr then chuckled to dispel the tension. ¡°There was that legendary battle between Zukah and Lein. It is said that Despite Lein¡¯s higher advancer realm, Zukah of the Golden Desert Tribes extended the battle to over a hundred days, and Lein had no choice but to agree to a negotiation with the tribes¡­¡±

    Naohr brought up this tale such that Beincen would no longer embarrass himself. The heavens weren¡¯t always fair, but there exists a balance in the world. Fiends, for example, were born in the primordial word with bodies of the highest order. As a result, their elemental affinity was incredibly low.

    The benefit of such a strong body is the ability to endure long battles. Naohr hoped that Beincen would quickly realize that Malak¡¯s attack was actually quite vicious for the short time window it was launched in. The attack was delivered against one of tempered-body.

    Regardless, Malak¡¯s opinion of the young Larne scion had dropped even further. He already had a low opinion of this man after Supreme Guihnes specifically told him to not necessarily follow Beincen¡¯s orders, and do as he saw fit if a situation were to occur in the wilderness.

    As for that note? He did not become Supreme Guihnes lackey for no reason. He was ecstatic in his heart to see Rein take that cannonball so well.

    ¡°Traitors¡­finally¡­¡± he muttered incomprehensibly under his breath.

    ¡°Worry not,¡± Uncle Naohr comforted a seething Beincen. ¡°Some disciples of the Sun Sword Sect will join us soon!¡±

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    The central outpost was nothing but a looming castle with a moat. The Iron Ant Team entered across a drawbridge and erected tents in an open area.

    Rein observed the entrance and saw many Halls members dragging demon and devil corpses into the outpost. There were also many Halls members offering services such as armament repairs. Many of these Halls members must be spending extended time in the western wilderness.

    Once the night grew deeper, the drawbridge rose, increasing the safety of the lives within.

    Rein approached vice-leader Kurhz of the central outpost. He needed information. The man was maintaining his spear on Rein¡¯s approach.

    ¡°You curious about the leader?¡± Kurhz mused on seeing the young man¡¯s shadow falling upon him. ¡°He¡¯s led a team elsewhere and will only return in one or perhaps even a few days.¡±

    Rein shook his head. He withdrew a vision egg out of his storage pouch and handed it over to Kurhz. Under Xeeseir¡¯s advice, Rein had imprinted his memory of the devilish beauty who had kidnapped Jein into the vision egg.

    ¡°I see.¡± Kurhz held the vision egg but did not send his mind into it. Rein flicked over a limpite coin. A smile, and Kurhz finally sent his mind into the memory.

    In a blink, his eyes returned to a clear state under Rein¡¯s observation.

    ¡°Her name is Saenise. Not notorious enough to be a bounty, but known. She belongs to the Harvest Devil Sect.¡± Kurhz¡¯s face paled despite the warm campfire as he recalled his knowledge of these devils. ¡°They have a variety of devil arts, always relating to the idea of germinating power in a ¡®cauldron¡¯ then eventually harvesting the matured strength. Madness.¡±

    Rein gave him another five limpite coins. He wasn¡¯t rich by any means, but he needed more assistance from Kurhz.

    ¡°I also need some of the demon beast cores,¡± he informed the vice-leader. ¡°They may be useful to lure our mission targets.¡± A half-truth. Normally, these demon beast cores would be sent back to the Halls to be processed by the alchemists.

    ¡°They are your team¡¯s spoils of war, so you will receive less credit sending less back to the Halls. However, ten pieces of rank one demon beast cores isn¡¯t much.¡± A quick gesture and Rein received a small sack of ten cores.

    He thanked Kurhz and returned to his tent. Ensuring no one was around, he chewed and swallowed a rank one demon beast core from the wolves without hesitation, curious about what might have changed.

    His bones had gained increased toughness, thus his teeth easily shattered the demon beast core within his mouth. It tasted hideous as ever, but with the sensation of hunger in his belly, he swallowed it easily.

    He could feel his body¡¯s healing accelerating! Upon examining himself, he reached a conclusion. He knew that young beastkin swallowed each others¡¯ cores to infuse their own bodies with aurae, thereby gaining strength.

    It was likely that his vitality-based draconic tempering art from Gent could convert a portion of this into healing his body, recovering his vitality.

    He returned beside the warm campfire among the Iron Ant Team as well as Lyne¡¯s team. Lyne arrived at the central outpost a day before, having gone on ahead when Rein and Suey visited the Harmony Sect. The two teams had rejoined.

    ¡°Come, Rein,¡± Xeeseir gestured for him to take a seat. ¡°We¡¯re about to share our hearts¡¯ desires.¡±

    ¡°Old man!¡± Lyne interrupted. ¡°It is always bad luck to discuss such topics before a mission!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be superstitious,¡± Xeeseir rolled his eyes at the gorgeous cool lady¡¯s reply. ¡°There is no such thing as a guarantee in the western wilderness. I believe it best for us to speak our hearts.¡±

    ¡°We should promise to fulfill each other¡¯s wishes, if any of us were to fall. Only then can we fight without fear and get the best result.¡±

    Rein could see Xeeseir¡¯s reasoning. Fear of death is not just simply a ¡®selfish¡¯ fear. It is always connected with the fear of no longer being there to take care of loved ones. If the members of the team willingly covered for each other in this aspect¡­ then one would be able to fight and not flinch even in high pressure moments.

    ¡°I will begin,¡± Xeeseir said. ¡°My elder sister was forcibly married into House Zunhr. I hope you will return my bow to her and give her a hand if I were to fall.¡±

    Xeeseir then turned to Rein, indicating that it was his turn.

    Though Xeeseir had spoken easily, Rein struggled for words when put on the spot, feeling an old sensation of fury rising at the pit of his stomach as he recalled the past.

 Ch72: Declarations of the Heart

    Rein took a moment to compose and restrain his own memories. He had to. After all, his family and the Golden Desert Town was destroyed by a combination of devils and mercenaries.

    He had later discovered that the Dingien Clan succession was behind that incident. What was he supposed to say to these likable comrades around the campfire?

    Rein imagined the idiotic play of himself bidding these teammates of his to take action. Please attack the ruling Dingien Clan of the Minhr Nation if I fall! In his mind, that sounded like begging his allies to commit suicide.

    If he made such a declaration and these words traveled to the ears of one with even a sliver of loyalty to the Dingien Clan, then he, Rein, would be hunted down to the ends of the realm.

    As such, he could only target the intermediaries.

    ¡°My family was beset by devils, and my brother-- kidnapped. His name is Jein and this is the woman who took him.¡± He passed the vision egg around for the two teams¡¯ members to see. ¡°If my younger brother is lost, I will be eternally thankful if any of you could take her life, even if I am already buried ten feet underneath the ground.¡±

    ¡°Of course, your continuing stand against devils, bandits and mercenaries would put my heart at peace as well,¡± he added as he hooked his fingers and dipped his chin.

    It was unfortunate that there was no point in setting these people against the Dingien Clan. Lyne of the Xuere Clan, for example, sooner or later, would end up bowing her indifferent head as well, Rein thought.

    Suey, resting against Rein¡¯s right flank, was next. She chose not to speak, only giving a shake of her head then lowering her chin in apology. Rein rubbed the top of his own eyebrows with a thumb and finger. Indeed, Suey would only sound like a madwoman if she stated that she was here to twist a seemingly inevitable future. At least, based on what she claimed before Rein.

    ¡°She wishes to find opportunities that will lead to a better future for her home,¡± Rein squeezed firmly down on the woman¡¯s willowy waist with his right hand as he simplified her circumstances to the vaguest of terms.

    Suey¡¯s eyes brightened as she looked up thankfully into Rein¡¯s. Rein had interjected because he understood that Xeeseir wished for the ragtag members of the group to have a deeper sense of cooperative spirit.

    Suey¡¯s mind must be heavily burdened with the implications of her visions. Rein understood such a burden. If he was requested to speak his mind in the aftermath of the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction, he would have been a raging incoherent inferno.

    ¡°I support my older sister¡¯s path.¡± Jory¡¯s lips curled up a single degree into a small smile.

    ¡°Geez¡­¡± Chirh sighed dejectedly. ¡°I¡¯m only here because House Larne is after me, and I need contribution points to limit whatever action they take against me in the Halls¡­¡± How dour.

    ¡°Me¡­¡± Dahk paused for a few heartbeats before his eyes firmed and his body musculature tightened like a tiger in preparation to pounce.

    ¡°I am Dahk. Of the Southern Starry Seas!¡± He spun his snake-spear in the air before stabbing it deep into the soil with a vicious determination. ¡°My brother was schemed against in the Ascension Hunt, and I chose to sacrifice my own success to ensure my brother¡¯s continued prominent position!¡±

    ¡°For my supposed failure, I was exiled. Only after building a realm-shaking reputation will I be allowed to return to my home in the Southern Starry Seas!¡±

    Rein¡¯s eyes widened. He had initially thought Dahk to be from a place even more north than the Golden Desert. Or another realm. On second thought, the Southern Starry Seas was in many ways, another ¡®realm¡¯. From what little Rein had heard, gargantuan sea demons constantly harassed the humans on the starry islands, and as such, the people of the Southern Starry Seas lived their lives without ever truly having a safe haven.

    ¡°My brother¡¯s name is Tahk, and he will be eternally thankful if you bring him my spear if I were to fall,¡± he continued. ¡°But I will return triumphant. And when I join hands with my brother again¡­¡± He lifted his spear and thumped it back into the soil. ¡°We will sink and raise islands in the seas!¡±

    Dahk rarely spoke so many words. His outburst lit up a fire in the hearts of those that followed after his turn.

    ¡°A heirloom was stolen from my people,¡¯ Wilo menacingly rolled a number of vibrantly poisoned wooden needles from finger-to-finger, and then hissed with venomous softness. ¡°It will be ours again.¡±

    ¡°As for me¡­¡± Lyne held an ice-tinged longsword and she looked at the half-reflection of herself from the blade. ¡°We advancers¡­ we are meant to be more. We are meant to¡­ shape the world with our will.¡±

    ¡°My grandfather spent his life defending the gap. It is why its name became the Xuere Gap! It is why the fortress guarding that channel into the Minhr Nation is called the City of Zyne! He shaped this part of the world!¡±

    ¡°Many wonder why I, a noble, fight the demons and devils in the western wilderness. Am I to just be wed to the Dingien Clan, hiding safely in the capital, while others die in my stead in this wilderness? I did not become an advancer to imprison myself in the capital!¡±

    ¡°It is said that we humans were all slaves in the Age of Demons. I may not have been born in that age, but I remember! I remember our ancestors¡¯ past! So I must stand here, against the tide! If I fall, my only wish is for others to continue the fight, even should the heavens fall and the realm crumble!¡±

    Zehz, Nunan, Bohr and Karsutz all kneeled to the ground.

    ¡°We willingly joined the Xuere Clan for this reason!¡± declared Zehz.

    ¡°Your will is our will!¡± They uttered in a resounding unison.

    Rein felt relieved that he had gone first. He found his own goals to be comparatively small of heart against all these other declarations.

    Xeeseir beamed. He wasn¡¯t sure if his attempt to draw the members closer together would work, but it had played out quite well.

    ¡°So¡­ our targets, Rein?¡± Xeeseir gestured for Rein to identify their targets. All had previously agreed that Rein could pick their targets.

    Rein was rather hesitant to impose his will on them all, but a pinch from Suey on his right bicep helped him realign his mind-- they came to complete red diamond missions, so he need not worry that any would shrink.

    ¡°I¡¯ve shown the vision egg to Vice-leader Kurhz. The devilish beauty, Saenise, is from the Harvest Devil Sect. With our bounties, I have identified a related target.¡±

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°The bounty target is the Poison Germination Devil, Dujahrn of the Harvest Devil Sect. He captures targets, and plants his poisonous seeds within them. The seed germinates into a poison flower and absorbs the powers of the advancer to strengthen and transform the flower¡¯s poison. Once the advancer is drained, Dujahrn harvests this poison flower for his own use.¡±

    ¡°It is said that by doing this, Dujahrn can grow all types of poisons-- the poison he is capable of  delivering depends on the elemental nature of the advancer that his poison flower devoured.¡±

    ¡°To draw this man out, we need to strike at a plant demon.¡± Rein shared a piece of paper that displayed the image of a vibrant flower with vines whipping about, functioning as both arms and legs. ¡°This plant has gained spirituality, and can be considered a rank five demon.¡± A face had already appeared on the vibrant flower, and its body had even somewhat morphed into the curved shape of a woman.

    ¡°It can fill the air with a spore that paralyzes its prey. It will then consume said person through the center of its flower mouth. That is not all. As more of a defensive measure, it can spray a hallucination fog with a nerve destroying contagion, thus killing more dangerous targets in a deranged pain-filled bliss.¡±

    ¡°The Halls call it the Blissful-Endflower.¡±

    The members shared looks with one another, all filled with determination, with the exception of Chirh¡¯s pale face.

    ¡°The main point? If we can obtain its heartblood¡­ Dujahrn will be hellbent on pursuing us for this heartblood, in his desire to obtain the inborn poisonous nature of the Blissful-Endflower. He will hunger to absorb this heartblood to raise his own strength and complexity of art.¡±

    The Blissful-Endflower was but bait.

    ¡°And although he may be our primary target¡­ it is likely that quite a number of others might be attracted as well.¡± Rein threw a few more bounties of plant poison users belonging to the many devil sects hidden within the western wilderness.

    ¡°I also believe it beneficial for us to practice against an easier target first,¡± Rein continued as he placed the image of a three-headed cobra before the others. ¡°A rank four demon beast. Capable of obscuring itself in a thick mist that poisons the sight of prey. It then attempts to deliver a hot poison into the body with a quick bite, causing an advancer¡¯s blood vessels to burn him to death.¡±

    Many heads nodded in agreement to the warm up against the three-headed cobra, and the group soon dispersed to rest in their tents for the night.

    Rein, however, climbed by himself to the top of the western tower. He wished to take in the western wilderness. Finally, he had made observable progress in finding his younger brother Jein.

    He reached the top and gazed into the deep night. The skies were clear and as such, the crescent moon casted a silver edge onto all environments, while the glittering stars temporarily wiped Rein¡¯s awareness of the western wilderness¡¯ dangers.

    Rein soon discovered that his sight had significantly improved at night, no doubt a result of his draconic body. It wasn¡¯t quite so obvious until he arrived at this uncivilized world where artificial light was sparse like a needle in a haystack.

    He turned his gaze to the horizon, swinging his eyes North to West to South, seeing barren lands of gnarled trees, thick and lush forests besides expansive sparkling lakes, and snow-capped peaks in the far north and northwest.

    It was then that once again, a feeling called to Rein from his heart. He opened his mind and welcomed the sensation.

    He was once again in the body of Gent, floating in the air beside a mountain peak. What amazed Rein was that the mountain peak before him was perforated with holes. Gent traveled forth and Rein discovered that the whole mountain peak had been carved into an extensive cave system wide enough to house dragons!

    He could see similarities in style compared to the location where Yirn and Gent had first met in that first vision. In that vision, the servant quarters for the Gods was carved out of a singular humongous stone.

    Gent came to a stop, and Rein looked through Gent¡¯s eyes at a dragoness in human form. The dragoness had fair skin with features of glossy black scales that shimmered in rainbow light. Her horns had the same quality, a wavy rainbow glimmer curving into pointed weapons.

    ¡°Auromirrar, dear,¡± Gent gently growled. ¡°Did you not agree that we would not send our third child to the Middle Realm?¡±

    ¡°I had to,¡± the dragoness replied with her chin raised. ¡°Otherwise, our third child will fall behind the others in intelligence.¡±

    Gent sat down on a stone chair that was carved into a large claw with intricate depictions of natural disasters.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already informed you that the Middle Realm is not safe. It never was. And it has been chaotic as of late.¡± Gent sounded rather dejected to Rein¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Why do you still use that old name from the era of Gods?¡± Auromirrar replied. ¡°We are the Gods now. Its name is the Maelstrom Realm!¡±

    ¡°The human farms within this realm are for our descendents. It is the best hunting ground!¡± Auromirrar declared. ¡°Worry not, husband. Our third child will return with increased intelligence and strength after hunting there.¡±

    Gent visibly clenched the stone table with his hand, filled with a deep sense of discomfort.

    ¡°You¡¯re stuck in the past, love,¡± Auromirrar stated, having noticed his hand. ¡°You cling to your friendship with Yirn. Yirn did not even deign to help the humans when the Gods fell!¡±

    ¡°That matters not. The Middle Realm is a source of chaos,¡± Gent said. ¡°It is a realm of balance. Over history, its aurae density has always been in the middle, never low enough to be considered a hell realm, nor high enough to be considered a heavenly realm.¡±

    ¡°We should not send our children there.¡±

    ¡°Oh please.¡± Auromirrar rolled her eyes. ¡°Perhaps there is some truth to your words. After all, the Twelve Heavens became the Twelve Hells, while the Maelstrom Realm is still the Maelstrom Realm. Regardless, it is a place where our children can train themselves to hunt these wily humans, and consume them for intelligence.¡±

    ¡°Do we really need to consume humans for intelligence?¡±

    ¡°Love¡­ have you lost your mind? Our creators, the Asurans, have long informed us that we will only gain intelligence by consuming the beings created by the Gods. The Asurans created us specifically to attack those created by the Gods!¡±

    ¡°The Gods then offered us a deal-- they would impart us intelligence by teaching the humanoid species to worship and sacrifice some of their people to us. Even the Gods recognized this to be a necessity to win us over to their side!¡±

    ¡°But,¡± Gent replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. What about me? I was not considered talented and received little to no portion of the sacrifices. Yet, my mind is whole. I am even the most wily of all dragons in combat.¡±

    ¡°You were born without the signature draconic affinity to all natural elements. Heavens simply gave you compensation.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking,¡± Gent ignored Auromirrar¡¯s theory, finally expressing a long-stewing doubt. ¡°Perhaps the Asurans fooled us. They designed our early forms to be dumb but strong as a weapon against the humanoids. When inevitably some of us dragons grew intelligent, perhaps they then lied to us that it was the consumption of humanoids that gave us intelligence.¡±

    ¡°The Gods, wanting the subservience of their own creations but also of us, arranged for the humanoids to occasionally sacrifice themselves to us. We beasts gain strength when consuming, so it was inevitable that we would believe our strength and intelligence to come from devouring humanoid species.¡±

    ¡°If I was not born elementally-crippled, and thus received little to no portion of the sacrifices¡­ perhaps I would not have realized this dastardly scheme.¡± The more he contemplated this, the more he felt his assessment to be right.

    ¡°You¡¯ve changed, Gent¡­¡± Auromirrar was distraught, her face crestfallen, her tone low.  ¡°You have filled your mind with conspiracies. Perhaps you simply need to consume a human and your mind would restabilize.¡±

    Gent was incredulous. Was he the one who had changed? No¡­he was the same!

    When the vision faded, Rein could feel his heart beating like celebration drums on New Years. He knew that these visions are triggered by relevant and related events or locations. Middle Realm? Maelstrom Realm? Fusion Realm? They are all but the same realm!

    His thoughts became muddled as he replayed the vision in his mind repeatedly. If not for Suey, he might have spent the whole night with heaviness in his heart.

    Suey soon showed up and bent over, revealing a string of large beads peeking out from her back opening!

    ¡°I¡¯ve been adjusting and training my last opening~¡± cooed Suey as she wriggled her perky firm bum for Rein. ¡°Seeing as we won¡¯t have any opportunity in the near future, tonight is the night for you to complete my¡­ training!¡±

    Rein¡¯s mind returned to the present, and his stinging palm elicited a seductive whine from Suey. His kitten would spend much of the night muffled with a ball gag for the peacefulness of the castle.

 Ch73: Hidden Devils

    The two teams set off northwest at the break of dawn, towards a swampland extending from the bottom of the far-off northwest Endless Mountains. These mountains were so named because they extended to the north and west with no end in sight. Due to the dangers of the western wilderness, few had actually traveled to the Endless Mountains-- this knowledge was reported by those that returned to tell the tale.

    The swampland is where the three-headed cobra carved out its domain. As for the Blissful-Endflower, its domain lay in a valley somewhere on the initial ranges, between two peaks of the Endless Mountains.

    The Iron Ant Team was armored in leather with the addition of the Halls robe. Lyne¡¯s team was much more extravagantly equipped.

    Lyne and her four followers were dressed in chainmail under their Halls robes. Every single ring of their chainmails had tiny inscriptions that only a grandmaster blacksmith was capable of creating, and the mesh formed by the combined magical rings formed a heavenly armament.

    The Xuere Clan naturally placed much emphasis on Lyne¡¯s protection. Rein suspected that there must be some hidden elders of the Xuere Clan trailing them in secret. However, he doubted they would show their hand unless Lyne was in mortal danger.

    They traveled on foot-- the Halls obviously would not provide inner advancers with steeds. Moreover, the potential risk of combat meant that any steed not expertly trained and raised would not fare well. That was the strength of the Demon Beast Taming Sect. If not for the repeated cases of the disciples of the sect becoming overly intimate with their demon beasts, this sect would be much more respected.

    Anyhow, although not all advancers tempered their bodies, the aurae gathered still gave them significantly higher endurance and recovery compared to mortals. After all, the inner realm is based on transforming the body to be a vessel for aurae while seeking the individual creed.

    Thus, their gradual jog towards the northwest, though not at all swift, was not sluggish either. Lyne¡¯s group had little advantage despite their members being shell advancers-- their chainmail armor weighed their bodies down more.

    The original land they traveled through was mostly barren with bare leafless trees. This was why the central outpost was easy to defend-- any approaching attack would be out in the open, easily visible for many kilofeet around the fortified castle.

    After a day, the vegetation increased and their surroundings gradually transformed into a temperate rainforest. For reasons unknown to Rein, heavy storm clouds often struck the southeast side of the Endless Mountains, inundating this area with wetness. Another day later, they encountered the Demon Ink River, and they swerved northwards, intending to cross the river at a narrower section.

    The Demon Ink River had murky water as dark as a cloudy night, and unknown demon aquatic creatures filled its incredibly deep and wide span. Many advancers had fallen here.

    The two teams frankly, felt that something was off. This was not all that deep into the western wilderness, so it was not super surprising that they had yet to encounter any major threats. Most demon beasts they had encountered ran at the sight of the eleven human advancers.

    However, it was still too quiet, almost eerie. Though this felt odd to some of the members, Chirh was instead delighted. He attempted to hide his emotions from others, but all could see him spright on his toes.

    They finally reached a rocky granite area. Due to the environment, this was an area with a much narrower river-span due to the erosion-resistant granite. The river was also much lower, sinking downwards into the ground, the very initial formation of an eventual future canyon. Still, this is a width of three hundred feet, too far for most of them to leap across.

    ¡°Rein,¡¯ Xeeseir placed a hook with a coiled metallic-weaved rope into the young man¡¯s hands. ¡°You¡¯re up.¡± All present had seen Rein¡¯s powerful explosive ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ against the Convergence Sect shell advancers. ¡°Are you able to make the crossing?¡±

    Three hundred feet¡­ in a single leap. Rein had never attempted such a distance with the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, but based on the creator¡¯s words, he should be able to make this distance-- if barely.

    As a human, he is also able to accelerate before performing the art through his tempered legs. Frogs obviously are unable to execute a run-up. A confidence rose within his chest. He gripped the hook and nodded his assent.

    He set himself a distance away from the gap, and angled his body forward. With the power within his legs, he needed to angle himself nearly perpendicular to the ground to prevent himself from rising airborne from each thrusting step.

    He kicked up soil as he gained momentum, every single stride a good ten feet. Then he reached the ledge, and exploded off at an angle, arcing across the gap in a beautiful rainbow.

    Rein knew he was going to make it. That was, until the ink black water parted open as an armored monstrous crocodile-like creature, who had flippers for arms and legs,  launched itself high into the air to intercept Rein¡¯s flight! The demon¡¯s form extended an intimidating fifteen feet long.

    It was also now that Rein finally understood why the river was named the Demon Ink River. The water itself had a high viscosity, and the dark fluid stuck to the river monster¡¯s skin as it arced towards Rein with jaws wide open.

    ¡°Twelve hells¡­¡± Rein twisted his body midair, and with pinpoint accuracy, sent a powerful kick into the river monster¡¯s snout. The river monster remained unhurt, protected by its thick armor-like skin, but it closed its jaws with a snorting sneeze, giving Rein the opportunity to flip himself onto the demon¡¯s back.

    Rein gathered aurae in his legs again, and pushed off the back of the demon beast. The mass of the river monster allowed Rein to push off its body effectively, and Rein landed on the opposite edge with his heart beating like a drum.

    He searched for a spot to tie the metal-sinewed rope around, which was not at all difficult given the craggy granite nature of the area.

    ¡°Ready!¡± He hollered to the others.

    On the east side, the men and women swiveled their heads around. The crossing was more dangerous than they had first thought.

    ¡°My elders in the Southern Starry Sea¡­¡± Dahk muttered softly. ¡°They say that the sea demons birth their children out of a river to the west¡­¡±

    ¡°Chirh. You¡¯re first.¡± Xeeseir placed a hand on Chirh¡¯s shoulders and pushed him to the front.

    ¡°Is that a good idea?¡± Nunan wondered. ¡°This man is untrustworthy. He should not lead the way against the potential aggression of the river demons.¡±

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Hah!¡± Xeeseir chortled in response. ¡°I have forgotten that we¡¯ve yet to discuss our strategies. We, the Iron Ant Team, do battle based on Chirh¡¯s movements.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­unsuitable¡­ A team should fight based on its strongest fighter.¡±

    ¡°Let me explain,¡± Xeeseir replied. ¡°To put it bluntly¡­ I am concerned that Chirh would flinch at the wrong moment due to his fear and cause another¡¯s death when said member has chosen to trust him with defending his or her back.¡±

    ¡°However, let me clarify that Chirh is not useless,¡± he continued. ¡°Thus, we do battle based on Chirh¡¯s movements. If he runs, we all follow and back off. My own experience¡­. When a team makes discordant decisions, lacks organization, things just go haywire. Thus, we act based on Chirh¡¯s movement. And frankly¡­ he does have a nose for avoiding danger.¡±

    Lyne¡¯s team blink their five pairs of eyes, making sense of Xeeseir¡¯s words.

    ¡°You fucking assholes,¡± Chirh quivered in more fear than anger as he peered down the ledge into the river that seemed to suck in the soul.. ¡°You¡¯re just using me as bait.¡±

    ¡°I do not mind going first as the bait, if you can guarantee that you will throw yourself to engage any river demons upon their appearance,¡± Xeeseir slowly and measuredly said.

    Chirh could only clench his teeth in silence before taking another peek at those dark waters.

    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Lyne squinted down at the Demon Ink River as well, trying to penetrate the surface with her sharp eyes. ¡°Perhaps we can create an approach to make use of your methods.¡±

    ¡°Miss!¡± Nunan protested vehemently.

    ¡°Nunan. Demons and devils always go after the weakest link first. Let Chirh be the bait!¡±

    Chirh could only swallow his dissatisfaction. Well-- he either had to accept his current situation or lose his life to House Larne. Such was his unfortunate circumstance.

    He raised his shortsword and with light footwork, ran on the metal rope towards the other side, with the rest of the Iron Ant Team following behind.

    This time, five armored blob-shaped fishes with rows of sharp teeth launched themselves into the air, each the size of two humans. Chirh activated the inscription on his shortsword and attempted to blind the approaching fishes with light. It had no effect! It was then that Chirh noticed that these fishes¡¯ eyes were cloudy and dull. Clearly, these armored fishes never had good sight to begin with!

    Wilo¡¯s wooden needles flew forth, but bounced off these armored river demons. Only Xeeseir¡¯s explosive arrow somewhat diverted a heavy fish off its course. Suey and Jory frowned, unsure if their bronze whips would be of any use again

    The twin swung and flicked their wrists, and to their surprise, the thinner ends of their bronze whips cracked the air as it struck the approaching jaws of the fishes, leaving deep gashes across their mouths, and cracking a few of their teeth.

    A wave of WIlo¡¯s poisoned needles entered the demon fishes¡¯ mouths and then the Iron Ant members dodged the demon fishes¡¯ flight path, and the blobs sunk back into the water. A bit further downstream, three of these five fishes floated belly up, no doubt dying due to Wilo¡¯s poison needles.

    ¡°I got it! Quickly!¡± Xeeseir yelled as he aimed an ice arrow downwards. The members obeyed his orders and dashed forward, their feet light on the metal rope.

    Xeeseir fired an ice arrow, and on impact, the ink river¡¯s surface frosted over, making it difficult for any river demons to launch itself upwards.

    This allowed the Iron Ant Team to reach the other side with no more interference.

    The layer of frozen surface flowed downstream, and thus was of no benefit to Lyne¡¯s team.

    As for Lyne¡¯s team, the five had fully activated their aurae skin, and the aurae cloud wrapping around their bodies formed all sorts of advancer arts.

    Their team was much calmer than the Iron Ant Team, with a high level of coordination. Zehz manipulated his aurae cloud to give off hypnotic lights that drew the river demons to target him. Bohr would leap forth and block any demons that got too close to Zehz.

    Lyne, with quick taps of her sword, would freeze the very watery skin of the river demons. Karsutz was a shadow that shot forth occasional hidden weapons at precise weak points of the river demons. Nunan tossed out stakes that seemed to gather and release all sorts of explosive magics.

    The two groups gathered on the opposite side and went forth towards the swampland, the house of the three-headed cobra!

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    The Iron Ant Team and Lyne¡¯s team may have been pleasantly surprised by the lack of demons they encountered. Little did they know that there was a reason for this.

    For five devils had been in their vicinity!

    Poison Germination Devil, Dujahrn of the Harvest Devil Sect, was naturally here.

    Blood God, Hahrn, of the Blood Devil Sect.

    Hairy Corpse Devil, Voxeire, of the Corpse Raising Sect.

    Insect Devil, Lazr, of Poison Insect Sect.

    And¡­ the Harvest Devil herself, Ailehr, leader of the Harvest Devil Sect!

    Ailehr stood at the top with a peak-outer realm. Dujahrn was second as a mid-outer advancer. Voxeire and Lazr, low-outer advancer. Hahrn, peak shell realm, weakest of the group

    ¡°That second prince must be desperate-- to pay such a price!¡± commented Lazr.

    Indeed, without such benefits it was impossible for devils to cooperate. After all, the reason these people became devils was their distaste for the imposed order from orthodox sects and nations. The freedom of the western wilderness suited them. They would kill if they wanted to. Paradoxically, they could also choose to simply seclude themselves, not having to deal with the demands of a ruling class, such as the Minhr Nation¡¯s nobility.

    Ailehr giggled bewitchingly in response, and the other four¡¯s hairs stood on end as they felt their own bodies heating up in uncontrollable desire along with simultaneous fear filling their minds.

    ¡°The second prince just wants to fuck,¡± she cooed. ¡°We are to capture a cool beauty and deliver her to him unharmed. He wants to seed her.¡±

    ¡°So don¡¯t hurt her!¡± Her voice changed into a sudden screech and an iciness chilled the other four¡¯s bodies.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this second prince worried about retaliation from the other nobles?¡± Hahrn questioned.

    ¡°These are the second prince¡¯s words,¡± Ailehr chuckled softly. ¡°He said that as long as she gets pregnant and gives birth, with that child having the opportunity to be a future ruler of the Minhr Nation¡­ this woman called Lyne would have no choice but to accept her position.¡±

    ¡°Damn Minhr nobles,¡± Hahrn snarled. ¡°They arrested and executed my family, speaking of justice. Now, the second prince himself¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the youngest of us all. This is the norm. The rules these orthodox groups form? They¡¯re only there for the benefit of the ruling powers!¡± Voxeire stated. Many male corpses followed behind her, a few carrying her floating throne.

    ¡°Quiet down,¡± Ailehr ordered, her tone now mostly neutral but occasionally leaked a hint of unnatural allure through lusty exhales. ¡°You are all here for benefits, and we will proceed as agreed! Remember that some benefits will be given to the second prince¡¯s aide, who informed us of these poor souls¡¯ targets!¡±

    The other four nodded. They were only able to gather together because they each wanted something different from the targets of these Halls advancers, after receiving information that these Halls advancers would be attacking valuable poison demons.

    On another note-- it was, of course, their outer advancer presence that scared all the demon beasts in the vicinity away. Demon beasts relied on instincts much more, and could often sense when something was off.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    Following behind was another group-- the House Larne group. A few Sun Sword Sect members of the upper and peak shell advancer realm had joined. Supposedly, they are capable disciples of Beincen¡¯s hidden ancestors in the sect.

    ¡°When should we strike?¡± an accompanying elder questioned.

    ¡°We follow and¡­ wait,¡± Beincen uncertainly replied. ¡°We wait for them to weaken enough after an intense battle. Then we can take their lives easily!¡±

    ¡°Worry not,¡± a Sun Sword Sect disciple replied. ¡°I, Yidahr, have mastered the Sunbeam Stab.  It will be over in a blink!¡±

 Ch74: Three-headed Cobra

    At the very bottom of the Demon Ink River, a crocodilian creature with flippers for arms and legs swam through an underwater passage into a dark cavern only illuminated by a glowing magical mirror-like orb floating in the water.

    The crocodilian-whale floated before this orb, and the reflective surface transformed into the shape of a woman who had sharp teeth alongside other features such as yellow eyes with vertical pupils, and a row of scaly lumps lining down her back from the top of her neck.

    ¡°Mother,¡± a female voice sounded from the crocodilian-whale''s pointed snout. Her voice was muffled in the water, but audible nonetheless.

    ¡°Daughter. You have grown. Your intelligence? Supreme!¡± the woman in the mirror-orb smiled, her pointed fangs menacing yet soft before her daughter. ¡°To select your own throat to metamorphose first, allowing yourself the ability to speak to me? That is proof of your future potential.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡± the mother squinted. ¡°What happened to your snout?¡±

    ¡°A human man kicked my nose. It¡¯s just a light bruise. I tried to devour him. I thought it would be easy, but his body was¡­strong like ours.¡± The crocodilian-whale seemed embarrassed.

    ¡°Did I not tell you to be careful of humans? They may seem like ants, but¡­¡± the woman sighed. ¡°Keep on strengthening yourself, and head to the southern seas. The Fusion Realm used to be our domain, the humanoids just our livestock. To think most beastkin now hesitate to send their children to train in the realm¡­ at least us sea-based beastkin still hold full sway over the southern seas.¡±

    ¡°Yes, mother.¡±

    ¡°The humans are invading our realm. Do not concern yourself with this-- you are too weak to matter. I am not certain if this is just a probing attack, or it may become more. I hope that one day, I can bring you back from the southern seas.¡±

    ¡°I will avenge you, mother, should you fall.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx me, you naughty girl.¡±

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Rein and his allies remained completely in the dark as they entered the swampland, unaware that they had already become the hunted. They are, of course, aware of House Larne¡¯s threat. They also expected a few devils to show up in an attempt to steal their spoils of the hunt. That was their plan, after all!

    Now, if they had reached the outer stage of advancement, then they would be able to better scout their surroundings and detect the lurking danger. As advancers below that stage, they could only rely on logic and reasoning.

    They assumed that powerful devils would be mostly uninterested in their targets. The Blissful-Endflower was useful to draw their bounty target, Dujahrn. However, most poison devils avoided plant poison advancer arts, and thus they assumed that at worst, one or two shell devils and some rare demon beasts interested in consuming the flower might pop up if they successfully defeated the plant spirit.

    Plant-based poison had a critical weakness against flame, which is, well, rather popular in advancer arts. Most who employed plant-based poison needed to use tricks or cover their weakness with other advancer arts.

    Anyway, the group¡¯s flawed reasoning was caused by a lack of knowledge. They did not know that the second prince was, in fact, becoming somewhat desperate in his fight for the throne. His source of desperation? The seventh prince¡¯s rise!

    Although the Xuere Clan is a pivotal defense force guarding the Xuere gap, they do not have a strong presence in the capital, and thus only had delayed knowledge of the Dingien Clan¡¯s succession conflict. Another factor was also that the Xuere Clan had yet to take a side. Anyhow, this was precise why the second prince had chosen now to take forceful action!

    Thus, the five devils bought by the second prince waited patiently in the dark, maintaining a semblance of uneasy cooperation. They would pounce on the defeat of the Blissful-Endflower. Or, if the Halls'' younglings fail to kill the plant spirit, they would simply kidnap Lyne and still accomplish their task.

    Dujahrn had other thoughts. He was already contemplating methods to draw the other four devils into a fight against the Blissful-Endflower should the Halls¡¯ younglings fail. He believed that those four devils would have no trouble dealing with the Blissful-Endflower together, and perhaps he could obtain the heartblood of the flower.

    He knew, though, that the other four devils have no interest in assisting him. They have had conflict with one another in the past before, and though they weren¡¯t full-on enemies, none wished to have a potentially stronger future adversary in the western wilderness.

    ¡°Let¡¯s confirm our final plan,¡± Xeeseir ordered. Lyne and Nunan both went forth as Xeeseir unfurled a scroll containing information on the three-headed cobra.

    The three-headed cobra was named so because of its appearance. However, it was not actually just a three-headed cobra. In this day and age, many demon beasts are a mix. This three-headed cobra has many unique qualities.

    It was perfectly suited for this swampland, filled with many deep muddy lakes and ponds. Its brown skin camouflages itself into the viscous mud. It often hides its two heads under the surface, with one head peeking out to draw air. And of course, its ability to spout out a thick mist that blinds foes, and its three poisonous heads.

    As such, this three-headed cobra hides itself in the muddy lakes and streams, patiently waiting for prey. Then it would spring up in an ambush, releasing the blinding mist before delivering the final venomous bite.

    As a rank four demon beast, its snakeskin would certainly be tough to penetrate, and its intelligence should be incredibly high. As for whether it had gained any form of demon beast metamorphosis¡­ that remained unknown. At least, all sightings of the three-headed cobra had been of a full snake form.

    ¡°The three-headed cobra prefers lying in wait to ambush prey with its thick poisonous blinding mist. It should also be highly intelligent. As such, I propose we act as lost souls and pretend to succumb to the thick poison mist before, well¡­ simultaneously mobbing the snake in a reverse ambush.¡± Xeeseir demonstrated his vast experience with such a concise approach.

    ¡°You¡¯re more cunning than you look,¡± Nunan nodded in agreement with Xeeseir¡¯s strategy. As the formation master within Lyne¡¯s group, she normally came up with their strategy. Xeeseir¡¯s approach was vicious.

    This plan was only possible because they had received all sorts of antidotes from a Halls¡¯ alchemist. The five hundred feet long giant three-headed cobra was about to discover the nature of humanity.

    Rein was the one who stored the antidotes-- after all, he had learnt some knowledge and it was his alchemist instructor that had provided these antidotes.

    He forced aurae to the tip of his fingers and injected it into the spatial pouch at his waist. He reached his hand and retrieved a box, and identified the ones that specialized against the blinding mists of snakes.

    Although antidotes do not exist for everything in existence, the blinding mists of snake demons is not an uncommon ability.

    They each took a sip from their vials and began wandering as a group through the swamp.

    ¡°These damn insects,¡± complained Chirh. He naturally had an irritable mood, having no choice but to put his wimpy self in what he perceived to be unneeded danger. Indeed, mind-numbing buzzing noises could be heard all around. Luckily, these weren¡¯t insect demons. Insect demons had behavior similar to locusts, sweeping places clean on their appearance.

    Still, for their comfort, Suey and Jory had wrapped parts of their bodies in their half-formed aurae shell, while Lyne¡¯s team¡¯s bodies had aurae shell clouds as protection.

    They wandered about mindlessly, stepping through muddy waters as high as their waist. A crocodile suddenly leaped at Chirh, who swore as he swung his shortsword in shock, dissecting the crocodile cleanly in half.

    ¡°Just a normal beast,¡± Zehz said as the rest laughed at Chirh¡¯s over-the-top reaction. By now, normal beasts, even this crocodile, would not be able to even bite into their pre-shell advancer bodies. As for potential demon beasts in this region? It was unlikely that the three-headed cobra would tolerate any in its domain.

    They began their play acting.

    ¡°Twelve hells,¡± Xeeseir groaned theatrically. ¡°Where the fuck are we anyway? Why is this muddy place endless?¡±

    ¡°This place sucks¡­ who led us here?¡± Rein chimed in.

    ¡°How could you bring us fragile ladies here?¡± Lyne quipped.

    They wandered about, through the muddy waters, testing for the location of the three-headed cobra.

    After half-a-day, when their patience began to run thin, Zehz suddenly snapped his fingers to signal that he had spotted the three-headed cobra. Zehz is an advancer skillful in using light for illusion, and as such, he also had a heightened ability to see through camouflage. He could not fully demonstrate his skill yet, since he had yet to become an outer advancer. Certain abilities require a certain realm to truly demonstrate its strength. Light-based illusions are such an art.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    With this signal, the group each took a sip of their vials of antidote again-- they occasionally did so throughout the day-- and began to escalate their interaction. Only the most meticulous observers might notice them faking the whole conflict.

    ¡°Who the fuck led us here again?!¡± Bohr roared in frustration.

    ¡°Him, of course!¡± Wilo pointed at Xeeseir. Meanwhile, Nunan indicated for Chirh so step closer to and deeper into the muddy waters to bait the three-headed cobra.

    Chirh inwardly complained, but he acquiesced.

    ¡°You¡¯re all yelling all the time! I¡¯m going to wait over here until you sort your shit out!¡± Chirh said.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had it with you!¡± Karsutz jumped at Xeeseir, and the two began trading fists.

    It was then that three cobra heads popped up from the muddy waters, and all three mouths opened wide and sprayed out a thick cloudy mist!

    Rein and his allies pretended to wander without sight.

    ¡°My eyes!¡± Rein hollered. ¡°I can¡¯t see!¡± he rubbed his eyes and bumped into Suey.

    ¡°Rein? Is that you?¡± Suey happily wrapped her arms around Rein¡¯s neck.

    Of course, they had full capabilities of their eyes. In their peripheral vision, all could see one of the three heads of the cobra hungrily eyeing Chirh, whose left hand rubbed his eyes while he held his shortsword  in his right, as he twisted his body left and right in fake confusion.

    The second head stared at Jory, while the third initially looked at the hugging forms of Rein and Suey before switching to Xeeseir, believing that attacking two close-by targets would alert its many prey to its presence.

    The three heads made their decision and lunged in sync!

    ¡°Now!¡± Lyne ordered as she now ran lightly across the top of the muddy water and launched herself at the head targeting Jory. Immediately, Rein and his allies, their sight perfectly fine and clear, mobbed the three heads.

    The only one who did not attack was Chirh. This wimp swung his shortsword, activating the backward flip inscription which sent him ten feet away, dodging the cobra head¡¯s lunge. He did at least activate a blinding light flash after his escape.

    Zehz positioned himself before one head, the aurae skin around his body releasing hypnotic rainbow flashes and patterns.

    Nunan threw multiple stakes into the surrounding area, each of those stakes lined with numerous inscriptions.

    Xeeseir simply fired an explosive arrow into the approaching jaws of the cobra head. He did not bother dodging the cobra head, which ignored the painful fiery inferno in its throat as it bit down on Xeeseir¡¯s body to deliver its venom!

    Yet, Xeeseir did not go limp as the cobra knew its prey normally would under its poison. The cobra¡¯s venom is aurae-based. Mortal poisons have no effect on advancers. Xeeseir used his origin ability to send the poison aurae art back into the three-headed cobra¡¯s body!

    Xeeseir popped a pill into his body to accelerate his own healing. He had chosen to sacrifice his body to harm the cobra, whose large poisonous fangs had punctured slightly into his hardened body to deliver the venom. He could reflect the poison art, but not the physical fangs. Some might consider his methods reckless, but that is his nature.

    The three-headed cobra would not fall to its own venom art, but it still needed some time to clear its body of the reflected turbulent poison aurae.

    Meanwhile Rein and his allies had split into three groups, delivering all sorts of attacks against its heads!

    The three-headed cobra realized that it had been thoroughly fooled into attacking these damned cunning humans. It realized this too late. Although its demon beast skin was nigh on impenetrable for these humans at these lower power realms, the humans knew where to attack.

    Wilo sent many poison needles into its mouth and eyes. This three-headed cobra that had targeted Chirh, discovered that it could not resolve Wilo¡¯s unique poison, despite it being somewhat weak compared to its own.

    Meanwhile, Lyne stuck an icy longsword into another head¡¯s left eye, and the icy art she used began forming an ice shell around the left side of that head. That cobra head failed to dodge Lyne¡¯s strike due to being drawn in by Zehz¡¯s mesmerizing lights.

    The last head that targeted Xeeseir was occupied in dispersing the position reflected back into its own body. As such, it had a slowed reaction and suffered the full-on pummeling of Rein¡¯s Soak Staff and Suey¡¯s bronze whip.

    It assumed that it would come out fine, but soon discovered that Rein¡¯s strength was beyond imagination. The inner realm human had a physicality that matched the strongest of young beastkin!

    Suey was not as strong, but the bronze whip, heavy at the base but light at the tip, transferred a lashing soundbreaking force to the head, and soon this head knew it was doomed as its ten feet wide skull cracked, about to shatter due to the blunt forces acting upon its bones.

    Wilo¡¯s poison was slow to act upon the three-headed cobra¡¯s body, and as such, that head attempted to escape, only to find Bohr¡¯s body smashing onto the top of its head. The aurae cloud around Bohr¡¯s body gave him an increased weight and sturdiness, pressing the cobra¡¯s head into the mud.

    Karsutz¡¯s form melded into the environment. Many flying daggers flew about, targeting the remaining eyes of the three-headed cobra.

    Knowing its impending doom, the three-headed cobra released a burst of strength and writhed its head in berserk swings, and the humans rolled backwards to dodge the crazed undulations of the snake demon. The three heads, leaking blood out of many orifices, gathered and sank itself back into the muddy water in a bid to escape!

    An explosion sounded as the three-headed cobra crashed into a formation trap set by Nunan, and its body rose back above the muddy water. In desperation, it swung its heavy tail. To its surprise, although Rein and Bohr were sent stumbling a few steps, the two still fearlessly caught its tail! Bohr was amazed by Rein¡¯s sturdiness, impressed at the inner advancer¡¯s tempered body that seemed on par with his shell-augmented body.

    The three heads of the cobra found itself inundated by wind blades as it encountered another formation set by Nunan in its escape attempt.

    Sensing that its tail had been trapped, it roared again and Rein watched in stupefaction as the tail he was holding on shrunk out of his grasp! The three-headed cobra upper body transformed into a man¡¯s upper body as it shrunk, and then it dove into the muddy water and disappeared!

    ¡°So¡­ it had gained some human features after all¡­¡± Nunan muttered. No one had reported this, and as such, they weren¡¯t sure exactly of what human features this rank four demon might have developed. It will be difficult to find this three-headed cobra again in this vast swamp.

    ¡°I can find it,¡± Wilo stated.

    ¡°How?¡± Nunan¡¯s eyes widened. Most advancers are only able to track foes after they become outer advancer, and develop the ability to interact with the environment using aurae tendrils.

    ¡°My wooden needles,¡± Wilo explained. ¡°It is a unique type of wood and has a special aroma.¡±

    Smell was the answer, and one of the ways for inner and shell advancers to track targets.

    ¡°Even in this¡­ swampland?¡± Nunan was quite suspicious. She had never heard of wooden aroma tracking ability before.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Wilo nonchalantly replied.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, then!¡± Xeeseir hurriedly said.

    Wilo nodded and led their way through the swamp.

    Rein and his allies were astounded as they discovered themselves wandering through a tunnel of a thicket that they would not have normally noticed against the backdrop of the swamp.

    After going through this tunnel formed by abrasive branches, they came upon a shallow muddy lake with a huge tree on a middle island.

    The three-cobra headed snake was now a creature with a male upper body and a long lower snake body, resting around that huge tree. Wilo immediately launched a rain of needles while Xeeseir fired an ice arrow. Nunan launched stakes that surrounded most of that central huge tree, only leaving a path for the group to enter the zone.

    The half-man half-cobra madly charged at them as its snake body sloshed through the muddy lake. Wilo¡¯s needles bounced off the upper male body despite the lack of scaled protection. On the other hand, Xeeseir¡¯s ice arrow froze half of its now human-sized upper chest.

    Chirh flipped his shortsword and sent a light flash. The man¡¯s head had lost an eye, but it still looked away with its other eye, only to come upon Zehz¡¯s mesmerizing light-encased body!

    Lyne dashed forward, flanked on one side by Bohr and Rein on the other. Surrounded, the half-cobra half-man recklessly threw itself forward, and Lyne¡¯s whitish-blue aurae cloud formed an ice armor around her body. She stabbed forth with her longsword the spewed a thick energy, and pierced through the weakened chest of the half-cobra. Her ice began to spread through the half-cobra half-man.

    ¡°Twelve hells¡­¡± muttered Rein. If not for their numbers, killing this tree-headed cobra would have been nigh on impossible.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± A shout from Xeeseir refocused Rein¡¯s mind. He had assumed their foe defeated, yet the neck of the half-cobra extended like a snake¡¯s body, and the head transformed into a snake head as it aimed itself at Lyne¡¯s back!

    Unlike Rein and some of the less experienced, Karsutz, who had camouflaged himself against the environment, was prepared. Flying daggers appeared out of nowhere and battered into the snake head. This slowed down the twisting neck, and Lyne swung her longsword. Her strike was unable to break the now beast-formed snake neck. However, her ice magic infected and eventually froze the snake head in position. Bohr then sent a powerful punch that shattered the neck, removing the snakehead.

    Rein and his allies exhaled deeply, none sure if the three-headed cobra was truly dead. Their suspicions were proven correct as another head grew out of the severed neck!  This time, they were ready. Suey and Jory simultaneously lashed the newly-formed head with their bronze whips. Lyne once again froze the neck with her ice arts. This time, she received additional help by Xeeseir¡¯s ice arrow, and thus immobilized the neck much more rapidly.

    Another fist from Bohr and the neck shattered once again.

    ¡°This cobra has three heads. So¡­¡± Nunan said hesitantly. ¡°There should be one more.¡±

    However, for now, the half-cobra half-man body crumpled sideways onto the ground, limp. Rein and his allies waited for the time it took for an incense stick of time to burn, but no new head emerged.

    ¡°Let¡¯s harvest this body, its flesh, scales, venom glands, and its heartblood. It may prove useful,¡± Lyne said as they walked forth toward the limp body.

    ¡°Wait. Allow me,¡± Xeeseir frowned.

    He stepped forth and placed his hand on the limp half-cobra half-man. As he turned the limp body over, the neck suddenly grew and a new head launched itself forward and bit into Xeeseir¡¯s body!

    The snake¡¯s poison art was once again retraced and returned to its source. Xeeseir grinned. ¡°Good night, snake.¡± Lyne¡¯s blade once again struck at the body¡¯s neck and all could see an unwillingness in the cobra¡¯s eyes. And finally, the third head was severed.

    Their battle had been quite one-sided. However, that was only because of their overwhelming numbers. None of the humans present believed themselves capable of contending against these three-headed cobra alone, or even in a smaller group.

    Frankly, not even Lyne¡¯s team believed they could have beaten this three-headed cobra without the Iron Ant Team. At least, they would not have been able to deal with three heads simultaneously with just five. It had to be noted, their abilities could only be fully unleashed because the three-headed cobra targeted the members of the Iron Ant Team initially.

    With the final head defeated, the three-headed cobra¡¯s body visibly increased in size before them, until it transformed back into the original five hundred feet long body of the three-headed cobra with its three heads severed.

    Rein and his allies shared a glance with each other and began carving the body apart with harvest cleavers.

 Ch75: A Slight Breather

    Nunan scurried around the perimeter of the lair to set up much more extensive defensive formations as the others carved apart the three-headed cobra.

    The two groups had agreed to stay here for the night. If they had killed the three-headed cobra out in the open swamp, they would have rapidly harvested the snake before entering the Endless Mountains to the northwest to search for a safer haven.

    This thicket surrounding the mud lake that functioned as the three-headed cobra¡¯s lair changed their decision.

    It was well-hidden, and functioned as a fortress of sorts, with only an opening in, through the tunnel that they had followed the three-headed cobra through. WIthout Wilo¡¯s ability to track her wooden needles, of which many had entered the snake¡¯s body, they would not have been able to find this place.

    As such, they chose to rest and recover here instead of attempting to find some safe location at the foot of the mountains come nightfall.

    Many tents with minor inner space augmentation were set up. Seeing these, Rein was reminded of the odd situation regarding advancers with good spatial affinity in the advancer world.

    Spatial advancers often end up in a few paths. One-- incredibly rich barons due to their spatial augmented products beloved by all advancers. Two-- a personal retainer to teleport an influential and powerful advancer from place-to-place. Three-- a combat support advancer of sorts in teams and armies.

    This was a result of spatial arts not having any direct damaging traits-- many attempts were made to bypass the limitation, but the advancer world discovered that as spatial magics are ¡®physically¡¯ weak, even the weakest of objects would stabilize space and prevent the collapse of, for example, a spatial tunnel or a spatial crack.

    That was precisely why Rein himself spent much of his time considering how to make use of his origin skill outside of using it for escape and travel. So far, he had a few ideas that he would only be able to to test when he reaches the shell realm.

    Once the tents were sat up, they returned once again to the arduous task of carving apart this five-hundred feet long snake. Its snake-scale would fetch a handsome price along with contribution points from the Halls. Its fangs would be of much use for blacksmiths.

    As for the extracted venom, the glands, and the rank four demon core? This had already been promised to Rein¡¯s alchemist instructor, Vahrk. Obviously, with Vahrk being a member of the Halls, they would receive contribution points, but no additional benefits.

    As for the heart of the three-headed cobra¡­ that contained the heartblood of the demon. Once extracted, it would amount to around three drops of coagulated blood essence, and any who consume these would find themselves having a heightened mastery of certain arts that shared similar laws to the skills of the cobra.

    Their guess was that venomous arts would see some improvement. Arts related to airborne magics to infect others¡¯ eyes would also gain benefits.

    Nunan came over after setting up the defenses, and placed the three-headed cobra¡¯s heart into a box of maloewood. Upon this box were many inscriptions and power gems that would protect and preserve the heart. They did not bother harvesting the heartblood, preferring to preserve the whole heart to better sell it should they come out of this unscathed.

    None had desire for the heartblood. Wilo might use poison, but her poison is not venom-based. The heartblood of the three-headed cobra had no benefits to any present. Plus, the original plan had always been to use the cobra¡¯s heartblood to draw out bounty targets.

    Now, the flesh of the three-headed cobra¡­ this was very much troublesome. It simply had too much weight. One might assume that they could simply preserve the flesh and store it in their spatial pouches. That is false.

    The weight of everything in these spatial pouches are , in fact, felt by the carrier of said pouch. The space within these pouches exists within the pouch, and the weight of the objects inside are transmitted outwards.

    ¡°Should we light a fire?¡± Xeeseir muttered. This was the current point of contention among the members.¡°This will allow us to cook this meat and absorb the energies within the meat. We can also use the smoke to preserve some of the meat for our future.¡± The group did bring food, but none compared to the quality of a rank four demon beast.

    ¡°Would this not attract many other demon beasts?¡± Chirh interjected in a panic.

    ¡°The dying and bloody smell of the corpse has long reached the noses of demon beasts,¡± Xeeseir replied as the sound of cawing crows increased in volume overhead.

    The thicket surrounded them on all four sides, but there remained the issue of demon birds swooping in from above. As such, many of Nunan¡¯s formations focused on blocking that single entrance and aerial defense.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t formation masters supposedly able to blind all sorts of senses?¡± Chirh grumbled unhappily.

    ¡°I¡¯m just a shell advancer. Perhaps if I¡¯m an outer advancer ....¡± Nunan sighed. ¡°As a shell advancer, I can only create formation tools and place them as traps. Forming large-scaled formations capable of such a feat is not possible for me yet.¡±

    Despite this, they had chosen to recover here because they believed it far safer than the uncertainty of the Endless Mountains.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Nunan contemplated their situation for a moment and added, ¡°It might be a good thing. To draw out the demon beasts and fallen devils.¡±

    ¡°Are¡­ are you crazy?!¡± Chirh responded as he subconsciously pulled at his hair.

    ¡°Even if many devils show their faces-- which they won¡¯t, for a single fire in the expansive western wilderness will only draw eyes within a limited vicinity-- we can simply throw the heart of the three-headed cobra into their midst and they would fight over that single piece of meat like rabid dogs.¡±

    ¡°We might even be able to get a few more bounty targets indirectly,¡± she confidently mused. ¡°Demon beasts are unlikely to reach this place at any quick speed, except for perhaps demon birds. But if this attracts many devils, discordant amongst themselves in our surroundings¡­¡±

    The discussion between Xeeseir and Nunan was one of madness in Chirh¡¯s mind. Yet, opportunity always came with risk. They already planned to bait in devil bounties with the heartblood of both the cobra and the Blissful-Endflower. Why not begin now, draw eyes and introduce more initial chaos in the dark?

    ¡°Chirh,¡± Xeeseir added as he grinned half-maniacally. ¡°Do you not remember House Larne? They might be tracking us in one way or another, looking to pounce. Now, if there are a bunch more devils and demon beasts in the vicinity¡­¡±

    Chirh was tongue-tied. He could see the benefits to himself despite the risks. If House Larne lost too many figures along with Beincen, then in the future, he might not even need to take such risks in the Western Wilderness!

    Nunan and Xeeseir informed the others. Many were wide-eyed, some raised their eyebrows, but all could see the method within the madness.

    And so, a fire was set. They carved some dry wood from that central huge tree, started a fire and cooked the cobra meat. They also set up a structure to smoke some of the meat to store within their spatial pouches. Of course, they are not able to carry all the five hundred feet snake flesh weight, but advancers without body tempering still have increased strength, and as such, they would be able to each carry some useful weight of the dried meat.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    They set up a guard rotation to watch for potential enemies from the sky. The traps set by Nunan would notify them of any coming in through the tunnel.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    ¡°By Devil Hehrn¡¯s Shadow¡­ What the fuck are these idiots doing?!¡± Ailehr, the Sect Leader of Harvest Devil Sect, cutely complained as she observed the Halls¡¯ youngsters.

    At least, she pouted and appeared rather cute to the other four devils. The four knew this cuteness was but an act.

    They noticed that the reckless fools had set up a campfire in the middle of the swamp, and the smoke their rose to the heavens was filled with the taste of a rank four demon meat. The Blood God, Hahrn, of the Blood Devil Sect, was salivating simply from this smell. He could barely resist the rising aroma, having a deep desire to leap forth and consume the blood of this three-headed cobra.

    Ailehr had thought that her mission would be quite easy. With her strength, she would ambush and kidnap Lyne in a critical moment when the team fought against the Blissful-Endflower. Their informant had said that this demon plant was the target.

    She spread her aurae tendrils into the environment, stretching them as far as she could. Already, a few extra devils had popped up. As for demon beasts, they sensed her touch through unexplainable instincts, and immediately turned to flee.

    It was then that she noticed something approaching from a mountain peak deep into the northwest. She filled her eyes with aurae and activated an art to augment her eyesight.

    ¡°An eagle-based demon bird is approaching as well¡­¡± She muttered. It would take that eagle half a day or maybe even a whole day to arrive. Eagles enjoyed snakes for food. As long as the Halls¡¯ youngsters left in the morning, they should be able to avoid the eagle-like demon. However, the eagle¡¯s presence could be an unexpected factor. How troublesome. That demon bird should be quite high rank, and would not be scared off by Ailehr.

    Ailehr could feel a headache. She will have to demand increased compensation from that second prince before handing Lyne over to him.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    ¡°These¡­ these fucking mad retards!¡± Uncle Naohr rarely lost his cool. In fact, this was the first time Beincen had noticed this scholarly uncle of his, always calm despite the quickness of his speech, so agitated.

    ¡°Are you Minhr Nation nobles so weak?¡± scoffed the leading Sun Sword Sect disciple, Yidahr. ¡°In chaos, there is opportunity. Though these Halls¡¯ youngsters are idiots, it¡¯s our opportunity as well!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Beincen loathed the idea of walking away with no benefits. He had to kill Rein! Yidahr¡¯s words suited him. He expected no less from his hidden ancestors¡¯ disciples!

    Uncle Naohr had been ordered to follow Beincen¡¯s decision. He could only bite on his own tongue in silence. Malak, the man of fiend blood lent to them by Supreme Guihnes, nonchalantly cleaned his fingernails with his teeth. He cared not one bit. He was under very different orders from Supreme Guihnes after all! Not that House Larne knew.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Beside the campfire, Rein and his allies sliced apart the simply salted cobra meat and consumed the flesh. As Rein swallowed, he would feel a flow of aurae that lifted his spirits alongside the aurae concentration within him. No wonder advancer restaurants had all sorts of demon beast meat dishes.

    However, he could not fully enjoy this savory meal, for Suey had begun ¡®misbehaving¡¯. She initially acted frisky, and then she began demanding Rein to feed her the meat using his mouth. She pressed her ample breasts into his right arm, causing unneeded distraction during their important discussion regarding the Blissful-Endflower over the invigorating meal.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Rein replied as he brought up the alchemist instructor Vahrk¡¯s advice. He did his best to ignore Suey¡¯s hands that ran up and in between his muscular tempered thighs. ¡°Instructor Vahrk has said that the plant demons and plant-based poisons are weak to heat. He has given us antidotes, but¡­the spores this plant releases and its control over other plants in its vicinity¡­¡±

    Plant demons would often place parts of themselves into the environment. Some of these parts might even become different bodies of the same mind. After the battle against the three-headed cobra, they believed that they needed many more contingency plans against the Blissful-Endflower. They needed to flush out ideas for unexpected situations.

    The plan wasn¡¯t just against the Blissful-Endflower. They needed to draw out the devils and demons during the battle. Perhaps they might be able to obtain the heads of bounties without killing the Blissful-Endflower if the devils showed their faces too soon!

    Suey¡¯s eye-catching actions naturally drew the disapproval of all present. If Suey was confronted, she would point out that most of their strategies are conjured up by Xeeseir and Nunan anyway. The others only had occasional input.

    ¡°Am I not more important ¡­?¡± Suey breathed huskily into Rein¡¯s right ear, desiring the young man¡¯s attention, feeling somewhat neglected over the past few days.

    Rein finally had it with the minx, and he stripped the woman out of her leather armor in front of the others. Suey only moaned  in defiance yet did not physically resist. Soon, Suey¡¯s remaining clothing was only in a leather thong alongside a white long piece of cloth wrapped around her chest tightly, her breast flesh spilling out the top in a wondrous cleavage. Many female advancers use chest wraps to tighten their breasts against their frame for battle.

    ¡°Down, slave kitten!¡± Rein harshly ordered, and Suey sat sideways onto the ground and rested her head on top of Rein¡¯s right knee obediently. Rein¡¯s hand lightly stroked her cheek and head while he continued partaking in the discussion on the Blissful-Endflower.

    All the men naturally ogled the nearly nude woman. Suey only felt a rising heat as she received the heat of their gazes. She always loved being disciplined by Rein and placed in such vulnerable positions. It was hard to fully explain. She knew that her fate art visions had twisted her heart.

    Her heart loved being humiliated by Rein. And she certainly enjoyed it when Rein ordered her to do the most debaucherous of acts. She had, of course, thought of why this might be. She believed that it was sourced from her visions.

    Her deepest fear was whether a man would still accept her, treat her simply if that future in her visions came to pass. If she was captured, used as nothing more than a sex slave through potentially decades by those influential figures in those visions¡­ would any man still tolerate her? It was not simply whether one might pity and feel concerned with her fate. It was regarding continual acceptance and treating her just like any other friend or lover.

    Some men may claim themselves capable, but she knew that more likely than not, such events would impact the man¡¯s behavior and treatment toward such a woman.

    Whenever Rein ordered her to perform such humiliating acts, and returned to treating her just like any other day¡­ a peace filled her heart.

    ¡°Rein. We do not have any fire users¡­¡± Nunan said as she sent a cursory glance of disapproval at Suey, a willing slave pressing her body against Rein¡¯s right calf as Rein stroked her hair.

    It had to be said that this was truly odd. Flame arts are pretty popular in the advancer world, and yet, none of the eleven present had mastered any flame arts. Xeeseir might have some flame-based arrows, and they certainly carried some basic elemental bombs. Still¡­

    ¡°I can attempt some¡­¡± Rein muttered as he clashed the lightning aurae within his body against the wooden aurae. He trusted in his body¡¯s ability to survive this dangerous method, after having tested it through combat. He guided the mixture to his throat, and spat out a rush of impure flame breath that still carried hints of lightning and wood. His chest and throat felt a slight singe from the heat, but he was otherwise fine.

    This trick was what Rein had gained from hearing Gent¡¯s description of his methods in a vision.

    To his surprise, the flame he spat out consumed the normal flame of the central campfire! Red flashes of lightning occasionally arced across this new flame!

    They all looked in wonder at this new flame.

    ¡°What is this¡­ flame?¡± Nunan wondered, attempting to estimate how useful this flame might be in their fight against the Blissful-Endflower.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m actually not sure¡­¡± Rein replied. Gent had only described this method of creating flame, but not the actual resultant nature and quality of the fire.

    ¡°I did not expect you to be capable of this¡­¡± Lyne¡¯s eyes transfixed onto Rein, as if attempting to see through his methods. She then glanced down at Suey, and her lips curled into a sneer.

    That sneer reminded Suey of Lyne¡¯s hand spreading her love tunnel wide, and she reflexively pressed her thighs together to Lyne¡¯s amusement.

    ¡°This is but a method of mixing elements,¡± Rein explained. ¡°I¡¯m uncertain if I might burn my body if used repeatedly. I¡¯m only capable of this because of my body¡¯s durability and recovery state.¡±

    ¡°I can provide assistance with my ice-based art,¡± Lyne nonchalantly solved the problem.

    ¡°Let''s conclude our methods then.¡± Nunan tilted her eyes backwards to see the skies still clear minus that crows now perched on the top of the thicket. These normal crows are still here, but dared not descend for now. That meant any major threat had yet to arrive.

    ¡°Rein. I know as an inner advancer, you won¡¯t be able to control the flame once it spurts out of your mouth. However, your goal is to simply burn the plant demon¡¯s valley.¡± She threw a bottle of pills into Rein¡¯s hand. ¡°These are aurae recovering pills. Use it to continue burning the valley and ensure that the plant demon cannot escape to its auxiliary bodies. Mistress Xuere. If you cool his body, he should suffer no problems from his method of producing fire.¡±

    ¡°We will travel as one team to circle within the valley. We will not engage the Blissful-Endflower until we have burned down the demon plant¡¯s whole domain. After that, the battle will truly begin. Devils, demons and other foes are certain to show. We will proceed according to our many discussed plans!¡±

 Ch76: Lynes Predicament (1)

    The members dispersed to take their rest. A night watch rotation had already been decided.

    ¡°Rein,¡± Xeeseir remained behind as he glanced at Suey with a bit of mirth in his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s swap our rotations. You and your¡­ pet can take the first two shifts.¡± He then winked with a twinkle in his eye. ¡°Then you can properly punish the little thing for the rest of the night!¡±

    Rein choked air as Xeeseir smacked his back heartily. He gazed down at Suey, who bit her lips as she submissively melted against Rein¡¯s right knee.

    ¡°Kitten,¡± Rein whispered softly. ¡°You were misbehaving during such an important meeting on strategy. If not for Xeeseir¡¯s experienced input, we might not have been able to make the right adjustments to our plans.¡±

    ¡°Do you not think that you should thank him? He has even switched shifts for your benefit!¡±

    Suey¡¯s heart began to beat rapidly. Yes, they might have playfully swapped places with the couple Aizen and Yuynan of the Harmony Sect. Yes, they had done something of a similar nature during the Harmony Sect Trial with the Sect Leaders Meynzy and Aihr.

    However, this was the first time that Suey felt as if Rein was truly treating her like a worthless wench, her services to be sold for benefits. It felt as if the opportunity to switch guard shifts with Xeeseir was bought with her body!

    In this very moment, Suey¡¯s mind once again recalled her horrendous fate in all those visions. She also thought of the seductive art she could use. She rarely used it as a result of those visions, only having tested it against that monk who had wished to contend against her sluttiness.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, kitten,¡± Rein whispered into her ear. ¡°No matter what, I will always reclaim you. I won¡¯t blame you for any of those visions you might experience. I only hope you can go through them with a smile on your face.¡± He kissed her as a finger traced the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art engraved into her abdomen.

    Rein had met some women in comparable situations during his mortal merchant days. His father avoided the horrors of the slave trade, but he was quite aware of its existence and influence in the realm. And it seemed the advancer world had such horrors as well.

    Suey¡¯s mind now fully caved to Rein¡¯s. She still held some fear, but she decided to discard her concerns and embrace her fate, trusting that regardless of future events, Rein would reclaim her.

    She grew in confidence and leaped onto her feet, joyous as she stuck out a tongue at Rein. She etched Rein¡¯s words that she was to enjoy herself, into her heart.

    Suey wrapped parts of her body in a pink mist. On the day she becomes a shell advancer, her whole body suffused in this pink mist was certain to cause a higher degree of destruction.

    She swayed her hips as she tiptoed towards Xeeseir, and the middle-aged man was visibly shocked, as he fell backwards into a sitting position on a fallen tree trunk.

    When Suey¡¯s pink-mist shelled hand brushed against his neck, trailing down to pull down his pants, Xeeseir¡¯s mind was assaulted with a desire to ravish the minx before him. However, he managed to maintain a somewhat clear state of mind with his iron will.

    Xeeseir had naturally been through many harrowing experiences through his lifetime, and thus his will had grown strong.

    Certain types and qualities of advancer arts are not confined by power realms, usually those related to ancient magics. Suey¡¯s fate-reading ability, for example, simply did not behave according to the rules of inner-shell-outer-telekinetic and above grading.

    The will of an individual also did not follow these rules. A man deeply loyal to his wife-- any sorts of magic would be unable to sway a man with such a will. Obviously, in such a situation, a seductress might be able to use her magic to fool such a man into thinking she was his wife, but that was trickery, and not truly breaking that man¡¯s will to be loyal to his wife.

    Xeeseir clearly had this strong will.

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± he glanced questioningly at Rein.

    ¡°Enjoy yourself, big brother,¡± Rein replied with a smile. ¡°You are deserving of it. When I first entered the advancer world, all I heard was its cruelty, its betrayals. You, through your actions, have always worked to ensure our teams¡¯ good cooperation. I have already learnt much simply by observing you.¡±

    These words came from Rein¡¯s heart. Xeeseir was always forthright. If not for one of his nature functioning as the leader of the team, there would be much internal strife within their newly-formed group. Especially if said leader claimed undeserved benefits.

    Suey had already playfully pulled down Xeeseir¡¯s pants, exposing his substantial manhood. Xeeseir had tempered his body as well, though that art was not unique like Rein¡¯s.

    ¡°This pet of yours¡­¡± Xeeseir lightly patted Suey¡¯s head.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯ve trained her to love the worst of treatments,¡± Rein encouraged. ¡°Go all out. She¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    Suey inwardly called Rein an asshole--lovingly-- as she warmed to his praise. She interpreted his comment on her durability to be a compliment.

    She peeked sideways at Rein to see him stroking the girthy dragon between his legs that had lumps and notches of vitality due to the oddness of his body tempering art, and she felt a strong desire to put on a show, wishing to please Rein.

    She slobbered slovenly over Xeeseir¡¯s normal and human stiffness, and felt a satisfaction in her heart as she saw Rein¡¯s monster rearing its head.

    Soon, she stuffed the whole of Xeeseir¡¯s length down her throat, and Xeeseir wrapped his hand around the back of her head and relentlessly pumped her gullet as per Rein¡¯s recommendation.

    Eventually, Xeeseir groaned as he reached his peak, and Suey visibly gulped as dribbles of white cloud fluid leaked out the corners of her lips. She wiped the dribbles with her fingers, before licking and sucking on those fingers seductively as she looked into Rein¡¯s eyes.

    She was filled with satisfaction as she noticed Rein cease the stroking of his manhood to avoid succumbing to her wanton actions.

    ¡°She is, indeed, impossible to discard,¡± Xeeseir praised as he pulled his pants back up.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Rein wagged a finger, indicating for Suey to return to his side. ¡°That is why I am certain I will always reclaim her.¡± Truthfully speaking, Suey also reminded him of his merchant days, which no doubt had some influence on his nature and his approach to such situations.

    Suey crawled, dragging her limbs across the muddy ground as she swayed her hips enticingly. She pounced at Rein¡¯s crotch hungrily, only to be stopped by Rein¡¯s hand which locked her chin in place.

    ¡°We are meant to keep guard, kitten,¡± Rein criticized Suey facetiously. ¡°Behave yourself until the end of our two shifts.¡±

    Suey could only moan in disgruntlement as she pressed her face against the beast of Rein¡¯s crotch.

    Rein would keep watch while enduring Suey¡¯s efforts. He only stopped Suey¡¯s actions if she attempted to satisfy her hunger with her mouth. Otherwise, he endured her cheeks rubbing against his manhood, among many other teasing actions the kitten used in an attempt to distract him from his important guarding duties.

    Finally, Suey gave up and simply rested her face against his crotch. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder how and why Rein cared for her, despite already having made the decision to take the risk of throwing herself into his arms.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Does Rein care or not care about possessing her? Well-- the truth was both.

    When Rein entered the advancer world, he already chose his course of action. That was to explore the cause of the Golden Desert Town¡¯s fall.

    His experience as a debaucherous merchant, along with his depression in the aftermath of the town¡¯s destruction-- he had come to an understanding. He had no desire or belief that he was some kind of being that could truly assume control of all that is around him.

    For him, if Suey opted to stay and played her role-- whatever that may be-- he would certainly be overjoyed. However, if she decided that this was not her path¡­ Rein had every intention to simply let go before continuing his own attempts to seek the fate of his younger brother, Jein.

    This was why he acted freely with Suey.

    Some women might deem that disappointing, desiring to be pursued. Yet, there are many who might consider such a continued chase to be harassment.

    Rein had decided the general path he intended to walk upon. He would act as he ever did, and those that wished to come along, he would welcome. Those that did not-- they would be free to go. If they became obstacles before his path, he would remove them. That was Rein¡¯s mental state.

    Anyway, the simmering heat of their debaucherous positions continued until Xeeseir eventually returned to take his shift and relieve the two of their responsibilities.

    Suey gleefully bounded to her feet and followed Rein into his tent. She was meant to share a tent with her twin Jory, but all knew that she would be in Rein¡¯s tent.

    A bamboo mat for rest was already laid out, and she bit her lips before fully stripping out of her remaining undergarments.

    She arched backwards on her spread knees, presenting her wide-open lips with her head hanging backwards. She held her ankles with her hands and presented her lithe form before Rein¡¯s eyes. She wished for Rein to ¡®reclaim¡¯ her throat, so to speak.

    ¡°My flesh has grown much more flexible!¡± She blubbered in excitement. ¡°And I¡¯ve already gained some progress with the ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯! I can do much more now!¡±

    Rein himself had integrated the ¡®Bone and Organ Thousand Shift¡¯ with Gent¡¯s unnamed draconic body tempering art. Many advancer arts can be integrated together if they have compatibility.

    ¡°Let¡¯s test out your progress then, ¡° Rein growled menacingly. Prior to their visit to the Harmony Sect, Suey was unable to deal with Rein¡¯s enlarged body form due to his body tempering progress.

    He savored Suey¡¯s mesmerized eyes before slipping the tip of his manhood into those inviting lips. He gripped her neck as he gradually pushed himself further in, and was amazed to see that Suey¡¯s now flexible flesh comfortably stretching inhumanely. He would be deeply concerned if he did not know it was Suey¡¯s progress in the ¡®Boundless Dissipation¡¯ body tempering art that led to this flexibility.

    Rein groaned as his whole manhood sunk into her throat, extending down past her clavicle.

    ¡°You¡¯re out of this world, kitten,¡± he honestly praised. He only felt a pleasurable vibration as Suey attempted to acknowledge his praise with her throat so distended.

    Rein¡¯s heart jumped as the front of the tent¡¯s lap suddenly opened! Lyne walked in coolly, with  a quick glance at Suey¡¯s vulnerable position.

    ¡°I expected this,¡± she expressionlessly stated. ¡°I had wished to develop an understanding of the flame you create within your body, and yet¡­¡±

    If Lyne was the same person when Rein initially joined the Halls, she would have flipped out by now. She had been protected from such sexual matters due to her noble and talented upbringing. The downside was that this also served as her shackles-- she had limited understanding of such matters.

    Such comprehension can be quite beneficial, as the road of an advancer depended much on their understanding of the world¡¯s intricacies. Not that Rein believed himself to be some purveyor of truth.

    Regardless, Lyne¡¯s idolization of Baejenh, and Baejenh¡¯s slightly push, had seemingly opened Lyne¡¯s mind.

    Rein exhaled pleasure again as Suey recognized Lyne¡¯s voice and attempted to speak with Rein¡¯s thickness lodged down her gullet.

    ¡°This fucking slut¡­¡± Lyne muttered, suddenly rankled. ¡°Making things difficult for other women.¡±

    It was then that she noticed the mostly hidden ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ curling signs on Suey¡¯s abdomen, and her eyes widened in shock. She directed a frown towards Rein but her expression returned to neutral in a short moment.

    ¡°No¡­¡± She muttered, immediately dismissing her suspicion of Rein. ¡°She probably begged you for it, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    Rein had no deep understanding of Lyne, and attempted to withdraw himself from Suey such that the minx could explain the situation.

    ¡°No, no, no,¡± Lyne glared at Rein, ¡°Keep going.¡±

    Lyne circled around behind Rein, and saw the lewd hazy eyes of Suey peeking out from underneath Rein¡¯s jewels.

    ¡°Bitch,¡± she sneered. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready.¡±

    ¡°I heard this piece of meat practiced some flexible tempering art?¡± Lyne asked Rein as she circled back to his front. ¡°I could see her improved usage of her bronze whip at least.¡±

    ¡°She has,¡± Rein simply replied in a low voice.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lyne¡¯s eyes glowered dangerously. ¡°I wonder¡­ if her cervix can be stretched open¡­?¡±

    Lyne¡¯s words nearly sent Rein over the edge as Suey weakly struggled in her inescapable position, her neck tightly held by Rein.

    Lyne extended her right arm as she encased it in a cool aurae mist.

    ¡°I wonder¡­ perhaps this will help cool her mind.¡± Lyne now grinned. She could see that Rein was very much drawn in by her words and actions.

    She lightly grazed her fingernails teasingly around Suey¡¯s abdomen and her slender thighs, and Suey struggled helplessly in her locked position. Lyne then shoved her cool mist arm into Suey¡¯s snatch!

    The kitten bucked her hips wild at this intrusion, to Lyne¡¯s amusement. Lyne¡¯s mirth jittered past her lips uncontrollably.

    Meanwhile, Rein calmed himself as he lodged himself stationary within Suey¡¯s throat. As an advancer nearing the shell realm, she had no need to breathe.

    Lyne did not cease her highly invasive action. Already, half her forearm was encased by Suey¡¯s pleasure tunnel.

    Lyne began grinding her arm into Suey¡¯s flesh. She began doing so with a small smile on her lips, and that small smile gradually increased in magnitude.

    ¡°Ooo,¡± she mocked Suey as the rest of her forearm sunk in. A higher point in Suey¡¯s abdomen now stretched obscenely under Lyne¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡± Lyne was rendered speechless for a moment as she felt Suey clamping down in climax at such an intrusion. ¡°... I do believe my cooling arm wasn''t of much use to calming this slut.,¡± she commented.

    Lyne withdrew her glistening arm and Rein also breathed deeply as he removed himself from Suey¡¯s throat.

    His kitten slumped down onto the bamboo mat weakly, and offered no resistance as Rein positioned her on her back and spread apart her legs to reveal her widened love tunnel.

    ¡°Do it,¡± she blushed as she averted her eyes in shame and desire. ¡°Reclaim my womb.¡±

    She moaned as Rein entered, and whimpered as he pushed past the normal point of blockage. She winced in a mixture of pain and pleasure as he finally forcefully stretched her womb.

    ¡°I believe¡­¡± she hesitantly said before she discarded her shame and filledl herself with determination, ¡°that my womb needs training to gain flexibility as well¡­¡± She was, of course, referring to the ¡®Boundless Dissipation¡¯ Art that required physical pressure to train.

    Rein praised the ¡®Boundless Dissipation¡¯ body-tempering art in his heart as he began gouging out the writhing Suey with his dragon.

    He completely forgot about Lyne¡¯s presence until he felt the bare cool touch of two soft orbs against his broad and muscular back.

    He turned his head to find Lyne chin resting on his left shoulder from behind. Her hair should be originally black in tone, but due to her ice-based art, many of her strands had now turned snow white with a blue-tinge.

    Her slightly larger breasts came with a wider frame compared to Suey¡¯s, which would certainly help her in wielding the sword against weighty foes.

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure how he should react. He truly had little to no understanding of Lyne on the whole, and was very much flummoxed by her current participation.

    Despite his bafflement, Rein certainly enjoyed himself as Lyne pressed her nude form against his back and her soft and cool porcelain hands and arms roamed across his body, desperately searching for warmth.

    He returned his focus to the magical burrowing of Suey¡¯s womb, barely resisting the urge to fill his kitten¡¯s depths.

    ¡°I think this slut needs to have her womb filled. Every. Night. She should not be allowed to consume her birth control medicine.¡± Lyne¡¯s whispers into Rein¡¯s left ear were enticing. Just not the last part. Pregnancy in such a situation was hardly ideal.

    Sensing that Rein was prepared to end the night, one of Lyne¡¯s hands reached down and tantalizingly cupped Rein¡¯s jewels.

    ¡°Slut,¡± she playfully said to Suey. ¡°Your dear master will fill your womb, but he will do so with his lips upon mine.¡±

    Rein acquiesced and played along. Another grazing of Lyne¡¯s fingernails against his jewels and he pressed himself against Suey forcefully as he painted her internals in an uncontrolled explosion.

    Suey¡¯s eyelids fluttered as her eyes rolled in ecstasy at the sensation that no normal woman would ever feel. At the same time, she glimpsed Rein turning his head left to share sloppy kisses with Lyne, who also carried a hint of jealousy in her eyes. Lyne''s lips smooched against Rein¡¯s. Eventually, her eyes hardened again and she gazed dominantly at Suey, as if attempting to put Suey in her place.

    Suey certainly felt somewhat threatened, but she had full confidence that no other woman would ever go as far as she would for Rein. After all, she had knowledge of many future timelines, and knew what she was going for from the very beginning!

 Ch77: Lynes Predicament (2)

    Rein wiped himself down with a silky cloth and water container that he carried in his spatial pouch. He then cleaned the limp Suey, despite knowing that she was fully capable of cleaning herself with a circulating water-based shell. He also ensured that his kitten consumed the birth control medicine. Suey played coy and initially rejected the vial, until Rein roughly parted her jaws with a slight pinch at the joint close to the ears.

    As for Lyne, Rein simply wasn¡¯t sure on what this woman was playing at. He certainly had no desire to attract unneeded attention from associating with this woman of unknown intentions!

    As he covered himself and Suey with a warm animal fur on top of the bamboo mat, Lyne made no steps to leave. The cool beauty only glared at Rein with a hint of dissatisfaction. She posed with a hand on her hip for ten heartbeats for Rein to rake his gaze down her form. She then climbed underneath the fur blanket and pressed her cool skin against Rein¡¯s much warmer body.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Rein wasn¡¯t sure of how to broach the subject, but these was no need.

    ¡°Let me tell you a secret,¡± Lyne murmured as she reached downwards and stroked to reignite Rein¡¯s fire. ¡°My ice-based advancer sword art is built upon an ice phoenix art, stolen by an ancestor who discovered one fallen to this realm.¡±

    ¡°But, this is an art heavily influenced by a demon bird. Granted, demon birds have historically been less antagonistic against us humans¡­ but there is a severe weakness of this art-- my body temperature significantly drops over its extended use¡­¡±

    Rein recalled how Lyne had repeatedly relied on a sort of ice art to freeze the three-headed cobra, which allowed them to sever the cobra¡¯s heads. Their normal weapons could not break through the scales of the snake until Lyne forcibly froze sections of its very being.

    Rein now understood why Lyne¡¯s skin always seemed to have an unexplained coolness to his touch.

    ¡°We of the Xuere Clan rely on a unique type of heat-based pill to dispel this encroaching coldness, but I prefer not to waste or overuse said pills. Preserving a few extra of these pills could prove critical in our future battles,¡± Lyne explained, her breath tickling Rein¡¯s left earlobe.

    It was not at all convincing. Lyne could see Rein rolling his eyes at her reasoning. It mattered not to her. To her, it was fine as long as she had a ¡®reasonable¡¯ excuse for her lewd actions!

    ¡°And, as I mentioned before, I need to have a deeper understanding of your method of producing the flame,¡± Lyne continued as she placed a hand upon Rein¡¯s chest and dragged her fingers over his firm pectorals.

    Since she needed warmth, Rein would give it to her. He wrapped his left arm around Lyne¡¯s waist and pulled her into a tight half-embrace against his left side.

    He was met with a glower from Lyne, and a cool sensation against his neck. Without him noticing, Lyne had withdrawn a dagger from somewhere and pressed it against Rein¡¯s neck!

    ¡°As long as you do not cross a line, I will accept your dirty hands,¡± she righteously muttered. ¡°Just... no matter how you warm and defile my body, take care not to¡­ conquer my flower. Or this dagger will be your death.¡±

    Suey had been silently observing all this time. For the first time, it was Suey who giggled bewitchingly at Lyne.

    ¡°Slut,¡± Suey accused with a snicker.

    ¡°You¡¯re the real slut!¡± Lyne retorted vehemently. ¡°Throwing yourself at Rein all day long, training and stretching yourself to inhumane range upon his-- Do you think I don¡¯t notice your hands groping his body at every opportunity?!¡±

    Suey did not bother replying to Lyne¡¯s objection.

    ¡°My celest,¡± she whispered into Rein¡¯s right ear. ¡°These nobles are just repressed beings, presenting themselves as saints while desiring the freedom of association that we have.¡±

    The close vicinity ensured that Lyne heard every single word of Suey¡¯s whispers.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I bet~¡± Suey¡¯s voice was humorous. ¡°That Mistress Xuere here¡­ deep down, wishes for you to completely¡­ and utterly, destroy her flower.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps¡­ she may even wish for you to fill her with your seed. She seemed rather jealous of what you did to my womb¡­¡± Suey grinned at Lyne, who averted her gaze. Lyne had not expected Suey to meticulously observe her own flickering expressions during their earlier fun!

    Rein raised an eyebrow. He had no idea whether Suey¡¯s claims might be true, but he knew Suey often had interesting insights. Their debauchery did not obscure Rein¡¯s awareness of Suey¡¯s many fascinating contemplations. Many were born of her visions, expressed during their bed talk.

    ¡°Really.¡± Rein wondered. ¡°You should explain your thoughts, kitten.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the poor thing,¡± Suey mockingly consoled Lyne. Rein had not expected the dynamic between the two women to switch so quickly. Lyne was now pressed against the left side of Rein¡¯s body, not willing to meet either of the two¡¯s eyes. She had not expected Suey to see through her! She began to realize that Suey was not so easily trifled with.

    ¡°As a member of the Xuere Clan, guardian of the Xuere gap against the western wilderness¡­ she will undoubtedly be taken by a prince of the Dingien Clan, sooner or later, to strengthen their bids for the throne!¡±

    ¡°The Xuere Clan might be able to put it off for some time, but they will have to take a side sooner or later, else they may be seen as rebellious, not dissimilar to the position of the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ Great Sects. Recently, none of the other scions even dare to approach Mistress Xuere any longer.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Rein interjected as he gazed warmly down at Lyne¡¯s defeated expression. He had no desire to conquer such a desperate and pitiful woman. If asked why¡­ Rein¡¯s reply would be that he simply had too much pride in himself.

    In his heart, he preferred to have a woman crawling before him without a single request from himself, much like Suey. It would be an absolute self-insult if he needed to force himself upon another. Would that not mean he lacked the ability to draw attention? Regardless, none of this is important to Rein as of now-- conquering women is rather low on his current list of priorities.

    ¡°Well¡­ Mistress Xuere,¡± he continued as he patted her half-snowy blue-tinged hair. ¡°You can always escape this realm.¡± He knew of realm portals from Blacksmith Tiehr. ¡°I am certain you will have opportunities in other realms.¡±

    ¡°She can¡¯t, silly,¡± Suey slapped Rein¡¯s chest. Despite Rein¡¯s sharp mind, Suey discovered that the man sometimes missed a thing here and there. ¡°Mistress Xuere loves her clan. If she vanishes into nothingness, the Xuere Clan would receive much suspicion, highly likely to suffer some form of retaliation. Mistress Xuere is also the most talented of the current generation of the Xuere Clan, and many retainers joined the Xuere Clan to serve under her. Such responsibility cannot be so easily discarded.¡±

    Rein understood immediately. He realized that his viewpoints were limited by his own situation as a lone wanderer. He had forgotten that many, such as Lyne, had unbreakable ties and responsibilities to their clans, and could not simply leave as he could.

    ¡°Mistress Xuere probably has thought of a possibility long before this day. What if she returned from the western wilderness with a child in her belly?¡± Suey cooed into Rein¡¯s right ear, encouraging her man to entertain this dangerous idea. ¡°If none knew who might have gotten her pregnant, many might assume that she simply met with misfortune. She simply required a man not displeasing to the eye, one willing to leave her be if so requested. And perhaps one of odd and unknown talents.¡±

    ¡°Under such a situation, none of the Dingien Clan would request her to be married into their structure any longer. Though the Xuere Clan might still eventually have to take a side, they would not be seen as a threat. After all, the Dingien Clan and the many factions under them would have no worries against the Xuere Clan,  whose reputation among the populace are certain to be lowered due to Mistress Xuere¡¯s ¡®misfortune¡¯.¡±

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°A blessing in disguise. For then, Mistress Xuere will have time to rally loyal supporters, even if some leave due to the news of her misfortune. And if she masters her advancer arts, and her child grows to be a powerful advancer¡­ the Xuere Clan will stand tall from the shadows, before any even notice their rising strength!¡±

    Suey stared deep at Lyne, and Lyne finally mustered up the courage to meet Suey¡¯s eyes and retort against her words.

    ¡°Nothing but the conjecture of a slut¡¯s mind, addled by the pleasure of having her womb filled by her owner¡¯s seed,¡± Lyne spat.

    ¡°Precisely,¡± Suey smirked in return.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rein stepped in between the two. ¡°I, for one, have no desire to become an open enemy of the Dingien Clan.¡± There was the dangerous possibility that the Dingien Clan might be able to determine the father of the child, eventually.

    ¡°Rest assured, Mistress Xuere,¡± he continued. ¡°Your flower will remain untouched, for the most part. That I can guarantee.¡±

    ¡°My celest. I do not mind you creating more bodies to save my home, but this pretentious bitch will not have things exactly her way. Whatever she may attempt, I can guarantee that I will not leave you suffering to the end.¡± Suey kept her eyes locked at Lyne¡¯s.

    Despite Lyne¡¯s best efforts to maintain a poker face, her face twitched and displayed a flash of disappointment before returning to an expressionless state.

    Suey snorted in derision as the tension between the two women fizzled out.

    Rein was true to his word. His hands roamed the slightly wider and sturdier fit frame of Lyne¡¯s porcelain body, and his body delivered a warmth into Lyne¡¯s bones.

    Lyne chose to pretend Suey was but a shadow. Unlike Suey, Lyne restrained her moans as her skin tingled underneath Rein¡¯s hands.

    ¡°I¡­ I need to test your flame,¡± she uttered the supposedly important goal of her visit. ¡°Directly.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± A noise of agreement and Rein placed his lips against Lyne¡¯s under the watchful eyes of Suey. Suey felt a tinge of envy, but she also now derived a great deal of amusement as she watched Lyne restrain herself, pretending to be some holy and pure maiden.

    Rein ignited the wood aurae in his chest with his red draconic lightning, and released a wisp of this flame into Lyne¡¯s mouth. He had no worries that this would harm Lyne-- her ice-based art should be quite powerful, especially if its overuse caused the cooling side-effect potentially dangerous to her body.

    Lyne finally failed to suppress a moan as the warmth of the flame dispelled a wisp of the chill that had infected her body after the battle against the three-headed cobra.

    ¡°More¡­¡±  she whispered before adopting a demanding tone. ¡°You bastard! You have already defiled my whole body. The least you could do is provide me with proper warmth!¡±

    ¡°My celest¡­ you should make her beg!¡± Suey once again giggled at what she perceived to be Lyne¡¯s projected persona.

    Rein had no desire to put Lyne in such a position. In fact, he enjoyed Lyne¡¯s efforts. The dragon between his legs had returned to full mask, and twitched whenever Lyne weaved words in such a pretentious manner.

    He increased the ignition of wood with the red draconic lightning and delivered a scorching static-buzzing flame into Lyne¡¯s throat.

    Lyne subconsciously shifted herself atop Rein and pressed herself against his frame. Rein¡¯s engorged hot manhood was now trapped between their forms, its tip stabbing threateningly against Lyne¡¯s fit abdominal line.

    She maintained the pressing of her lips against Rein¡¯s. Rein understood his assignment, continually pouring heat into Lyne¡¯s drooling mouth that voiced pleasure at every delivery of flame. Finally, Rein began to feel a slight discomfort in his own throat.

    ¡°I see,¡± Lyne softly said as she returned from a daze, sensing the lost the continual supply of heat. She pressed her now-warm hand against the top of Rein¡¯s chest, and Rein could feel his somewhat parched throat cooling. They returned to sharing lips and heat, until Lyne¡¯s body glistened with a sheen of sweat.

    Lyne did not leave despite having completed her supposed task of testing Rein¡¯s flame. She chose to continue resting against Rein, sharing a comfortable skinship. Lyne did not maintain such ¡®peace¡¯ for long.

    Soon, her hand gripped Rein¡¯s towering dragon and she gazed into his eyes, proving Suey¡¯s conjecture immediately.

    When Rein calmly looked into her eyes and simply enjoyed her service, she raised a toned left leg and pulled Rein¡¯s right hand downwards. Rein¡¯s right hand explored and squeezed down upon her lovely left silky-skinned meaty thigh.

    She bent her knee, trapping Rein¡¯s manhood in between her thigh and calf, and rotated her hips to pleasure Rein.

    Rein also indulged in this with calmness, and Lyne, feeling somewhat frustrated at the man not having lost control, rolled onto her left side.

    ¡°Spoon me,¡± she demanded.

    Rein also rolled onto his left side and wrapped his arms to Lyne¡¯s front as he kneaded the woman¡¯s breasts. Lyne offered no resistance and only bit down a moan at her sensitive nipples receiving a twist.

    She felt relief that Rein did not continue his attack there. She shifted her bottom, trapping Rein¡¯s stiffness between her thighs. The top of Rein¡¯s manhood brushed dangerously against Lyne¡¯s flower.

    ¡°Look,¡± Suey whispered. ¡°Her dagger has been thrown far away. Even if you fill her womb with your seed, she won¡¯t retaliate. She wants it.¡±

    Lyne pretended to not have heard Suey¡¯s words and began gyrating her hips. However, she did not wish to be the initiator of such complete debauchery and prove Suey¡¯s conjecture true through and through. She hoped that Rein would lose control and forcefully take her ¡®against her will¡¯. Then, she would be absolved of any actions unbefitting her status as a noble!

    Rein was not moved, despite Lyne doing her very best as she wriggled her hips with his manhood between her thighs. Currently, Rein very much feared the possibility of becoming an open enemy of the Dingien Clan. The child could be connected to him, after all. That fear was more than enough to keep his mind sane under Lyne¡¯s gyrations.

    ¡°Mistress Xuere,¡± Suey laughed. ¡°Unless you make it known, and admit you are no better than,¡± she filled her voice with lust, ¡°a slut like me¡­¡±

    ¡°Rein won¡¯t budge so easily. He has me to satisfy his needs, after all!¡± Suey declared this with mirth.

    The tent flap opened again! Lyne reflexively ducked her head underneath the animal fur covers.

    ¡°Lyne. You here? It¡¯s time for your shift,¡± Nunan said as she entered.

    ¡°She¡¯s not here,¡± Rein replied. Leak of this encounter would turn him into that second prince¡¯s open enemy.

    His statement was betrayed by a groan of pleasure, elicited by Lyne¡¯s movements under the covers. He could feel the tip of his manhood dipping into a slight concave opening. Even a half-thrust and he would be undone. He barely maintained a clear mind against Lyne¡¯s now-slippery warm skin.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Nunan half-turned, pretending to leave, before she suddenly spun around, reached down and tugged with relish at the fur covers!

    Lyne was revealed in all her glory before this retainer of hers, Nunan! Despite being revealed, she pushed on forward, doing her darnest best to bait Rein into taking her ¡®without her full verbal agreement¡¯.

    Her eyes were in a daze as she dragged the skin around Rein¡¯s girth with her rotating hands, while she repeatedly dipped the tip of Rein¡¯s lower head into the opening between her legs.

    ¡°Tsk¡­¡± Nunan repeatedly shook her head in mock disappointment. ¡°So, this is why you are the only one who treated me and my mother well in the Xuere Clan.¡±

    ¡°To thank you for that, my lips will be sealed about this matter. That I promise. I will cover your shift.¡± Nunan threw the fur covers back over the three and exited the tent.

    Lyne seemed to have finally awoken from her feverish actions after Nunan¡¯s exit. She peeled back the covers and leaped onto her feet, frustrated at having failed to bait Rein into giving her what she desired.

    She glared down with pursed lips and was very much off put as Rein propped himself up slightly with his elbows, his eyes very much clear, the manhood between his legs a stiff tower that twitched as he flexed.

    Rankled at this sight, she raised her dainty porcelain right foot and pressed her right sole against the underside of Rein¡¯s rod. She could see how menacingly it appeared against her foot, and felt a tinge of shame along with a deep desire.

    She said nothing as she angrily turned, quickly redressing herself and storming towards the tent flaps with the dagger that she had come equipped with in hand. She paused her steps at the tent flaps.

    ¡°Nunan¡¯s a bastard child and I¡¯ve treated her and her mother well, so¡­¡± That was all she said before disappearing.

    Suey simpered at Lyne¡¯s behavior as she climbed atop of Rein.

    ¡°See?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Rein reconsidered Suey¡¯s earlier words. ¡°Surely¡­ most women wouldn¡¯t be willing to go to such lengths...¡±

    ¡°Let me correct--¡± Suey squeaked as she used her own weight to receive Rein¡¯s tool. ¡°You. We women prefer to¡­ have a cleaner appearance. And we certainly enjoy security. However, we can be daring when we need to be as well!¡± She lifted herself up before lowering herself in one swift slosh as if to accentuate this point. She released a long moan of pleasure and had to stay still to gather her voice again.

    ¡°Surely, you know of many noble ladies having a¡­ boy toy?¡± Suey continued. ¡°Or sometimes, their child might not even belong to the legal husband of their arranged noble marriage.¡±

    Rein had to admit-- although he had such observations in his mortal days, he always thought them to be rare as a whole, assuming it to primarily exist within the merchant class.

    However, such knowledge did not sway him into feeling regret at not taking the bait. No matter what, he preferred not to risk becoming an open enemy of the Dingien Clan.

 Ch78: The Blissful-Endflower

    They left that safe thicket at first light, before the sun had even risen above the eastern horizon.

    With the humans gone, the crows finally descended down in desire of the cobra corpse. Much meat and blood still remained. By consuming this rank four demon snake meat, some of these crows might soon gain spirituality themselves.

    Yet, only a few bites later, an eagle¡¯s cry sent many of the crows scattering into the air, fearful of the impending threat. A few brave crows stole a few extra bites before they, too, took to the skies.

    A few hyena-based demon beasts had begun crawling in through the discovered entry tunnel, only to yelp and back out after hearing the demon eagle¡¯s soul-intimidating cry.

    Yet there is a being interested in the cobra meat and blood that was not sent scurrying by the eagle¡¯s cry-- the Blood God, Hahrn, of the Blood Devil Sect!

    Despite the other four devils¡¯ displeasure, Hahrn could not resist his vice. Devils always had certain vices that were like an obsession in their minds, and for Hahrn along with others belonging to the Blood Devil Sect, their arts caused a deep desire to consume powerful blood.

    The other four devils weren¡¯t exactly going to cause a scene over Hahrn¡¯s vice, and as such, could only hope that his actions would not lead to unexpected results. If he contributed nothing, he would receive no share of the second prince¡¯s rewards.

    What they did not expect, however, was that Hahrn¡¯s actions would trigger the demon eagle¡¯s rage. The demon eagle¡¯s speed suddenly rose when it noticed that its cry failed to dissuade Hahrn¡¯s consuming of the cobra flesh.

    Hahrn hadn¡¯t even consumed a quarter of the remaining cobra corpse before talons descended from the sky! Blood leaked out of his lips as he tilted his eyes upwards ferociously with bare and pointed teeth!

    Meanwhile, Beincen¡¯s party moved past the thicket, dismissing Hahrn as a solo act. They chose not to interfere in the cobra battle, finding no openings due to the continuous advantage that Rein and his allies held against the cobra.

    ¡°These devils turn into fools, governed by the trigger of their vice,¡± muttered Naohr to his nephew as they hurried past. They, too, saw the approaching eagle-based demon. Most advancers hate combat against winged demons. It is always difficult and troublesome to contend against a demon at home in the vast skies.

    Rein and his allies soon entered the Endless Mountains, and by midday, had located the valley that supposedly functioned as the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s lair.

    ¡°For what reasons were you in the Western Wilderness before?¡± Rein had been listening to Xeeseir speak of his past throughout their journey.

    ¡°Hired by the nobles, of course,¡± Xeeseir sighed as he recalled his rough early days. ¡°The nobles often hire and send groups of mercenaries to retrieve valuable herbs and ores for them from the western wilderness.¡±

    ¡°It is good pay, but we only receive coin upon our safe return. Meaning those who lose their lives would not receive any compensation for their families¡­¡± Xeeseir¡¯s low tone indicated that many fellow mercenaries he knew had probably lost their lives on these tasks.

    ¡°For your sister?¡±

    ¡°Only initially¡­¡± Xeeseir sighed again. ¡°A noble in the capital took an interest in her, and has forcefully taken her. I¡­¡± Xeeseir shook his head. ¡°The noble threatened that if she would not bear a child for him, my life would be forfeit. Ever since then¡­¡±

    Rein had no words to comfort this forthright man who he saw as a respectable older brother.

    ¡°Perhaps I can be of assistance, one day.¡± Rein believed that Xeeseir had already contributed much to his own pursuit of those responsible for the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction. Returning the favor is fair.

    ¡°It¡¯s too late¡­ pointless¡­¡± Xeeseir only shook his head as he dispelled his sorrowful history. He hardened his heart and tone. ¡°I do not desire any of you to take action. Do not do so. It is pointless.¡±

    These words did not convince Rein. Rein assumed that brother Xeeseir only wished to avoid imposing upon others. He promised himself then and there that he would seek out Xeeseir¡¯s sister if he ever had the chance.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived,¡± Lyne announced. Her interaction with Rein had returned to nearly full normalcy despite the events of the previous night. Minus the rare few frosty glares that Lyne directed at him.

    Rein was quite relieved. Their professional cooperation was needed for their impending mission.

    At the entrance to the valley, Rein looked up to see the sun high and fiery in the clear skies. He would lose control of his flame once it left his body, but this mattered not-- no environmental elements would snuff out those flames today.

    Rein stood at the front, ready to spread his flames. Lyne stood at his side, with an arm layered with a frosty shell, ready to cool his chest if needed. The others stood behind, warily examining their surroundings in preparation for an assault by the Blissful-Endflower and its minions.

    Before Rein began his razing of vegetation, his eyes recognized rather valuable herbs within the valley! It should be of no surprise-- this is the lair of the Blissful-Endflower, a rank five demon plant after all!

    Rein couldn¡¯t resist picking a herb that he recognized to be a century old nine-colored grass and storing that within a maloewood box within his spatial pouch. Decades-old herbs are common, but anything from centuries to ten thousand years aged herbs had much value. Longer than ten thousand years risked a herb or plant gaining spirituality, turning into a demon plant, at which point¡­ well¡­ problems may arise, to put it simply.

    ¡°Be careful, brother,¡± Xeeseir growled. ¡°Some of these may be traps placed by the Blissful-Endflower. Remember, it may have only gained intelligence in the past few decades, but it has subconsciously observed the world for at least ten thousand plus years.¡±

    Xeeseir¡¯s words reminded Rein to not lose his mind over the herb-gold in this valley. Rein did not really desire the value of these herbs-- he desired to receive instruction from the alchemist instructor Vahrk. Bringing back valuable herbs was certain to give him benefits. Their two teams would receive contribution points as well.

    Seeing nothing of much worth remaining in his immediate vicinity, Rein, ignited wood with lightning, and a flame with arcs of static shot forth from his lips, setting the area aflame.

    The group quickly moved forward to another area, and they all widened their eyes.

    There was no need for there to be one studied in alchemy to recognize the tree before them-- a lychee tree! Rein determined it to be a centuries old tree, and as such, its fruits must contain certain properties beneficial to advancers.

    He plucked many bunches of lychee, and preserved them in another maloewood box. He hesitated to set this tree aflame-- however, he could not exactly take away such a heavy tree, and he needed to enrage and defeat this Blissful-Endflower, in order to bait the appearance of the bounty target Dujahrn.

    The centuries old lychee tree soon burst into flames.

    ¡°What a pity,¡± Wilo muttered softly.

    Then¡­ a centuries-old mangosteen tree appeared before them. Rein harvested the fruits, and once again set the area aflame. Lyne tapped his chest and cooled his internals with her icy aurae.

    ¡°This Blissful-Endflower¡­she¡¯s a gardener,¡± Wilo sighed.

    A screech of anger echoed through the valley then to express this gardener¡¯s fury. Rein and his allies examined their surroundings in alarm.

    ¡°Dodge!¡± Wilo yelled. None questioned why she said such words, but they all rolled outwards at her words.

    Thorny vines ambushed them from the soil beneath their feet! If they ignored Wilo¡¯s words, they would have certainly been injured by this surprise attack if not speared to death on the spot!

    ¡°Quickly!¡± Nunan commanded them to rush forward.

    Rein no longer held back the heat in his chest. His heart wrenched in pain as he accidentally set aflame a centuries-old mutated flower. He did his very best to harvest valuable herbs as they rushed along, but accidents were bound to happen.

    The thumping sounds behind as the group dashed forward was, of course, caused by the pursuing Blissful-Endflower.

    However, it was unable to catch up to the group. Rein had set the environment aflame, a weakness to plant demons, while Nunan launched many spikes behind them that activated traps to stall the Blissful-Endflower.

    Though the Blissful-Endflower might be a powerful rank five demon plant, its primary body lacked speed.

    ¡°Again!¡± Wilo yelled.

    The team dodged outwards sideways again, splitting into two lines as they sidestepped a number of spiky vines that shot up from the soil.

    Rein took this opportunity to spit flames at these vines, and they heard the screams of the Blissful-Endflower upon the burning of her extended limbs.

    It was then that a fog began filling the whole deep-lying valley.

    ¡°The nerve-destroying poison!¡± yelled Nunan.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Rein and his allies immediately withdrew vials and consumed a sip of a liquid to protect their nerves from this poison. However, unlike when they were against the three-headed cobra, they could very well run out of the antidote, if the Blissful-Endflower chose to hide itself and wait for the antidote to wear off! This was why they had chosen to burn the whole lair and send the Blissful-Endflower into an uncontrollable rage!

    Rein reached forth to harvest a centuries-old red spider lily, and right as he pulled the plant¡¯s roots up from the soil, a vine simultaneously shot towards his chest!

    Though he barely dodged the vine, it curled and wrapped around his body in a bid to pull him into the ground! The thorns on the vine indented his skin, failing to penetrate his body for now. Rein immediately spat a flame that sent the vine writhing as it curled and sank back into the hole.

    Rein breathed a sigh of relief when he freed himself. He would not be able to harvest any more of these herbs. The Blissful-Endflower must be laying in wait underneath the soil.

    The silhouette body of a man gradually solidified in the now-thick poisonous spored fog as they moved forward. Rein and his allies squinted at this figure, and recognized him as the bounty target, shell-realmed devil, Fuxeire!

    None even bothered to recall what abilities this stumbling man might have, and simultaneously launched their attacks.

    This devil had clearly succumbed to the poisonous spores of this fog, perhaps having unwittingly followed Rein and his allies into this valley without the necessary preparation. Their various melee and ranged attacks peppered the devil''s body to death in a blink of the eye.

    They glanced amongst themselves with small smiles at their luck. An explosive Nunan trap drew them back to attention, and they sped forth again with Rein constantly spitting his flame to raze the valley¡¯s vegetation, while Lyne occasionally cooled his chest.

    Soon, the valley became a burning inferno, and the spores in the fog were repeatedly rendered harmless by the rising heat and smoke.

    Rein and his allies planted themselves at the center of the valley in preparation to confront the Blissful-Endflower that had chased them this whole time.

    Lyne slashed her sword as she performed stances around the group, forming an ice wall to protect the group from flame and smoke.

    This was the moment of truth. They all took another sip of their antidote to refresh their defenses and protect their nerves. They waited for the slow Blissful-Endflower¡¯s arrival.

    ¡°You wicked human bastards, thieves, pests! Only capable of destruction and nothing else. You¡­¡± As the Blissful-Endflower came closer, they noticed that underneath its screeches, there existed the whisperings of leaves, which formed comprehensible words within their ears.

    Cracking and popping noises sounded as a huge lumbering grotesque plant smashed through Lyne¡¯s ice wall. It had a wide curvy body like a fat eggplant that was almost woman-like, along with a head of thick and vibrant petals. A poisonous yellow fog was being constantly ejected from a skyward mouth at the center of these petals.

    Its legs and feet were made of roots and vines, and many of these surrounded its main body in  a raised position, like snakeheads ready to jab at the enemy.

    All-in-all, the Blissful-Endflower stood thirty feet tall and forty feet wide!

    Rein reflexively spat a torrent of flame at the appearance of the Blissful-Endflower.

    The Blissful-Endflower simply flapped its vines in some odd motion, and the flames were blown to the side by a gust of wind, melting a section of Lyne¡¯s ice wall instead!

    ¡°Flame-bastard. You think I can¡¯t deal with a bit of fire? I only wish to avoid setting the whole of the side mountains aflame!¡±

    Rein widened his eyes. He hadn¡¯t expected the Blissful-Endflower to already have such intelligence and considerations.

    The others were similarly filled with wariness.

    ¡°Pay us back with your flesh!¡± The Blissful-Endflower screeched and a thousand vines all at least two feet thick shot up from the ground!

    Rein and his allies were ready to avoid this move, but they were now surrounded in all directions by a thousand writhing thorny vines! Rein spat his flame again, but it only burned a few, unable to do any wide extensive damage.

    ¡°How?!¡± Nunan questioned, exasperated as she slashed a dagger at a vine which wrapped around an inscription-flashing stake in her hand. There were no records of the Blissful-Endflower having a thousand vines! Rank five demon plants should not have this humongous volume of a body!

    The flashing hypnotic shell of Zehz was useless against the vines, and he could only dodge until a vines wrapped itself around his left ankle, immobilizing him on the spot.

    Bohr, on the other hand, wrestled against the vines with his defensive-shelled body covered in a metallic gleam.

    Chirh swung his shortsword, constantly backstepping ten feet in many directions in an attempt to escape.

    Xeeseir wasn¡¯t sure if any of the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s vines used aurae-based attacks, and as such, he repeatedly avoided the vines while firing differently augmented arrows at the main body of the Blissful-Endflower. Many of these were blocked by clusters of vines.

    Suey and Jory¡¯s bronze whips were severely ineffective with so many thick vines blocking the swing of the whips. A vine soon wrapped around Suey¡¯s arm, but she successfully freed herself as she shifted her bone and flexible flesh, trained as she was by the combined body-tempering ¡®Bone and Organ Shift Boundless Dissipation¡¯ Art.

    Jory had slightly more difficulty freeing herself, but she had trained somewhat in the more basic ¡®Boundless Dissipation¡¯ Art as well, and eventually slipped free with some assistance from Suey.

    Karsutz was their savior this time. He melded into the shadows, and the vines could not find him no matter how they searched. His hidden weapons would fly and strike to free any struggling against the deluge of vines.

    ¡°Have no fear,¡± Lyne said as she coolly froze vines around her with every strike of her icy longsword. Some of these vines freed themselves, but their movements became slowed as well, giving Lyne much more time to react.

    ¡°I will activate my ultimate art,¡± Lyne declared as her eyes narrowed in determination.

    ¡°Mistress Xuere! You can¡¯t--¡± Nunan¡¯s protestation was silenced.

    ¡°It is unexpected for this rank five demon to be this large with so many limbs,¡± Lyne continued. ¡°Rein. Be ready!¡±

    Lyne withdrew a bottle of pills from a spatial ring on her finger, and she poured all of these pills into her mouth!

    ¡°I can¡¯t quite control this strength properly yet as an upper shell advancer, so defend yourself!¡± Lyne said as the cloud of frosty aurae around her body thickened while pouring into her body through her orifices.

    The vines attempted to stop Lyne from activating her art, but they froze upon coming in contact with the very air a few feet away from Lyne¡¯s glowing frostbite blue body.

    ¡°Terrain of the Ice Phoenix!¡± Lyne heroically shouted as an explosive icy aura cascaded outwards from her as the epicenter. The thousand vines, including the rank five main demon plant body slowed to a stop as its whole body was assaulted by Lyne¡¯s icy aurae.

    Rein¡¯s allies were all frozen in an icy shell as well, and their eyes rolled about their statuesque bodies, fearful as they sensed an icy chill penetrating into their bodies. They all cycled the aurae in the bodies to resist this chill.

    Unlike the others, Rein released the draconic fire created by his red draconic lightning, and allowed the heat to inundate his whole body. He was the first to break free!

    He activated his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, and his toes shattered the ice-layered ground as he shot forth at the frozen main body of the Blissful-Endflower!

    His bronze-ranked tempered body cracked a small opening in the icy shell encasing the Blissful-Endflower, and Rein gathered all of his strength as he ignited wood with his red draconic lightning, continuously breathing the draconic flame through this gap onto the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s stationary body!

    A painful screech sounded as the Blissful Endflower burned within the half-melting frozen shell caused by Lyne¡¯s icy art.

    Lyne slumped to her knees upon watching the death of the Blissful-Endflower, her lips pale, her hair now completely frostbite blue, barely able to move her body due to the chill that now permeated her bones. Despite having taken all of her heat-based pills, the icy art had taken a heavy toll on her.

    Rein moved to assist the freeing of his allies. The chill that Lyne had inserted into his body prevented the continuous flame, formed within his chest, from harming his own body.

    His allies, after being freed, could still barely move themselves, and sat down to continue the circulation of their aurae. Rein might have melted the icy shell, but could not assist them internally.

    Rein did, however, pour a weak flame into Suey¡¯s lips, who very much took advantage of this as she moaned and swirled her tongue.

    Jory, often shy and reserved, pulled at Rein¡¯s arms to indicate her desire for assistance as well. Though Rein never saw Jory as more than Suey¡¯s twin sister, he was happy to deliver some heat into Jory¡¯s lips.

    He dared not provide assistance to Lyne-- he remained staunch in his decision to avoid becoming an open enemy of the second prince.

    By now, half of the Blissful-Endflower had burned away, and Rein finally raised his Soak Staff to gather a water droplet.  Suey and Jory assisted to extinguish the flame with two serpents forming a water vortex.

    They did this to, of course, preserve parts of the Blissful-Endflower, hoping to use it to bait Dujahrn. With some luck, the heartblood of the Blissful-Endflower could be collected.

    It was at this stage, that suddenly, ten figures flitted into position to surround Rein and his allies!

    Rein eyes immediately recognized the smirking Beincen, with the scholarly Naohr beside him, blocking his path to harvest the Blissful-Endflower! To their side stood a hulking man with a cannon on his shoulder, who had delivered Rein the message to meet at the Halls¡¯ northern outpost on next month¡¯s full moon.

    Though Beincen and Naohr believed Malak to be on their side, Rein was uncertain of this man¡¯s intentions.

    ¡°So this is the man?¡± Yidahr brandished a sword as energy from the midday sun streamed down from the sky to gather around his blade, forming a blazing edge. Rein recognized the sigil on Yidahr¡¯s robes to be that of the Sun Sword Sect.

    ¡°Indeed, brother,¡± Beincen replied, his eyes dark. He, too, withdrew a sword and activated the selfsame art, though his control appeared weaker, having only been recently taught the art thanks to his hidden ancestors¡¯ position within the Sun Sword Sect. ¡°I only request that you ensure that I get to deal the final blow.¡±

    Yidahr nodded with a smile.

    ¡°Did you think you would have this day?¡± Beincen raised his chin as he looked down upon Rein. ¡°Today will be your death. Your allies are still recovering. Let us--¡±

    An eagle¡¯s shriek sounded and a huge winged shadow covered Rein, his allies, and the House Larne group!

    Beincen was enraged at having been interrupted. He looked up as he opened his mouth to express his anger, only to shut his lips as he rolled sideways to dodge!

    A bloody pulp of a man crashed into Beincen¡¯s original spot. A few drops of blood splattered onto the scholarly Naohr, who widened his eyes when he discovered that the blood was corroding through his inscribed robes.

    The dispersed droplets of blood gathered together around the bloody pulp of the human body and reformed the shape of Hahrn, the Blood God of the Blood Devil Sect!

    ¡°It¡¯s the Blood God, Hahrn!¡± Nunan had not expected this man to show up! At least, not for the Blissful-Endflower, which carried little to no blood that would attract one such as Hahrn. The Blissful-Endflower¡¯s heartblood wasn¡¯t even really blood. They only called it such because of the standard nomenclature in the advancer world.

    ¡°Hah! You dumb bird-brained demon!¡± Hahrn roared in laughter. ¡°You think you can defeat me?!¡± He bent his knees, ready to explode skywards to re-engage the gigantic eagle-based demon blocking the midday sun.

    Nunan was sent into further alarm as a new vine suddenly extended from the ground and wrapped itself from Hahrn¡¯s legs!

    ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Hahrn looked down at the vines wrapped around his ankles.

    Nunan¡¯s mind spun. The thousand vines. The ease! The ease of the burning of the valley. Lyne¡¯s icy art was powerful, but it wasn¡¯t well-controlled¡­

    ¡°Escape! This isn¡¯t a rank five demon plant! It¡¯s a rank six one, perhaps higher, closing in on complete metamorphosis!¡± That was Nunan¡¯s sudden epiphany!

    Then, the ground shattered! Rein and his allies fell! The House Larne group dropped downwards as well! When Rein gazed below his feet, his eyes were met with the wide mouth of a humongous carnivorous plant with vines that spanned an underground cavern for a thousand feet!

    ¡°What the fuck?! By the Devil--¡± Rein was filled with astonishment as he watched the Blood God, Hahrn, visibly hysterical as the vine pulled him directly towards the carnivorous plant demon¡¯s mouth!

 Ch79: The Fall of Devil Hahrn

    Rein was surrounded by clumps of wet soil, roots, pebbles up to rocks as large as his chest, during his descent into this mysterious underground cavern.

    Although the Blissful-Endflower was no doubt the greatest threat, Rein¡¯s eyes turned to Beincen instead. He was not able to deal with the Blissful-Endflower anyway, if Nunan¡¯s conjecture of it being a rank six demon was true.

    Through the gaps in the soil, he located the falling form of Beincen, and circulated his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯. He adjusted the power and spun his leg  at a chest-sized rock, sending it arcing towards Beincen.

    The rock parted the soil and its rough edges created a jagged spiral as it spun at Beincen.

    The scion of House Larne barely noticed the approaching rock in time, and he used his blazing edged sword to block the rock drilling towards him in a panic.

    Rein grinned. The force of that rock had sent Beincen a few feet towards the direction of the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s open mouth below.

    He began kicking many rocks, one after another, with similar aim, and Beincen blocked each as before, his eyes aglow with rising rage. Beincen¡¯s body shifted a few feet with every rock. Soon, Beincen¡¯s landing spot had been shifted directly above the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s wide open jaws!

    Rein¡¯s devious plan would, however, be easily thwarted. The scholarly Noahr, relatively close to Beincen, quickly understood Rein¡¯s intentions with his astute mind.

    Noahr was only a shell advancer, and as such, unless he had some unique ability, he was unable to fly. Other Larne elders were also only shell advancers-- if House Larne had many outer advancers for elders, they would have long become an advancer clan.

    Naohr pushed off another Larne elder and launched himself at Beincen¡¯s position. With an almighty kick, he sent his nephew flying into the sidewall of the cavern.

    Beincen venomously kept his eyes on Rein as he slid down the wall, coming to a landing on a ledge above the ground vines of the Blissful-Endflower.

    As Suey and Jory had helped put out the flame on that likely fake body of the Blissful-Endflower, they were quite close to Rein.

    Rein executed the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ mid-air. The skill was not powerful enough for Rein to quite literally step on air, but it was enough to push himself closer to the twins.

    He and the twin ladies acknowledged each other''s thoughts through a single non-verbal glance. Rein aligned his legs with the soles of the twins¡¯ boots, and they pushed off one another. Rein flew off towards Beincen while the twins were sent to the opposite wall, and their forms skidded down the cavern walls to slow their landing.

    As Rein steadied himself sliding down the wall, he had the opportunity to examine this cavern in more detail. There are many faded etchings on the cavern wall itself, of a language that seemed familiar, despite him not being able to comprehend any of the symbols.

    His focus quickly returned to solitary Beincen, no longer protected by a wall of House Larne¡¯s dogs. Rein himself even wondered if that scholarly Naohr¡¯s wits had dulled after being relieved of the duty that is whispering constantly into Beincen¡¯s ears.

    He imagined that at some point in time, Noahr had been relieved of such duties. Perhaps as a result, Naohr had to obey Beincen¡¯s questionable decisions, and a sharp mind forced to constantly obey a dull one without complaints¡­ Well, it was bound to lose its sharpness eventually.

    That was nothing but Rein¡¯s conjecture after Naohr¡¯s choice of action allowed Rein to put himself in a position to face Beincen without the interference of House Larne¡¯s dogs.

    Naohr seemed to soon realize this as well.

    ¡°Malak. Now is the time to provide your assistance,¡± Naohr requested the supposed supporter of Supreme Guihnes. The man¡¯s cannon was useful for this situation.

    ¡°I think not,¡± Malak replied with a firm voice. ¡°We are in far more danger than you realize.¡± He rejected Naohr¡¯s request and instead aimed his cannon at Hahrn, the Blood God being pulled towards the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s jaws. The gigantic plant demon¡¯s lips were lined with an acidic sticky liquid of sweet honey.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Noahr¡¯s face turned red as he was rejected by this¡­ slave of Supreme Guihnes.

    ¡°My master did not order me to follow your commands, or your nephew¡¯s. I am only to provide assistance to you as I see fit.¡± Malak nonchalantly replied as he took careful aim at Hahrn¡¯s arcing path. ¡°Right now, the man named Rein is of no consequence. If you are of a sharp mind, you should realize that this plant demon might gain full metamorphosis upon consuming the life-force within the Hahrn devil¡¯s blood body.¡±

    Malak¡¯s words awakened Naohr¡¯s slumbering mind, and his originally reddening face now paled. Beincen-- no-- they were all certain to lose their lives if the demon plant gained another rank! It is well-known that demon plants love consuming life-force, and undoubtedly, Hahrn the Blood God, with an undying body, could be the plant demon¡¯s breakthrough catalyst!

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Naohr searched his surroundings, attempting to find the Sun Sword Sect disciples or Larne elders so that they could cooperate and launch help towards Beincen. Though he had been informed of the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s potential increase in threat, he still needed to save Beincen.

    At the same time, Malak¡¯s cannon boomed as an inscribed cannonball shot forth. The inscriptions on the cannonball lit up with a fiery blaze as it sped to intercept Hahrn¡¯s path.

    The cannonball struck Hahrn and sent him careening into the hard cavern wall, the forceful impact wrestling the devil out of the vine¡¯s grasp.

    The cannonball spun in a vortex of gathering flames until an almighty explosion wrecked Hahrn¡¯s chest, sending a million droplets of blood and flesh spurting into his surroundings. It was much more powerful than the cannonball that had struck Rein.

    Hahrn slumped to the ground, but his eyes brightened, even thankful for the cannonball. The droplets of blood and flesh quickly regathered into his torso, and he leapt up, revitalized!

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    His eyes discovered a tunnel of ancient make, and he immediately dashed towards it as vines shot towards him again!

    Meanwhile, Rein had begun battling against Beincen with his Soak Staff, and for a time, they were evenly matched.

    Beincen had begun the trading of blows with a high confidence in himself, after having reached mid-shell realm. His body and blade was wrapped in a fiery blaze augmented by his bloodline, supposedly some prehistoric bird with affinity to the sun.

    However, he soon realized that Rein¡¯s victories against the Convergence Sect shell advancers were no fluke. He thought that his Sun Sword Art would gradually damage, melt and split Rein¡¯s staff. Yet, this was staff crafted by the otherworld¡¯s Master Yirn, and it held itself together with little-to-no issue.

    Beincen also thought that his own movements, augmented by the explosive quick movements of flame release from his fiery shell, would also give him an advantage against Rein. He soon discovered that Rein¡¯s tempered-body had reached an unexpected level, and maintained parity with his movements.

    Last of all, he assumed that Rein would soon weaken in the presence of his flame shell. He soon discovered that Rein¡¯s body was very much resilient to heat!

    Rein began to put more strength behind every swing, and the benefits of his tempered draconic body showed itself. Beincen¡¯s arm soon began to tremble. Beincen stepped back to dodge a weighty double-handed horizontal swing. Rein spun and followed through with an extended single arm horizontal strike. Beincen¡¯s hand very nearly lost the grip of his sword upon blocking this strike with a clang.

    Finally, Naohr managed to place himself into position against another Larne elder by using a rock that had luckily fallen close to him. They pushed off one another, and Naohr arced towards Beincen and Rein¡¯s location.

    Rein decisively disengaged and exploded with his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ towards the twin ladies¡¯ position, and he fearlessly arced over the ground covered by the writhing vines. The Blissful-Endflower seemed to be occupied by something else entirely, completely ignoring Rein¡¯s airborne form.

    Soon enough, the others landed onto the expansive body of the Blissful-Endflower.

    Three outer advancers that carried the Xuere Clan¡¯s coat-of-arms on their robes flew down through the hole above. They had revealed themselves to protect Lyne.

    ¡°Young scion,¡± one Xuere protector said, ¡°This has become too dangerous. Let us return.¡±

    ¡°I think not,¡± a whimsical voice giggled, and these three outer protectors were surrounded by the four devils! Ailehr, the leader of the Harvest Devil Sect! Dujarhn, the Poison Germination Devil, a servant of Ailehr. Voxeire, the Hairy Corpse Devil. And Lazr, the Insect Devil!

    Looking skywards, many other heads belonging to lesser devils of the Western Wilderness also stared down at the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s form. As their eyes roamed, they also noticed what Rein had seen. These were some sort of ancient ruins. Their eyes lit up upon seeing the archways into unknown places of this ancient complex. Their minds were drawn in by the possibility of ancient knowledge and treasure!

    Many of these lesser devils leaped downwards. None cared about the dangerous Blissful-Endflower-- it was not as if this demon plant could catch them all!

    ¡°By the Thousand Sword Sovereign. It is time!¡± Yidahr clenched his jaws and rolled one half of his nose with ferocity. His hands reached into his spatial pouch, and pulled out a firecracker.

    He raised the firecracker to the sky, and with his other hand, pulled the string!

    A sizzling noise sounded, followed by a cracking noise. The firecracker ignited and rocketed up the opening to the sky! Many lesser devils attempted to chop down this firecracker, but the firecracker seemed to have a will of its own, dancing past their interceptions like a flitting shadow.

    In that clear sky, the firecracker exploded into a humongous Sun Sword sigil, visible within thousands of kilofeet!

    As for the Blood God Hahrn, he realized that the Blissful-Endflower must be hellbent on swallowing him, and though he was ferocious against the demon eagle, he had no desire to tangle with the expansive form of the much higher-ranked Blissful-Endflower.

    He attempted to escape into his selected archway into these ancient ruins, only to come to a stop as he saw an androgynous figure blocking the doorway! If Rein looked over, he would have repeatedly blinked his eyes at surprise. This androgynous figure was none other than Wilo!

    ¡°You are a bounty target,¡± Wilo said, her expression unknown due to the wooden mask she always wore. ¡°If the Blissful-Endflower kills you, it will still be a contribution to the Halls.¡±

    Hahrn was incredulous. This androgynous figure in a wooden mask before him was but an inner advancer, as far as he could tell.

    The boom of another cannon firing echoed in the ancient cavern again, and the Blood God Hahrn turned to see another blazing cannonball arcing towards him. Just like Rein, he side-stepped at the last moment, believing the cannonball would simply fly past him.

    And just like against Rein, the cannonball swerved at the last moment, and smashed into Hahrn¡¯s chest!

    Hahrn¡¯s mind was filled with pain as he stumbled backwards, but he now understood exactly what that man with the cannon was attempting to do. If the lifeforce in his blood was exhausted, then he would die, and be of no benefit to the Blissful-Endflower!

    Hahrn hollered to suppress his agony, and he dashed forward at Wilo. His shattered blood drops streamed after him to rejoin his body. Hahrn believed that the inner advancer before him, unless she had some unique ability, should drop like a fly. Not that he could do anything else with the many vines of the Blissful-Endflower chasing after him.

    His blood formed a crimson blade, and he stabbed this blade directly into Wilo¡¯s heart!

    Hahrn was filled with doubts at Wilo not even having provided any form of resistance. He moved to pull his blood-formed blade out of Wilo¡¯s chest. That was when he discovered that he couldn¡¯t. His eyes bulged as his crimson blood blade¡¯s color transformed before his eyes, gaining a hue of green, yellow and purple.

    He swore as he let go of his blood blade. He had been careless! Devils of the Blood Devil Sect relied on their powerful blood to battle, but they had to be very careful to not allow their blood and flesh to be corroded by other elements. If such a thing happened, they needed to discard the life-force within that corroded blood.

    What Hahrn did not understand was why this wooden-masked inner advancer of androgynous form before him remained alive with such a blade lodged in her chest.

    Though the Blood Devil Sect¡¯s weakness was known, it was not as if it was easy to corrode said blood. Often, combatants needed to injure and potentially even kill themselves just to corrode a small portion of a Blood Devil¡¯s blood.

    Take now, for example. In Hahrn¡¯s eyes, Wilo was a dead woman, her heart pierced just to corrode that small portion of his blood. Normal slashes would not have given another the time to corrode his blood. Only extended contact could lead to such a situation.

    Wilo¡¯s method was quite simple. She carried her poisons within her own body, and as such, the entry of the crimson sword, now lodged into her chest, created a bridge. Amazingly, with this no-longer-crimson blood sword still lodged into her chest, she still remained on her feet. She was seemingly unaffected and blocked the archway as before.

    This unexpected moment rooted Hahrn, and the man¡¯s mind only awakened after the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s vines had once again wrapped around his body. This time, the Blissful-Endflower did not only pull at the man¡¯s ankles. It had a tight and secure grip around the Blood God¡¯s whole body!

    ¡°Fuck,¡± Malak did not expect Wilo to take such action. He could only lament the foolishness of these inexperienced youngsters, only interested in seeking bounty rewards and contribution points.

    He aimed his cannon at Hahrn again, and fired. To his further astonishment, Wilo, with the now greenish-purple sword still in her chest, leapt forth and blocked the cannonball! She was sent careening into the cavern wall, her fate unknown.

    This allowed the Blissful-Endflower to pull the struggling Hahrn, a peak-shell devil of the Blood Devil Sect, directly into its mouth with a delighted slurp!

 Ch80: A Disheartening Discovery

    Devil Hahrn was devoured by the Blissful-Endflower-- no devils sought to assist him. Devils, even within their own sects, acted erratic towards one another. That erraticness depended on exactly how their minds have been warped by their advancer arts.

    The Blissful-Endflower was determined by Nunan to actually be a rank six plant demon. Its aurae powers were thus equivalent to an outer human advancer, but its vast body gave it many additional advantages. Plant bodies often had endless life-force, filled with growth and recovery.

    As for Hahrn, his blood arts gave him a strong life-force that could be used to recover from most injuries, even if only a drop of his blood remained.  He could form blood weapons, and influence the very blood of his opponents.

    Problem is, when pitted against a plant demon, he could not influence the non-existent blood of a plant demon! That was why he fought the demon eagle like a madman while fleeing away from the Blissful-Endflower like a dog with a tail between its legs, unwilling to engage the plant demon in combat.

    Regardless, Blood God Hahrn had been caught and was being digested by the rank six plant demon as of now.

    Malak looked up through the hole into the sky. Already, storm clouds had begun to gather. These weren¡¯t weather storm clouds-- they are the clouds of tribulation, which appear when demons are on the brink of fully metamorphosing into human form.

    Humans face such an attack of natural phenomenon at certain points of the advancer journey as well, starting at the peak of the telekinetic realm.

    It is said that these tribulation clouds are formed from the remnant echoes of the fallen gods.  The fallen gods were filled with hatred in their demise, and used their last strength to twist the world, preventing the mortals amongst other beings from gaining such godhood.

    The fallen gods modified the very rules of the universe to create such a phenomenon. This is why the following rumor exists-- if one becomes a god beyond gods, they could rewrite the world and even remove these tribulations borne of the remnant echoes of the fallen gods!

    ¡°Fuck. Damned fallen gods.¡± Malak himself dashed into one of the archways into the underground ancient ruins to avoid the impending storm.

    Similarly a number of devils and independent advancers streamed towards those openings into the ruins. Rein had not noticed these independent advancers before. He is aware that these advancers lacked support, and searched for opportunities in the Western Wilderness. It was just that, more often than not, desperate independent advancer would become devils, carelessly walking upon a path considered warped by the orthodox advancer world.

    Rein, with the twin ladies, gazed up at the forming tribulation clouds in the sky. Rein¡¯s thoughts focused on two points.

    One, Dujahrn, who should know the devilish beauty that had kidnapped his brother Jein. And second, the tribulation clouds forming up above!

    As per the booklet on draconic arts, one of the methods to strengthen the draconic lightning inborne of all dragons was to absorb the power of tribulation lightning. The draconic lightning is supposedly a power granted to the dragons during the Age of Gods. This was to enable the dragons serving directly under the gods to deliver punishment as the Gods willed.

    As the tribulation clouds are formed from the remnant will and powers of the fallen gods, Rein knew that this was a rare and unexpected opportunity to strengthen the draconic lightning. For him, a human, he would only have such an opportunity if he himself reached such a stage, or was allowed to stand beside one at such a critical point on their advancement-- an incredibly rare event not often seen.

    The question, obviously, was how he could steal some tribulation lightning safely. He only needed enough to transform his draconic lightning source. Perhaps if the plant demon blocked most of it and he could catch some remnant sparks¡­

    Well, those clouds had yet to fully form. Rein turned his attention to Dujahrn.

    Lyne had already received some extra heat-based pills from her elders to help her regain strength. However, she and her three Xuere protectors are still surrounded by four outer-ranked devils.

    Ailehr was naturally fuming with regards to Hahrn¡¯s idiocy. If he had controlled himself, they might have Lyne in hand already.

    ¡°This plant demon is about to fully transform, and the power of the tribulation clouds will be immense. Are you certain you wish to continue this tomfoolery?¡± one of the Xuere elders questioned anxiously.

    ¡°Oh please,¡± Ailehr batted her eyelashes. ¡°We have four outer advancers. And the tribulation clouds are only beginning to gather.¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± She suddenly barked. ¡°One each! Capture Mistress Xuere and we will escape!¡±

    The four primary devils leaped into action, to the Xuere elders¡¯ dismay. One Xuere elder blocked the Harvest Devil Ailehr. Another stood against the Insect Devil Lazr. The third stood against the Poison Germination Devil, Dujahrn. Lyne was left to fend for herself against the Hairy Corpse Devil Voxeire.

    Voxeire curled her lips, and patted a pouch at her hips. The pouch opened and ten corpses of hairy tendrils flew forth and surrounded the still-recovering Lyne! These corpses are all dead men who had looked at Voxeire the wrong way.

    Lyne¡¯s group sought to assist her. Nunan launched stakes that were easily flicked away by the hairy tendrils. Bohr charged at one of the corpses, and he only became entangled in a hairy mess. The weapons Karsutz threw from the shadows bounced off these corpses¡¯ hardened skin, toothless. Zehz did not even bother-- these corpses would not be fooled by his light shell hypnotism. And Voxeire, an outer advancer, was equally resistant!

    Rein could see Chirh fleeing into the ancient ruins. He did not blame the man, in all honesty. However, he cannot not flee!

    He charged towards Dujahrn, and the twin ladies followed. Xeeseir was already perched on a man-made ledge of unreadable symbols, his bow at the ready. His eyes were similarly on Dujahrn, their agreed bounty target.

    As for Dahk and Wilo? Rein could not see any signs of the two, and assumed that they had either perished or escaped into the ancient ruins.

    The third Xuere elder had already begun exchanging blows against Dujahrn cautiously. Many vibrant and freakish flowers floated about the air, releasing all sorts of unidentifiable spores. These flowers are seen as freakish by Rein, because they were made from parts of different flowers. Dujahrn had clearly grafted different species together to create combination poisons.

    Rein and the twin ladies naturally felt fear towards this cloudy miasma. Luckily, they had a Halls alchemist on their side. Rein withdrew various antidotes and took a sip of each before handing them to Suey, which was then passed to Jory.

    Even with this, they did not feel fully safe, and as such, Rein ignited wood with lightning, and spit fire into the poison cloud. Some spores burned black, and a flame even set one of the flowers temporarily in flames.

    Dujahrn flicked his sleeves, and a sudden whistling of wind aurae sent the flame flying off his poison flower.

    Rein bent his knees as he readied the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯.

    ¡°No!¡± Suey was alarmed. ¡°My celest! Don¡¯t--¡±

    Rein exploded forwards, his form a hawk diving towards Dujahrn. He knew he was being reckless, with Dujahrn being an outer devil and all. However, he needed answers regarding his younger brother, and the original plan had already gone awry. There weren¡¯t meant to be this many outer devils here surrounding Lyne, after all! They had thought that only one or two outer devils would appear, and certainly not with the impending tribulation of a plant demon!

    Dujahrn raised an eyebrow, and waved his arm. Rein could feel invisible aurae tendrils, a common trait of all outer advancers, clawing at his body to slow his flight towards Dujahrn.

    Dujahrn was surprised upon having to exert excessive aurae to slow Rein¡¯s flight. Both his eyebrows were raised-- Rein¡¯s explosive force was much higher than he expected. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and Rein¡¯s speed through the air slowed to a standstill, until he was trapped midair by Dujahrn¡¯s unseen aurae tendrils!

    Dujahrn felt quite curious-- the man before him must have consumed something that resisted his poison as well, not to mention, the ability to produce that odd flame.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Not only that-- this man, an inner advancer, carried a deep-seated fury within his eyes that one could say, matched his beastly-tempered body!

    Dujahrn racked his brain-- he was certain he had never done anything to receive this man¡¯s hatred.

    Rein struggled midair, and with his physical strength, he began snapping the unseen aurae tendrils that Dujahrn had immobilized him with!

    Before Dujahrn could reform these aurae tendrils, a timely explosive arrow from Xeeseir fully freed Rein.

    ¡°Where is the devil Saenise?¡± Rein demanded heatedly as he dropped back onto the ground.

    When Dujahrn heard this, he could not help but begin laughing maniacally.

    ¡°So it was Saenise who drove you mad?¡± Dujahrn chortled as he clutched at his belly. ¡°You¡¯re too late, fool! That girl failed to protect the noble son, and has been sacrificed to the Devil God Hehrn¡¯s hell realm!¡±

    Dujahrn had no need to obscure information from Rein. If anything, he was filled with dark mirth, reveling at Rein¡¯s pathetic search for the devil beauty Saenise! He wished to see despair within Rein¡¯s eyes, the very same emotion that he had felt when he awakened the devil in his heart! If there was one thing the devils enjoyed more than their vices, it was to create other devils like themselves!

    ¡°So many mortals sacrificed for the power of Devil God Hehrn! Saenise failed! Thus, she, too, was given to the Devil God! And you all will soon be his in body and soul!¡±

    Rein had no interest in Dujahrn¡¯s half-crazed ramblings.

    ¡°The boy she brought back! Where is he?!¡± Rein was quite aware that he was in no position to make demands. Dujahrn simply hovered about in the air with his outer advancer powers. In their original plan, Lyne and her retainers were meant to deal with outer advancers.

    Though Rein repeatedly leaped upwards with his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, he would crash into invisible aurae tendrils that wrapped around his body like a net. Only with forceful struggles was Rein able to break these tendrils.

    Rein attempted a spit of his draconic flame, only for it to be sent flying elsewhere with a simply flick of Dujahrn¡¯s sleeves

    Dujahrn seemed none too bothered. Rein was of no threat to him. Yes, he has a weakness to flames, but it was not something Rein could take advantage of.

    The odd flame that came out of Rein¡¯s mouth? Sure, it has unique qualities, but it was sourced from an inner advancer¡¯s aurae, and Rein obviously could not control this flame properly either. If Rein had the powers of an outer advancer, he would be able to control said flame and guide it to continue attacking Dujahrn¡¯s poison flowers! Dujahrn would not be able to wave a hand and send said flames flying elsewhere!

    It was only now that Rein fully realized how powerful his half-senior Chenhr was. Chenhr could concentrate an aurae cloud around his body so densely that the aurae hands of outer advancers could do nothing against him!

    Suey and Jory are fully occupied as well. They repeatedly flicked their bronze whips in their surroundings, using the strength of their weapons to contend against the aurae tendrils not visible to their eyes. They dare not use their water serpent art-- the tendrils spread around them could easily avoid such a concentrated type of offense.

    Dujahrn had no intention to strengthen his aurae tendrils-- if he did, these tendrils would be so concentrated in aurae that their forms would become visible to these inner advancers. He knew that the invisible tendrils, though less forceful, induced the fear of the unknown in these inner advancers¡¯ minds.

    Xeeseir frowned upon his perch. He could think of nothing that they could do as of now. They were never meant to engage an outer devil with their Iron Ant team, much less half the  members. Wilo, Chirh and Dahk were nowhere to be seen!

    ¡°Boy? Hah!¡± Dujahrn guffawed. ¡°Of course, he¡¯s been sent to the Devil God Hehrn along with the silly girl! Devil God Hehrn loves his delicacies!¡±

    Those words drilled despondency into Rein¡¯s heart. If Saenise had opted to keep his brother as a boy toy, he might have a chance. But to be sent to the hell realms?

    As far as Rein knew, thanks to Gent¡¯s visions, the hell realms are called such because they are fallen god realms! These realms must be chaotic beyond his imagination!

    Rein¡¯s struggles against the tide of aurae tendrils weakened as his heart was filled with despair.

    ¡°Rein. Do not listen to his words! They are filled with half-truths!¡± Xeeseir roared, very much noticing Rein¡¯s slump.

    ¡°Hah! I spoke no lies,¡± Dujahrn said as he looked with increasing interest at the young man named Rein. ¡°This world has no fairness. You think I was born a devil? I had no choice, no control! You, too, will never find that peace in your heart!¡±

    It was then that the Blissful-Endflower opened its mouth wide and began spouting out its poisonous spores again. It seemed to have its gaze focused on the gathering tribulation clouds in the sky, intent on preparing its defenses.

    The greenish-yellow poison mist slowly thickened, and despite having taken antidotes, Rein could feel his body¡¯s movements slowing, his muscles twitching in a weak paralysis. The provided antidote simply wasn¡¯t strong enough! It was only crafted to resist the supposed rank five Blissful-Endflower, after all!

    Beincen and his uncle Naohr had been observing on the side all this time, but they dared not interfere and attract the devils¡¯ attention. Beincen gazed at Rein, hoping for the devil Dujahrn to stop playing and simply kill this thorn.

    Beincen honestly felt he had been ¡®contending¡¯ against Rein with his hands tied. He had many despicable means, and he used such means to get this way in the Green Trout City in the past. However, against Rein, he could not use these dastardly methods!

    He once kidnapped a man''s wife, child, friend to blackmail said man into accepting his demands. He once used the weight of his House to threaten a man¡¯s livelihood. He had once threatened the child of a mother. When it came to Rein, he discovered no known living relatives! Suey amongst others, belonged to the Halls. As such, he could not carelessly use her against him!

    Beincen had, in fact, come across information on a mortal merchant family named Jeihr. Trouble was, that merchant house supplied resources to a rather significant sect in a northeastern city! The northeastern city and that sect holds an important position against the Zoh Empire to the east. He dared not take action and potentially sabotage the Minhr Nations¡¯ easter border. If he did so, he might be accused of being a traitor against the Dingien Clan!

    Regardless, on seeing the new release of the poisonous mist, Naohr patted Beincen¡¯s shoulders, and dragged his unwilling nephew into the ancient ruins. Though Beincen was resistant, he understood the necessity.

    The outer devils were similarly concerned about this newly-released poison mist of the rank six Blissful-Endflower closing in on full metamorphosis. They had previously dismissed the Blissful-Endflower¡¯s threat, believing that it would focus on preparations against its tribulation instead of starting a conflict against them. Much of that turned out true. Except now, its defensive preparations dulled their senses.

    ¡°Stop playing around with those kids!¡± Ailehr screamed at Dujahrn. ¡°Capture that little mistress!¡±

    Due to Rein having somewhat occupied Dujahrn¡¯s attention, the third Xuere elder had slipped off to defend Lyne against the Hairy Corpse Devil, Voxeire. That elder similarly used ice arts, and repeatedly froze the many hairy devil corpses stationary, frustrating Voxeire greatly.

    Voxeire¡¯s corpses had been treated with unique liquid baths that hardened their skin and bones. Their resistance towards most magical arts are quite high, with the exception of those that could immobilize the corpses¡¯ movements.

    Dujahrn shrugged and ceased his taunting. A flow of aurae concentrated into a spiraling freakish flower formed from the shapes of many different poison flower species! He waved an arm, and his advancer art the size of a house was sent flying towards Rein and the twins!

    However, Xeeseir¡¯s heart was filled with joy instead of consternation. His lips curled into a grin as he leaped down from his perch to block this aurae poison flower projection with his origin ability!

    All this time, Dujahrn had thought Xeeseir to simply be some ranged user that would turn and flee at the first sign of trouble. This is a common expectation in most advancers¡¯ minds-- most advancers who preferred to stay at range would run at the first sign of trouble. Well-- it was but a facade of Xeeseir¡¯s design!

    He often remained in the back to avoid having his origin ability revealed early in battle, waiting to inject himself at critical moments.

    When the outer-ranked poison flower art of Dujahrn came in contact with Xeeseir¡¯s body, the one harmed was not Xeeseir. Instead, it was Dujahrn! The damage of the outer-ranked poison flower art had been reflected back to its source, Dujahrn!

    He was incredulous as he felt his internal body sent into a turmoil. He is called the Poison Germination Devil because he grew and developed many different poison flowers using the bodies of chosen targets to elevate the nature of these poison flowers. Another reason for his course of action is also because he dared not grow these poisons with his body.

    With the powers within his combination poison flower art returned to his body directly, he was immediately sent into a state of crisis! The cocktail of many poison spores threatened his very own life! Such is the power of origin abilities.

    Not only that-- aurae concentrated to the point of manifesting a physical form contains much more force and power. This type of manifestation is commonly called aurae projection.

    This force was also returned by Xeeseir. It sent Dujahrn¡¯s body careening over the thick bed of writhing vines in the underground cavern!

    Ailehr was close to draining a struggling Xuere elder. Whenever she clashed with her opponent, the Harvest Devil activated a sort of art that sent a wave of ghostly figures through the Xuere elder¡¯s body. The ghostly forms cackled as they tore through the Xuere elder¡¯s body, returning to Ailehr with the Xuere elder¡¯s energies to supplement her rising strength.

    Her tendrils caused the same phenomenon. Though not visible to an inner advancer like Rein, Ailehr and the unnamed Xuere elder was, in fact, clashing against one another with their aurae tendrils as well. The Xuere elder soon discovered that Ailehr¡¯s tendrils had the effect of infecting and draining his very strength! No matter what he tried, he could not identify the weakness within Ailehr¡¯s art.

    Anyhow, the Xuere elder backed away, his face dark in beaten defiance when Ailehr was distracted by the events in the distance. She blinked in shock as her peripheral vision tracked the sudden reversal of Dujahrn¡¯s situation. One moment, Dujahrn had full control. The next moment, he was down on the ground!

    Dujahrn crashed into a bed of vines while internally fighting against the reflected poisonous powers in a bid to stabilize his body. He should have time to recover, especially with his aurae tendrils holding back those inner advancers. This should allow him to clear his mind and assess exactly what had happened.

    Yet, this was not the end of Dujahrn¡¯s unexpected struggles, for the vines below his feet suddenly parted and a hidden snakespear curved out then pierced towards his chest! It was Dahk, who had, all this time, submerged himself under this bed of vines, taking the enormous risk of being devoured by the Blissful-Endflower just for a half-chance at a fatal strike!

 Ch81: Start of the Plant Demons Tribulation

    Dujahrn was filled with utter shock. In reflex, he attempted to form a defensive shell, but much of his powers had been spent on his aurae tendrils, to hold back the other inner advancers from taking advantage of his current weakness. He needed time to stabilize his weakened state!

    Unfortunately for Dujahrn, Dahk¡¯s ambush was too vicious, too sudden. The inscriptions on Dahk¡¯s snake spear lit up and that spear twisted and turned like a curving drill that pierced through Dujahrn¡¯s quivering aurae protection shell formed in an emergency.

    Dujahrn¡¯s heart was filled with regret and stupefaction. The snake spear drilled agony through his flesh and bones. He rued not taking this group of inner advancers seriously until now. It was already too late to reverse the situation. However, he still could escape and preserve his life!

    He leaped into the air, ignoring the rising storm of his internal discordant poison aurae and flew towards the opening in the sky, hot blood flowing and dripping from his chest. That was when he discovered that a vine had curled around his lower leg.

    Then, he, like the Blood God Hahr earlier, was yanked directly towards the plant demon¡¯s mouth!

    Dahk stood on top of the bed of vines and watched Dujahrn being dragged to his doom, his spear a crimson gleam. He opened his mouth and a resounding victorious war-cry echoed in the cavern!

    When they had fallen down into this cavern, he had, at the time, bemoaned his unfortunate circumstance of falling deep into this bed of vines. He thought that the plant demon would devour him. That did not happen. The vines surrounding his body remained completely harmless and seemed to go about its day like a cordial stranger in Green Trout City.

    That was when he recalled his training in the Southern Starry Seas, the skills he needed to participate in the hunt. He remained still, and withdrew all presence of himself, The powers of the vines that belong to the rank six plant demon obscured all of his remnant aurae traces despite him not having practiced any aura restraint arts.

    His patience was eventually rewarded, when Dujahrn was knocked half-dead to his location!

    As for Dujahrn? About to be devoured by the plant demon, his life flashed before his eyes.

    He recalled his mortal life as a gardener for a noble house. Does that noble house still exist? Not even he knew.

    A son of that house had done nefarious deeds using the garden he tended to-- when it was discovered, Dujahrn was blamed, and his family executed.

    He somehow escaped from their clutches and fled to the western wilderness. The Great Sects, of course, did not take him in, ¡®untalented¡¯ as he was. And thus, he had no choice but to grapple for scraps and seek any path forward.

    He came upon the method of growing poisonous flowers with corpses.

    At this point, he recalled his half-mentor half-abuser. That man had mocked Dujahrn, criticizing his idiotic idea of growing differently-aspected poison flowers from chosen aspected bodies, and creating said cocktail poison afterwards.

    That man had stated that mixing such a cocktail from poisons grown on other bodies would make it impossible for the user''s own body to be safely resistant against said cocktail poison.

    Dujahrn had ignored that man¡¯s advice-- after all, that man died from his cocktail flower poison! Dujahrn had chosen a rather obvious method to limit risk to himself-- he would only mix this cocktail poison when in combat, and always use aurae projections to deliver this cocktail, to protect himself.

    He recalled another piece of advice that came from this half-mentor-- when creating your own advancer arts, always ensure said art would not be weak against the known origin skills left behind by the echoes of the fallen gods. He had ignored that. After all, he had never bumped into one who wielded an origin ability yet!

    Now, Dujahrn understood. His mind finally realized that the man with the bow, that is Xeeseir, must be the carrier of the well-recorded skill, ¡®Retrace¡¯.  Dujahrn felt a deep sense of unfairness and nonacceptance towards his fate. He had been undone by just a single moment.

    At this final point in his life, he also realized another truth. The plant demon was on the inner advancers¡¯ side! Not that they had become the bestest of friends and cooperated with one another intentionally.

    No, rather-- the plant demon must be very interested in absorbing the deep pool of aurae within outer advancers¡¯ bodies. Obviously, outer advancers have an incomparable supply of aurae compared to inner advancers.

    As such¡­ the plant demon must have chosen to allow that spearman to hide within her bed of vines. The plant demon probably hoped that the spearman would ambush an unaware higher ranked advancer, giving it the chance to then consume this high-ranked advancer. This would supply its aurae reserve, increasing its chances against the impending tribulation!

    These would be the last thoughts of Dujahrn. A crunch and slurp later, he was consumed, body and soul, by the jaws of the plant demon!

    Ailehr saw Dujahrn¡¯s demise, but had no intention to intervene. She might be the leader of the Harvest Devil Sect, and Dujahrn may be a member. However, Devil sects are not internally united like orthodox sects. Nor are they of the same mind.

    Devil sects are more of a¡­ convenient membership society. Dujahrn, for example, had killed his half-mentor half-abuser, who was also a member of the Harvest Devil Sect-- one who worshiped Ailehr.

    The struggling Xuere elder facing Ailehr thought that he might have a chance if the she-devil was distracted by Dujahrn¡¯s demise, but Ailehr had instead become even more precise and deliberate despite her ¡®colleague¡¯s¡¯ situation.

    The icy arts of the Xuere Clan only had the minor effect of slowing Ailehr¡¯s ghostly spirits down a single notch. Soon, an exhausted and feeble Xuere elder was held at the neck by Ailehr. Ailehr opened her mouth, and with a final inhale, a wind carried the rest of the Xuere elder¡¯s energies into Ailehr¡¯s body.

    This Xuere elder¡¯s skin grayed, his face filled with wrinkles, then his body crumbled into ash. At the same time, Ailehr seemed to grow more youthful and beautiful! Rein witnessed this afar, and knew that this was a scene that he would never forget in his lifetime.

    Ailehr then flew towards the Hairy Corpse Devil, Voxeire. Voxeire was naturally frustrated, having her corpses¡¯ movements repeatedly frozen by the other Xuere elder¡¯s and Lyne¡¯s icy arts.

    A single glance at that hole and all could see that by now, the tribulation clouds had fully formed.

    Ailehr immediately summoned her ghostly aurae projections and sent them at Lyne and her defending Xuere elder.

    The two diverted some of their powers to defend against her ghostly aurae projections. As a result, Voxeire¡¯s corpses freed themselves and Lyne soon found herself in the tight clutches of two corpses¡¯ hairy tendrils! Ailehr¡¯s peak outer advancer powers were simply too much for her to deal with!

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Take the bitch and leave. Now!¡± Ailehr¡¯s usual coquettishness and playfulness was nowhere to be seen at this very moment. The tribulation of a metamorphosing demon is nothing to laugh at, after all.

    That Xuere elder attempted to free Lyne as he fired icy aurae spike projections at the corpses trapping Lyne. Those two corpses shifted their bodies to block these spikes. Their toughened bodies suffered a few punctures, but their eyes remained open with hairy tendrils wound tight around Lyne.

    Lyne herself attempted to freeze these hairy tendrils. Though successful, she was unable to break these hairy tendrils, and remained in the clutches of the corpses. Though capable of immobilizing the tendrils, the icy energies failed to penetrate the internal strands.

    Ailehr sent another wave of ghostly projections that blew through and enfeebled the Xuere elder. Ailehr and Voxeire with the two hairy corpses carrying Lyne dashed into the underground ancient ruins through the archway.

    The Xuere elder fighting against Lazr, the insect devil, wished to rescue the mistress, but he was surrounded by swarms of poisonous bugs, of different varieties. Unlike the devoured Dujahrn, Lazr has a symbiotic relationship with these poisonous insects.

    His body supplied blood to these insects to procreate, and in turn, these poison flying bugs served him in battle endlessly, and would always resolve any poison within him. If Xeeseir attempted to use his origin skill against Lazr, it would have no effect.

    Lazr followed Ailehr and Voxeire into the discovered ancient ruins, but left a swarm of sacrificial insects to harass the remaining two Xuere elders.

    Rein, Xeeseir, Suey, Jory and Dahk gathered together. They soon discovered that Wilo was in a cross-legged posture beside the archway into the ruins, with a blood sword pierced into her sternum. The blood sword had been corroded green and yellow, and its size continuously miniaturized.

    ¡°Stabbed by Blood God Hahrn,¡± Wilo explained as she opened one eye to acknowledge her teammates. ¡°But I¡¯m resolving the energy of his blood blade. I have a unique art that can corrode his aurae and use it to heal myself.¡±

    Rein and the others simply nodded. Their minds are occupied by much more important matters. They felt desperate to enter the ancient ruins for ageless treasures. Rein, however, also had his mind on stealing part of the tribulation lightning¡­

    As for Lyne? None of them even thought of rescuing the mistress of the Xuere Clan. Xeeseir¡¯s ¡®trick¡¯ was seen by all, and those devils now knew of Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability. Without the surprise of Xeeseir¡¯s unique origin ability, defeating an outer advancer is nigh on impossible for this group of internal advancers.

    ¡°Go,¡± Rein said to the others. ¡°I need¡­ something here.¡±

    ¡°Brother¡­you¡­?¡± Xeeseir was baffled. Why would Rein need anything here?

    ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Suey simply asked. Rein hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded with some confidence. Suey narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Suey was rather miffed that her celest wasn¡¯t willing to divulge exactly what he wished to do here. She had become more or less his ¡®slave¡¯ with the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art! Why is he not dragging her everywhere with him? Those are her current thoughts.

    She knew if she begged, he might allow her to follow. But¡­ in the back of her mind, she realized that, perhaps, it was best for her to not know. She wanted Rein to inform her when he wished to.  At least, she believed that when that time came, she would feel far more joy!

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait inside,¡± Wilo replied and entered the ancient ruins. The others followed her lead, and Rein was left standing alone with the enormous plant demon¡¯s body and the overhead tribulation clouds.

    He tentatively traveled to the bed of vines where Dahk had hidden himself. He found a gap and submerged himself deeper.

    At this point, the two remaining Xuere elders finally disposed of the Insect Devil¡¯s sacrificial bugs.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± The two swore repeatedly as they rushed into the ancient ruins to search for their kidnapped mistress.

    Within the bed of vines.

    ¡°I can be of some help,¡± Rein hollered into his surroundings filled with verdant tendrils. He wasn¡¯t sure if this plant demon could converse yet, but he knew it was no doubt intelligent.

    A hundred heartbeats passed, and finally, the vines around Rein writhed. He discovered that his surroundings had transformed into the interior of a room-sized bulb, and a female, formed from vines, stood before him.

    Rein initially thought to hide somewhere and steal lightning, but guessing that the plant demon intentionally allowed Dahk to rest within its vines to ambush Dujahrn, Rein believed that they could reach an agreement of sorts.

    ¡°I can be of help. I have a¡­ unique affinity to lightning,¡± Rein explained. ¡°I can absorb some¡­ perhaps remnant shoots of the tribulation lightning for you.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± the vine-formed woman tilted her head.

    ¡°I obviously can¡¯t absorb a tribulation lightning strike, but if you block part of it, I can absorb a few sparks,¡± Rein hurriedly added.

    ¡°¡®ow in¡¯e¡¯es¡¯ing,¡± the vine-formed woman replied. Her soft vegetative body struggled to properly pronounce and accentuate words. ¡°¡®oweve, you ah one who burned my valle¡­and you s¡¯ole my sildren¡­¡± A vine reached like a hand to lift Rein¡¯s chin. ¡°You dink you can nego¡¯ia¡¯ae your life?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I apologize,¡± Rein genuinely felt guilty at burning down the whole valley. ¡°I¡¯ll return these to you.¡± He immediately retrieved the many centuries-old herbs and fruits from his spatial pouch. The tribulation lightning is simply too important to him!

    The vine-formed woman observed him quizzically as she shifted left and right, up and down, to examine this human who so daringly came before her.

    ¡°Eep¡¯em,¡± the plant demon giggled softly. ¡°I won¡¯be s¡¯aying ¡®ere af¡¯er my ¡®ribula¡¯ion. I only gew ¡®hese ¡®erbs to bai¡¯ in¡­ food. All I need is fer you oo promise me. You will plan¡¯ seeds of ¡®ose fruits.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Rein sincerely accepted with the fingers of his two hands hooked in greeting. He obviously did not believe in the plant demon¡¯s words. Perhaps the plant demon only wished to see if he was of any real use against the tribulation. At the very end, the plant demon might take his life.

    Their tentative agreement led to the plant demon sucking back the paralysis mist around Rein. Rein had taken the antidote that had the requisite concentration to defend against this paralysis mist if it came from a rank five demon. He had begun feeling a decreased reaction time. Now, his body regained its full functions.

    As for Rein, he had already determined his course of action. As long as he could steal the requisite amount of tribulation lightning, he simply needed to wait for the right moment to escape! The plant demon obviously desired to pass its tribulation. It had waited for unexpected events to occur, just to swallow those two outer devils. It probably won¡¯t attempt to take his life until the very end.

    As for the tribulation cloud? By now, it had fully formed, delivering an ominous darkness to the zone while rumbling with the punishment of the fallen gods.

    Rein knew little of what these tribulation tests exactly consisted of-- he himself would not face such a tribulation unless he was to climb to the peak of the telekinetic realm. What Rein did know was that these tribulations are similar to the natural disasters that these supposed fallen gods delivered to disobeying mortals in an ancient era.

    For this plant demon, the first tribulation was of no consequence. The earth rumbled and an earthquake shook the cavern. However, the surrounding structure remained firm and steady despite the power felt in the air! A few stalactites that had formed over the years and not been lost due to the crumbling of the ceiling, fell. But that was the full extent of the earthquake¡¯s power.

    Whoever built this ancient ruin and its entrance must be a master of construction! Rein gazed at that vine-shaped female form with raised brows as he wondered as to the identity of the one who might have built these ruins. He also wondered if this plant demon had hidden here specifically to face the expected tribulation.

    The air then cracked as a large blade of white lightning zigzagged down! Many vines surged up through the protective paralysis mist to meet the twisting blade of light. Many of the vines were burnt to crisp in a single blink of the eye! However, the power of the lightning soon faded, and much of the plant demon¡¯s vast body remained.

    ¡°Good luh¡¯.¡± The vine-shaped female stood next to Rein within that safe bulb and lightly tapped Rein with a curling vine. ¡°The mos¡¯ dange¡¯ous pah¡¯ is the remnan¡¯ ligh¡¯ing energies.¡±

    Along with that tap came a destructive force that sparked through Rein¡¯s tempered body! It was but the remnant residue of the tribulation lightning, yet his body would have crumbled to nothing if not for his red draconic lightning source sudden awakening!

    That red draconic lightning formed a dragon with his veins, and danced through his body to swallow this residue tribulation lightning spark in joy. Rein¡¯s red draconic lightning source gained a slight hue of orange.

    Rein sighed a breath of relief and joy while the vine-formed female gazed at him with a wonder. The plant demon certainly did not expect this inner advancer to resolve the residue tribulation lightning that invaded her body.

    Rein was, of course, exuberant! The red draconic lightning he used to temper his body had become ineffective. Already, he could feel his draconic lightning improving in power!

    The tribulation clouds rumbled again. Of course, it wasn¡¯t over yet. It still had to deliver many more disasters upon the plant demon!

 Ch82: A Transformation

    Within the ancient underground ruins, Wilo leaned backwards and rested against the walls of the passageway.

    A flurry of figures sped past her, intent on exploring the mysterious ancient ruins.

    Soon enough, the so-called Iron Ant Team aside from Rein gathered around her position. The members gazed at an approaching group led by Beincen¡¯s irksome countenance.

    ¡°Now is the time to remove these pests!¡± Beincen declared as he set his sights on the Iron Ant Team. He needed to isolate and surround the troublesome Rein. His words certainly raised the hackles of Rein¡¯s companions.

    However, Beincen¡¯s own helpers from the Sun Sword Sect were absolutely flabbergasted by the Larne scion¡¯s words.

    The leader of the assisting group, Yidahr, glanced at his surroundings-- a somewhat narrow passageway that could collapse in a battle. Not to mention, the rush for potential ancient treasures inside the ruins that would bring benefits to him and his sect.

    ¡°I apologize, Larne scion,¡± he said as he denied his current services to Beincen. ¡°There are unknown benefits as high as the Dingien Peak within these ruins. This is a waste of time.¡± He quickly added, ¡°You yourself should seek out benefits within these ruins, and raise the status of your House. These ants can be dealt with at another time.¡±

    With that said, he immediately led the other two representatives from Sun Sword Sect deeper into the ruins, leaving Beincen gobsmacked with no opportunity to speak his mind.

    ¡°The Sun Sword Sect representative speaks true,¡± Naohr softly said. ¡°We should seek out treasures as well,¡± he urged with a hunger in his eyes. Beincen eventually continued on his way with clenched teeth.

    Another set of recognizable faces soon appeared before the Iron Ant Team-- the members of Lyne¡¯s team. Her four underlings had prepared to face off against one and perhaps even two lower-realmed outer advancers. Unfortunately for them, four strong outer devils had appeared, and they became mired in a sea of aurae tendrils, unable to provide Lyne with any assistance.

    Frankly, not even the three powerful Xuere Clan outer advancers were able to protect Lyne and prevent her capture from the Harvest Devil, Ailehr.

    Nunan swept her gaze across the Iron Ant Team, somewhat suspicious that a traitor might lay within their ranks. However, she had no time to waste on half-baked accusations, and sped past with Zehz, Bohr, and Karsutz following her lead.

    Meanwhile, Rein remained in that safe enclosure within the Endflower¡¯s body, as he observed another heavenly tribulation.

    This tribulation took the form of a locust swarm that sought to devour the Endflower¡¯s flesh whole. The locusts gnawed upon the Endflower¡¯s vines with endless appetite, and only fell after extended exposure to the poisonous mist surrounding the plant demon.

    This tribulation was capped by a final thunder strike that sent a pernicious charge of heavenly lightning deep into the Endflower¡¯s body.

    The vine-formed humanoid opposite to Rein once again reached forth and guided this remnant strain of lightning into Rein¡¯s body. Again, the lightning dragon within Rein¡¯s veins devoured the invader and gained an even more orange hue.

    The Endflower, having the common trait of plant demons, rapidly regenerated its body in a flash before the dark cloud above rumbled and delivered the next tribulation-- a flurry of tornadoes that sent blades of wind aurae everywhere, dissecting the Endflower¡¯s many arms and legs as if its flesh was made of tofu. Luckily, the size and weight of the Endflower kept it secured to the underground cavern.

    Rein was rather amazed at the Endflower¡¯s continued endurance and regeneration. Though dissected, the separate parts of the Endflower¡¯s body quickly reconnected and healed in the blink of an eye.

    Rein ruminated on his observations. He began to believe that the remnant heavenly lightning that he absorbed must have the special function of preventing the Endflower from utilizing its heavenly recovery powers, like an insidious poison in a body. No wonder the Endflower had so easily agreed to delivering said remnant lightning strain into Rein¡¯s body.

    Again, a final lightning strike finalized this tribulation, and Rein¡¯s lightning dragon turned a vibrant orange hue within his veins as it belched in fullness. This signaled that his lightning source had taken all that it could from heavenly lightning. He would need different sources to strengthen the draconic lightning within him in the future.

    When the next tribulation began, Rein was ready to escape the clutches of the Endflower. After all, he had no desire to find out the Endflower¡¯s plans for him once he was of no more use against the heavenly lightning.

    A rising heat began to fill the cavern as nine suns appeared overhead, scorching the Endflower¡¯s full body into a blackened crisp. This was the moment when Rein forcibly separated the vines around his enclosure with his tempered arms, betting on the plant demon¡¯s focus to remain purely on surviving its test.

    He could but trust that his hardy body would survive the beginnings of this plant demon¡¯s tribulation.

    Rein¡¯s strengthened oranged-hued draconic lightning source imbued his internal body with energy as he activated ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯, and he shot forth as a pinpoint arrow towards the entrance into the ancient ruins.

    Fortunately, the beginning of the tribulation was survivable, and he entered the safety of the ruins after a few heartbeats. Looking backwards, Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder as to why the Endflower had made no attempts to stop him despite the weak start of this tribulation, only to find the vine-formed humanoid gazing at him mysteriously with no emotion upon its blank face. How eerie.

    Rein rushed farther in, and frowned when he found the Iron Ant Team awaiting his arrival.  He never expected them to delay their exploration of these ancient ruins for him. Suey immediately wrapped her hands in a watery shell and began pressing her hands all over Rein¡¯s body.

    If not for the cooling sensation he felt upon contact, Rein would have thought her to be acting frisky again. His skin had, in fact, been inflicted some damage from the ¡®weak¡¯ start of the Endflower¡¯s tribulation, much like a mortal suffering sunburns.

    Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he sincerely expressed his deep appreciation for the others¡¯ patience and their belief in his return, while a part of him was still befuddled by his ease of escape from the Endflower.

    ¡°No need to thank us,¡± Xeeseir waved his arm as he returned his attention to the passageway walls. The symbols upon it are identical to the ones in the underground cavern. ¡°We¡¯ve been attempting to parse some information. Wilo has studied this ancient language.¡±

    How amazing. Wilo¡¯s display of knowledge repeatedly surpassed Rein¡¯s expectations.

    ¡°Ancient dwarven language,¡± Wilo informed Rein as she raked her eyes across the symbols through her wooden mask. ¡°I¡¯ve examined the text on the walls. This should be an abode of a royal clan of the extinct dwarves. The Molten Stone Clan.¡±

    Molten Stone. Rein repeated this name in his mind. A memory of a vision flashed through his mind. Molten stone form of the dragonknight Zelli, the female dwarf within Gent¡¯s vision. What a crazy coincidence?

    ¡°History states this clan to be the most prosperous of the dwarves, building countless vast heavenly structures across the many realms,¡± Wilo softly said. ¡°I daresay the treasures inside should be numerous and wondrous.¡±

    Rein felt a pang of guilt at having caused the Iron Ant Team¡¯s delay.

    Without further ado, the Iron Ant Team jogged deeper down the passageway in search of unknown ancient treasures.

    __________________________________________________________________________

    Back in the underground cavern, the Endflower suffered its worst tribulation as its body was bathed under nine suns. Plant demons are well-known to be weak to intense heat, and the Endflower is no exception to this rule. The final tribulation of all plant demons always have some punishment imbued with fire aurae-- this is known far and wide.

    Despite having dispelled the insidious strains of heavenly lightning into Rein, the Endlofwer could not maintain its rate of regeneration as its body was lit aflame, gradually diminishing from a hundred feet to a tiny ten feet span in body.

    The Endflower thought its demise to be imminent, only for the nine suns above its head to vanish, its powers spent. Only one final heavenly lightning strike remained.

    A thunderous white flash shattered the sky to decide the life and death of the Endflower. The Blissful-Endflower screeched and cackled in defiance with its half-formed human throat imitation, and massed its remaining vines above its head.

    The lightning bolt burnt these remaining vines to curled lifeless appendages, and the humanoid form of the Endflowers blackened in a path towards death. Yet, at this very moment, the Endflower withdrew a golden wooden needle with a shaking hand formed of vines.

    If the Iron Ant Team was still present, they would be shocked beyond belief. This wooden needle is, after all, identical to Wilo¡¯s in all aspects with the exception of its golden shine.

    The Endflower stabbed this golden wooden needle into its withering flash, and life coursed through its body again as the needle melted into its body.

    Vines then wrapped itself around the humanoid form in a cocoon. In a short twenty heartbeats, the cocoon unraveled to reveal a lovely young woman with warm pink skin, poisonous red lips and flowing chestnut hair.

    The only sign of her difference from a human are the few leaves that adorned her ears and temple.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± She tested her voice, felt elation at the rumbling of her throat, and promptly declared, ¡°A good deal! Fair as can be.¡±

    A pity that her exhilaration was instantly dispelled by a number of figures that blocked the sky, replacing the tribulation clouds that had just disappeared into nothingness.

    Many outer advancers, perhaps even stronger, had arrived. Examining their robes, the Blissful-Endflower knew where these humans came from-- the Evergreen Mountains! She had, after all, consumed no small number of their disciples during her rule over the valley above these ruins.

    WIthout hesitation, the Endflower warped in the air and transformed into a snake-like vine. Instead of entering the ruins and potentially drawing more eyes, she instead escaped through an incredibly narrow crevice at the bottom of the underground cavern, previously covered by her vast body! This was her final escape route.

    The Great Sects¡¯ advancers could not react fast enough to prevent her escape! They had expected the Endflower to be at death¡¯s door even if she survived her tribulation and achieved full transformation.

    ¡°Bienze!¡± A man with the sigil of the Convergence Sect roared. ¡°You¡¯re the only one in the telekinetic realm with a unique ability! Transform yourself and pursue that demon!¡±

    Bienze, a mid-twenties man with shoulder-length hair that contained the ¡®rainbow¡¯ shades ranging from blonde to dark brown, rolled his eyes. Even now, the Convergence Sect acted as such towards them, the Uni Sect. He sighed. It was to be expected. The Convergence Sect had severely diminished in influence.

    ¡°Hunzkr. You and I both know that mastering transformations can be difficult, a skill that even many gods struggle with. It is only a fortuitous encounter that allowed me to perform a half-imitation¡­¡± He added, ¡°I would be foolish to pursue this demon alone in a half-baked form.¡± The narrow crevice was simply too small of a gap.

    ¡°You see this? The Uni Sect are but fearful wimps!¡± Hunzkr thought that this declaration would diminish the Uni Sect¡¯s influence. Perhaps that may have been true if the Convergence Sect was still in its superior position months ago. Now? The other Great Sect members, with the exception of Sun Sword Sect, frowned at Hunzkr¡¯s words.

    Bienze examined the symbols in the underground ruins, and quickly dispelled the failure of capturing the Endflower demon. There was nothing he could do, and deep down, he even felt a tinge of respect towards the plant demon, to survive the tribulation with spare strength while having prepared an escape route that required a narrow transformation to traverse.

    ¡°Let us head into these dwarven ruins,¡± he said to the agreement of the other Great Sect members.

    Hunzkr could only follow with displeasure in his heart.

    It was then and there that they discovered a bulky man waiting for them.

    ¡°Welcome, seniors. Welcome!¡± Malak hooked his fingers and bowed repeatedly. ¡°I am Malak, a member of the northern desert tribes captured and enslaved by a Minhr Noble. I was sent forth to assist the scion of House Larne from the Green Trout City.¡± As he said this, Malak swept his eyes across the members of the Sun Sword Sect.

    That Sun Sword Sect disciple had sent a flare to call upon his allies? Malak very much believed his superior or perhaps, master, to be somewhat related to Beincen of House Larne.

    Malak smirked internally as he observed a flash of recognition across one of the Sun Sword masters present.

    ¡°I am happy to inform you all of the exact nature of preceding events,¡± Malak beamed as he bowed his head again to indicate his continued submission despite his hulking form.

    ¡°I know of this man,¡± a male Sun Sword master waved him over. ¡°Worry not, he will inform us of the necessary knowledge to prepare us against potential foes.¡±

    As such, these masters of the Great Sects came upon the key information of the notorious outer devils that had entered these ruins.

    Malak soon received a whisper in his ear. ¡°Lead me to Beincen.¡± Malak simply nodded in acknowledgement of the order.

    He, however, could barely control his inner mirth. After all¡­ this is the true mission given to him by Guihnes. To use both Beincen and Rein to draw out one who, with certainty, hold sway over the secret jade mines of the Great Sects. It could not be someone too powerful.

    This master had not used divine sense to communicate telekinetically with Malak¡¯s mind. As such, Malak felt certain that this master must only be in the outer realm. The perfect target for the Hall of Heroes!

 Ch83: Dragonknight Zellis Wavering Heart

    Rein was astonished when the narrow passageway opened up into a gigantic hall supported by pillars of a height that the Iron Ant Team¡¯s light orbs could barely illuminate. He had expected the ancient ruins constructed by dwarves to be barely transversable by those of human height. A misconception.

    Swiveling his head around, Rein noted down the worn and cracked long stone table with seats a measure too low for humans. This must be a room for either some form of gathering, perhaps a feast hall.

    The other members also turned their heads left and right, filled with the same curiosity as Rein.

    It was then that Rein felt another call from his heart that signaled a vision from the remnant will of Gent. Rein was very much surprised by this-- why would Gent visit this dwarven structure in ancient times?

    He closed his eyes and allowed the tingling from his heart to take over his mind.

    In the vision, he immediately found himself walking into the very same hall in the body of Gent. The hall, structurally, was identical. However, it was far more vibrant in craft and colors.

    Although the dwarven etchings of their own language upon the walls endured to Rein¡¯s day, these etchings, in ancient times, were far more sharp and crisp, layered with a wondrous glittering sheen that glowed like clear water on a sunny day.

    The pillars and stone table within this very hall? In the past, it was a smooth and lacquered stone surface, layered with scarlet silk. And upon this silk rested many meat delicacies. Rein received the tantalizing smell of such delicacies as Gent in his vision.

    ¡°Are you making a mockery of me?¡± Gent questioned in a low tone as the figure of the Dragonknight Zelli lumbered into view. Rein himself gazed once again upon this female dwarf, who was also one of the figures when he received the echoes of the fallen gods¡­

    To Rein¡¯s knowledge, this dwarf was renowned for slaying dragons. How did she manage to convince Gent to meet her here, alone in private? Unfortunately, Rein could not manipulate or request answers from Gent¡¯s remnant will. It only showed specific moments when triggered by certain elements on Rein¡¯s journey.

    ¡°I would never,¡± Zelli replied in her deep melodious voice. ¡°Worry not. None of it is dragon meat.¡±

    Dragonknight Zelli was the only other existence in this feast hall within Gent¡¯s vision.

    ¡°Tell me, noble Gent,¡± Zelli asked as she prepared to shove the meat dishes of exotic beasts into her wide mouth. ¡°It is said that you dragons primarily consume meat. It is also said that dragons are the ancestors of all scaled beasts. Will you not be sometimes, consuming¡­your descendents?¡±

    A deep growl emanated from ¡®his¡¯ own throat in response. ¡°Hardly. This is nature. We dragons grow by consuming meat. A species far removed from us are no dragons.¡± Gent proceeded to chomp down on the meat delicacies after testing their smell.

    Rein, sharing Gent¡¯s senses, was given a taste of ancient meat. Soft and tender, with pure meat juices rushing down Gent¡¯s throat every single bite. There was no need for herbs or spices.

    Their feast was soon finished. Neither Zelli nor Gent had any table-manners, and in Rein¡¯s eyes, swallowed their meal in a frenzy.

    ¡°Now,¡± Gent growled. ¡°Why did you invite me for such a meeting? This is not you. You¡¯ve always slain my brethren for sport.¡±

    Zelli remained silent for quite some time, her expression glum as she took a swig of what must be, advancer beer, from a stone cup.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been around for many¡­ many years,¡± Zelli finally began, ¡°And I¡¯ve begun to wonder¡­ what will come after? If I exterminate you dragons¡­ will that automatically mean eternal peaceful existence for us humanoids? Or will we fail and be in an eternal battle until the end of times, the destruction of the realms? Already, a realm has fallen, not dissimilar to the hellish worlds that were once jewels of the fallen gods.¡±

    ¡°It is also said that certain scaled descendents of you dragons, under certain conditions, become dragons¡­¡± Zelli mumbled, lost in thought at the prospect of having to wipe the many realms clean of all scaled demons.

    Rein assumed that Gent would be bewildered by Zelli¡¯s words. Not so. Instead, his shared sense felt relief! Joy!

    ¡°It is said that you once shared a bond with our progenitor, Human Ancestor Yirn! Tell me what you know of him! Was he truly the one who killed the Gods?! Did he truly abandon us humanoid races after the fall of the Gods, in the Dark Ages?!¡± Zelli¡¯s eyes suddenly bored into Gent¡¯s with a blazing intensity as hot as the deepest forges of the Molten Stone Clan.

    Gent momentarily had no words. Too many memories ran through his mind of a far different age. He felt like an anachronistic being as he recalled the Age of Gods. Much had changed.

    ¡°Though none believe my words¡­¡± Gent sighed. ¡°It is true. After all¡­ I was his partner in action.¡±

    A fervent worship overtook Zelli¡¯s face.

    ¡°I know your husband, the Allfather, claims that the human ancestor betrayed your kind. Others say it is impossible for a human, pre-advancer era, to be of any threat to the Gods.¡±

    ¡°My brother Yirn¡­ he is a man filled with tricks up his sleeves. Hah! He slowly turned the Gods against one another!¡± Rein could feel ¡®his¡¯ own lips curling with devious joy.

    ¡°Why?¡± Zelli beseeched.

    ¡°All beings must be free to carve their own path,¡± Gent said as his heart filled with passion. ¡°That was what he told me. The Gods never change, their existence eternal. Their rules and power, absolute! The world was static, all beings living under their very grasp!¡±

    ¡°Brother Yirn once spoke to me thus,¡± Gent continued. ¡°He had been placed in charge of the peach garden, ensuring the supply of golden peaches to the Gods.¡±

    ¡°He asked me this: ¡®Have I really achieved my position, or am I just placed here because a few Gods looked favorably upon me?¡¯ He then uttered another phrase that etched itself into my mind: ¡®I wish to be the one to plant the peach trees and create the garden! What is a man¡¯s will if it is given by the Gods?!¡¯ ¡±

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°And the Gods¡­? Is the tale of Uni true?¡± Zelli wondered.

    ¡°Not even I can verify that,¡± Gent  replied. ¡°However, the Gods were simply born at the beginning of time, and thus absorbed much of the many rules of the universe. Though we may be born later and even created¡­ that potential exists in all beings.¡±

    ¡°The Gods certainly knew this,¡± Gent said as his expression darkened.

    ¡°Did he really abandon us?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Gent sighed and shook his head as he remembered that final moment of his human brother. ¡°To defeat the Gods, he, of course, had to pay a price¡­¡±

    ¡°But,¡± his voice hardened. ¡°He is still around. In¡­ some aspects.¡±

    The feast hall became silent for quite some time.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Dragonknight Zelli finally said. ¡°I feel as if my mind has cleared. Gent. Some may consider me a traitor, but I wish to warn you. My husband has promised your scaled descendents that if they assist him, he will allow them to partake in the feast of dragon blood, and become dragons themselves through the purification of their bloodline.¡±

    Gent¡¯s eyes widened at this casual offering of information.

    ¡°Likewise¡­the dragons are about to embark on a massive campaign against you dwarves,¡± Gent replied as he returned the favor. ¡°The ancestor dragon has long grown distrustful of me, and as such, I am not privy to the details. The gist of it, however, is that much of my race believed that you dwarves have used your many treasures to corrupt the minds of many of our younglings.¡±

    ¡°They believe that you have inherited some knowledge from the dark dwarves that served the Asurans in the Age of Gods, and used irresistible treasures to infect our race with the ¡®Golden Madness¡¯, turning our children into dark dragons that hoard treasures in their isolated lairs.¡±

    ¡°Whether that is true or not is of no matter. It has driven my people into a frenzy,¡± Gent¡¯s voice turned into a rumbling whisper. ¡°They seek to exterminate you dwarves.¡±

    As the vision began to fade with Gent moving towards the exit passageway, he suddenly turned.

    ¡°Say,¡± Gent wondered. ¡°I¡¯ve always had a curiosity¡­ Are you a carrier of origin magics? I could never tell. I thought your molten form to be an expression of an origin ability, yet you soon passed on this ability to a few of your people.¡±

    ¡°Forgive me,¡± Gent immediately apologized before Zelli could reply, and turned to the exit again. ¡°I should not be impolite. I hope that one day, we will meet again in better times.¡±

    The vision faded, and Rein found himself back in the dilapidated ancient feast hall, his companions having just taken an extra step forward.

    The Iron Ant Team moved through the feast hall and entered another narrow passageway. Rein contemplated the vision¡¯s revelations. He did not care much with regards to ancient history, and was instead preoccupied by the fact that Zelli had completely hidden her origin ability in a perfect manner, despite occasionally using the art of teleportation as was seen during her battle against the dragons in a previous vision.

    This opened up Rein¡¯s mind. He simply needed to employ trickery to obfuscate the nature of his spatial origin ability. As long as it stayed within the realms of ¡®normalcy¡¯, and if he employed a far more eye-catching ability such as Zelli¡¯s molten stone form¡­ None would be able to determine if he carried an origin ability or not.

    He simply needed to be¡­ creative with its use.

    The winding passageway eventually led to an octagonal platform that extended out into a dark abyss.

    Many advancers, whether they be orthodox or devilish, were assembled at this very location, gazing across the dark abyss. Occasionally, a sudden lava spurt would sprout out of the dark depths like a geyser accompanied by the final scream of a struck figure.

    The figure of Nunan moved to approach the Iron Ant Team, only to be pulled back by Zehz. Nunan furiously shook free her sleeves and came before Rein.

    ¡°Many have already attempted to cross this¡­ spatial maze. It is known that the dwarves build many checkpoints to protect their halls. Most are experts in their crafts, and work with fire and lava.¡±

    ¡°The oddity here is that this maze is layered with a spatial magic that bent the space above this endless chasm into a twisting path with many invisible deadends. One wrong move and an advancer will be showered in Makma, ancient dwarven lava of the highest temperature.¡±

    ¡°And well,¡± Nunan paused as a row of spikes strengthened by inscriptions appeared in space and impaled a fallen devil. ¡°As you can see, the space within is also connected to various traps with equivalent strength to a ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯.¡±

    ¡°The Harvest Devil Ailehr and that Larne scion have already passed through¡­¡± Nunan said as her eyes bored into Rein¡¯s.

    Rein now knew why Nunan had approached. She must be truly desperate to retrieve Lyne, to come to him, just a peak inner advancer, for help. Indeed, the remaining two Xuere elders now accompanied her should be far more helpful.

    ¡°I¡­ I do not believe myself capable of much help¡­¡± Rein muttered. That trapmaze across the chasm seemed impenetrable for the Iron Ant Team at first glance.

    ¡°...¡± Nune opened her mouth hesitantly before closing it again. She bit on her lips and lowered her head. ¡°Forgive me, but prior to our cooperation, I discovered that you have a decent spatial affinity. The Xuere do have some oversight in the Hall of Heroes. This spatial maze¡­ We need one with spatial senses¡­¡±

    ¡°There is no need for discussion,¡± one of the hooded Xuere elders interrupted. ¡°It is simple. Either you cooperate or--¡±

    ¡°Please stay silent, elder!¡± Nunan daringly cut off this Xuere elder. The second Xuere elder gripped the more aggressive one on the shoulder to calm him down.

    ¡°Forgive my elder. We are, after all, desperate. They will channel their outer realm aurae into your body to activate your aurae vision. Your affinity with the spatial element should give us a relatively safe path through the spatial maze, that is, if your senses are sharp enough.¡±

    Rein recalled how his vision had changed when Mystrygon had used his outer aurae and guided Rein into forming an inter-realm spatial tunnel. The current task seems simple enough.

    ¡°This sort of magic obviously can¡¯t be maintained for long¡­ that is, the channeling of aurae into another¡¯s body. So¡­ you cannot hesitate,¡± the calmer Xuere elder spoke. The voice of a woman.

    The Iron Ant Team would have no choice but to walk away under normal circumstances, due to the nature of this checkpoint.

    Rein nodded as he accepted the task, which very much brought excitement to his companions.

    At this point, Zehz came over as well, filled to the brim with hostility.

    ¡°One of them must be a traitor¡­. That Chirh, especially, must have been blackmailed or some sort!¡± They had discussed the events along with the remaining two Xuere elders, and came to the conclusion that someone must have leaked their plans to the devils, or forces associated with the devils.

    They would not be able to fully investigate it until their return to the Xuere Gap.

    ¡°We should attempt to hypnotize this¡­ potential traitor, else he will guide us into a trap,¡± Zehz declared. Already an aurae shell of bright light encased his body, ready for the task.

    It was not only Zehz-- Bohr and Karsutz similarly glared at the Iron Ant Team in suspicion.

    The Iron Ant Team surrounded Rein instinctively and a battle aura arose.

    ¡°Stop. This is unnecessary. Do not be ridiculous. For what reason would he kill himself alongside us within the maze? What has gotten into your mind, Zehz?!¡± Nunan squinted at the brightly-encased form of Zehz.

    ¡°It is better to be safe than sorry.¡± Zehz replied. Though he eventually cooperated, he glowered as he retrieved his aurae shell cloud into his body.

    The two elders approached Rein.

    ¡°Let us take turns,¡± the hooded male Xuere elder said and was the first to place his hands on Rein¡¯s back.

    Rein felt a vast reservoir of aurae flowing into his body as his vision transformed. He could now see a deluge of different aurae flows in the very air. He nudged his spatial affinity into circulation, and surprisingly, the originally invisible maze that spanned the chasm gained a shattered form, much like multiple mirrors layering and blending into one another.

    Rein nodded to indicate he was ready. Despite rarely employing his spatial affinity, he could only trust in its uniqueness to pull through, particularly because the Dragonknight Zelli might very well be the one who designed this checkpoint in the first place!

 Ch84: A Minor Barrier

    With his vision augmented by the Xuere clan¡¯s two outer advancers, Rein could see the very nature of the maze.

    The space was bent in many ways. Some paths led to deadends, some would eject a poor soul directly into the depth of the abyss. Yet, perhaps, the most mystifying of all are the paths that tunneled to another space.

    Though this was the first time Rein had focused on his spatial element under an outer advancer¡¯s assistance, he instinctively sensed that some spatial tunnels in this very maze led to a separate location.

    He notified the two Xuere outer advancers of this observation-- these two naturally held sway over their fates.

    ¡°Of course,¡± the female elder chortled. ¡°Spatial defenses often employ tunnels to connect various locations filled with all sorts of unknown benefits and dangers. Some even employ such tunnels to hide treasures. However, this is likely only a barrier to determine if we are friends or foe.¡±

    Rein now understood this to be a standard affair. Hardly comforting-- it is quite impossible to assess what might be on the other side of a spatial tunnel, after all.

    The male Xuere elder flicked his wrist, and a snowflake-shaped platform layered with thick ice expanded in size before their group.

    They all stepped upon this device, and the snowflake platform floated over the endless abyss, with Rein pointing out a hole to enter the vast spatial maze before them.

    A few devils attempted to follow their path, but a wave of pure aurae projection bolts from the female Xuere elder sent them scattering.

    ¡°Instructions, elder?¡±

    ¡°Avoid any warped space. Those are most likely traps. Find tunnels into other locations. The Harvest Devil must have entered such a location with many entry and exit paths.¡±

    Rein used his arm along with words to guide the flight of the snowflake platform. Their speed slowed to a crawl upon entering the maze. Rein¡¯s sense of space indicated to him that the reason for this was that the space had been stretched.

    As such, ten steps only allowed them to move one step forward. Both intriguing and terrifying.

    A light buzzing began to sound and increase in volume. At first, Rein thought it to just be the sound of silence within the spatial maze, yet when that buzzing noise continued, he could not help but twist his neck about in an attempt to find the source of this buzzing.

    The others shared this very same thought process.

    ¡°There.¡± Xeeseir pointed with a finger, having identified the source of the buzzing with his archer vision.

    Rein squinted as he followed Xeeseir¡¯s index finger, and noticed a tiny glowing dot in the distance. As they moved forward, that glowing dot revealed itself to be a prismatic shard of shimmering beauty, hovering in the air thanks to a mechanical bee-like puppet.

    ¡°Fictite¡­¡± the male Xuere elder hoarsely croaked.

    The female Xuere outer elder did not even bother with words. She immediately waved her right arm.

    The others could not see the result of her actions, but Rein, augmented by the male Xuere elder behind him, tracked an aurae hand projection reaching forth to grab both the mechanical bee and the prismatic stone.

    Of course, they had all heard of fictite. The material revered by advancers, above limpite and lumite. Limpite and lumite are materials conductive to aurae, and an integral part of armament creation. Fictite is considered a step above, the most flexible material to be integrated, compatible with all types of elements.

    Supposedly, there are better materials, if one limits their requirement to a specific element. Yet even Rein himself, a limited advancer element-wise, have affinities to lightning, wood and space.

    Before Rein¡¯s eyes, just when the aurae hand projection grasped that fictite shard, the mechanical bee sprung into action, accelerating at a breakneck pace.

    Such a precious material caused the Xuere outer elders to momentarily  forget their pursuit of the Harvest Devil Ailehr.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it out of our sight!¡±

    The male Xuere elder pushed the snowflake platform to its maximum speed, disregarding their safety.

    The mechanical bee, at first, maintained its distance despite its seemingly slow flight. The mechanical bee seemed to have the ability to bypass the stretched-out space within the maze.

    Rein had to be quick with his directions such that they could navigate and avoid the invisible spatial barriers as well as any set traps.

    They gradually closed the gap until the prismatic stone was but a few arm¡¯s length away.

    The space in front suddenly twisted and Rein immediately held a palm upwards to indicate for them to cease their forward movement.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Rein yelled, realizing that a raised palm might not be enough to awaken the Xuere elder to their impending danger.

    Luckily, The Xuere elder trusted Rein enough to pause the forward movement of the snowflake platform.

    Zehz, however, already having accused the Iron Ant Team of betrayal, was incensed.

    ¡°He is simply attempting to deprive the Xuere of a critical material!¡±

    Funnily, Zehz simultaneously dared not leap forward and retrieve the piece of fictite for the Xuere.

    A few heartbeats later, and that warped space opened up as a makma column shot upwards.

    Their close proximity would have lit them aflame if not for the female Xuere¡¯s elder¡¯s timely intervention. Rein observed the woman quickly gesture with her arms, ejecting a stream of energy to activate a cool aurae shield around the snowflake platform, fighting back against the heat of the makma.

    When that makma column vanished, the prismatic stone along with the bee had widened their distance again, before drifting and vanishing into a spatial tunnel.

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Is it safe now?¡± the male Xuere outer elder asked.

    ¡°Yes. The path is clear,¡± Rein replied, fully aware that the Xuere elder intended to follow that mechanical bee into that spatial tunnel.

    ¡°It is good that you maintained a mind of clarity despite the rarity of fictite,¡± the female Xuere elder noted.

    Rein simply nodded. He dared not feel any measure of pride. From his perspective, the only reason he was able to maintain a clear mind was that he knew the fictite would fall into the outer advancers¡¯ hands, and not his. As such, any desire to pursue the mechanical bee puppet and the fictite within its clutches was utterly pointless.

    ¡°Is that even a real piece of fictite?¡± Nunan wondered. This spatial maze is a defense system built by the dwarves. That piece of fictite might be fake, placed to draw them to their doom. They very nearly traveled right into the path of a trap connected to makma.

    Rein shared the same thought. He was reminded of the instructor he called ¡®the spring lady¡¯, who had suggested to him that spatial advancer arts, though not having a direct damaging quality, is highly flexible in its application alongside other magical arts.

    It simultaneously explained how Zelli the dragonknight could keep her spatial origin magic an eternal secret with just a measure of effort.

    ¡°Even if it is fake, we must follow it,¡± the male Xuere elder firmly declared. So it was that the snowflake platform with the group seated on top, pressed into the very same spot where that mechanical bee disappeared into.

    Their surroundings turned into streams of white light, but only for flash. In a blink of the eye, they arrived in an underground arena filled with soot-layered mechanical puppets.

    ¡°Amazing¡­¡± Nunan¡¯s eyes opened wide at the sight before them. ¡°When I studied ancient strategic warfare, it is said that much originated from the dwarves. Supposedly, as grandmaster blacksmiths they built many armaments, including mechanical puppets, and prided themselves in their ability to control an army of these puppets to carry out warfare.¡±

    ¡°It is said that this soon led to the existence of puppet chess, where participants pitted their control and strategic use of puppet armies against one another.¡±

    ¡°So this location¡­¡± the female Xuere elder said as she recalled her knowledge of Nunan, a formation master placed under Lyne. ¡°This must be a barrier to ensure those not versed with dwarven traditions are expelled.¡±

    ¡°It must be,¡± Nunan nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Youngling. Are you well-versed in this¡­ ¡®game¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I have briefly studied it¡­¡± Nunan muttered in reply.

    ¡°You will have to do,¡± the female Xuere elder stated.

    The arena before them sunk a level into the ground and spanned five thousand kilofeet, filled with various mini habitats.

    They came before an army of dust-covered dwarven puppets, with a leading dwarf general at its head.

    That leading puppet activated itself and came before the group. It spoke a harsh tongue that Rein figured must be the dwarven tongue. It then transitioned to another silky singsong-like tongue, before a blabbering twisting language. Finally, it spoke in a comprehensible human tongue, though the sentences it used had no conjunctions.

    ¡°So it will basically relay our commands to the puppet soldiers¡­¡± muttered Nunan.

    Completely outside of Rein¡¯s current expertise. He had seen Chenhr, his half-senior under Master Yirn, use formations. He is also quite aware that becoming a formation expert required many years of training in elemental composition as well as warfare and strategy.

    Thus, this trial before him¡­ is simply not something he could be of any use in. He could only sit back and observe Nunan organize the puppets before sending them into the arena, giving commands through the  dwarven puppet general.

    That did not mean his mind drifted into the clouds. He looked on with interest as the primitive puppets that fought with swords, spears, shields, bow and arrows engaged each other within the arena.

    It was unknown who or what controlled their opposition.

    Some of Nunan¡¯s methods, Rein understood. Using the environment to her advantage, she defended narrow spaces, mired the enemy in mud, employed guerilla warfare in certain terrains and more.

    As for how Nunan organized the puppet troops-- that, Rein understood much less of. She made many adjustments on the fly, switching troop composition as necessary against the opposition.

    Eventually, it came down to the survival of a single puppet. How? In Rein¡¯s eyes, Nunan employed a trick She had, in fact, hidden that single puppet before executing suicide attacks with her remaining ones. Somehow, this had allowed her to overturn a slight deficit and come out on top.

    Sweat dripped down Nunan¡¯s brow, flowing past her temples and cheeks to the underside of her chin. Perhaps, one day, Rein would truly understand the woman¡¯s struggle during this battle.

    ¡°Well done,¡± praised the female Xuere elder. ¡°It is said that the dwarves are masters at commanding puppets, and it is their practice that gave birth to formation masters.¡±

    Rein stood and stretched, feeling as if it had been too easy-- well, it was not him being tested, after all.

    The mechanical bee reappeared before them, and relaxed its legs. The prismatic shard in its clutches fell into the male Xuere elder¡¯s open hand.

    The Xuere elder held it up to his eye to examine the piece.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s real¡­!¡± His voice was filled with both excitement and disbelief.

    The mechanical bee then flew at a stone wall. The stone wall magically opened into a narrow passageway!

    ¡°This¡­¡± Rein hesitated before expressing his doubts. ¡°... it almost seems too easy.¡± He had read much about inheritances holding many difficult trials. Many places of treasure also have insurmountable defenses.

    The male Xuere elder guffawed. ¡°This is just an abode of the extinct dwarves. In normal conditions, this place would be swarming with guards. That spatial maze and these trials are just to ensure none of unfriendly origins can slip in through the cracks.¡±

    ¡°These trials especially, ensure only friendly forces can enter. Just imagine¡­ a demon attempting to understand the intricacies of dwarven puppetry and formation.¡± He shook his head in mockery of potential pretenders. ¡°They would fail and be promptly executed.¡± As he said this, he squinted his eyes and attempted to decipher the very traps that might exist within this arena.

    How fortunate that Nunan had baseline knowledge of dwarven formations.

    ¡°Now the treasure room¡­¡± the male Xuere outer elder muttered under his breath, after having failed to identify any hidden execution methods.

    ¡°Remember,¡± the female Xuere elder reminded him. ¡°We¡¯re here to find and retrieve the young scion.¡±

    ¡°Hmph,¡± the male Xuere elder returned a glare. ¡°It is almost certain that the Harvest Devil is searching for the treasure vault as well.¡±

    In single file, the group walked through the passageway and found themselves in a massive forge, similarly oversized like the feast hall they have traveled through previously. This must be where those mechanical puppets were crafted.

    It was then that a domineering voice echoed in the minds of all present.

    ¡°We, the Great Sects, will be taking control of these ruins. If you do not submit to our rules, it will be your death.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡± The male Xuere elder spat. For this voice to sound in their minds, a telekinetic advancer of the Great Sects must have come. The Great Sects do not get along well with the Halls, nor the clans of the Minhr Nation.

    Nunan had taken too long-- the Great Sect had probably bypassed that minor gateway that is the spatial maze.

    ¡°Quickly! We descend downwards! Dwarven treasure vaults are always in the deepest depths!¡± The male Xuere elder dashed off towards the exit of this forging room, followed by the female Xuere elder.

    The shell advancers of Lyne¡¯s team had to augment themselves with their shell aurae just to barely keep up with the two outer elders.

    Rein, of course, with his tempered body and the Frog Leg Release, would be able to keep up as well, but he was not about to abandon the others.

    As such, the Iron Ant Team could only watch as they were left behind. Without the two outer Xuere advancers, their safety within these dwarven ruins was no longer as assured.

    The voice within their minds continued.

    ¡°For starters, any attempting to leave these ruins will have your belongings inspected by members of our Great Sects!¡±

    Leaving with any discovered treasures would be no simple task-- not even for those two outer Xuere elders!

 Ch85: Empty

    The members of the Iron Ant Team shared looks and all had the same thought. Even with their combined strength, it was rather unlikely for them to gain much from the supposed treasure vault under the current circumstances.

    However, that does not necessarily mean they won¡¯t be able to gain anything from these ruins. For one, they currently stood in the forges that crafted those dwarven puppets! The Xuere elders might not have prioritized these forges, but they simply had a significantly more valuable target.

    As such, Rein and the others began scouring the forges for any leftover materials.

    With no immediate threat to the group, Rein had time to truly examine the dwarven stone the whole ruin was constructed from.

    He placed a hand on the wall indented with dwarven symbols before deciding to give it a good hard smack with the palm of his hand.

    Amazingly, the stone wall remained fully solid with no signs of shattering or deformation despite the force Rein exerted through his tempered body. It needs to be said that the stone before Rein¡¯s eyes was not augmented by inscriptions of any sort, yet remained as unbreakable as the Hall of Heroes¡¯ structures.

    ¡°It is said that the dwarves used alchemy and magic to transform the very nature of materials. A long process that¡­ we humans can¡¯t be bothered with. Thus the magically-inscribed walls. Less permanent but much easier to build.¡± Wilo offered a timely explanation to Rein. She continued to demonstrate knowledge beyond expectation.

    Rein nodded in thanks. Indeed, advancer inscriptions required supply of aurae to maintain their function. The very stone of these dwarven walls had been transformed, and would stand the test of time without any supply of aurae.

    ¡°Brother. Over here!¡± Xeeseir gestured to Rein. Xeeseir had discovered a semi-hidden compartment covered with a slab.

    The materials found inside said compartment were mostly remaining ores from an ancient time.

    Rein could not identify these ores initially, for the surfaces of the ores were coated by neglect.  Luckily, once a chunk of ore had its surface cleaned, Rein was able to identify the material thanks to his training under Instructor Rahr.

    The ores before his eyes weren¡¯t super-rare, nor were they plain, run-of-the-mill.

    ¡°Black Iron¡­¡± Rein identified the material that made up the bulk of the ores within the compartment. A quality low-grade material for forging armaments effective for advancers below the outer realm.

    A loud gasp drew the group¡¯s attention to Chirh, who had entered a side-room.

    The Iron Ant Team gathered around the sideroom and discovered rows upon rows of neatly stacked ingots within, in addition to a number of orderly displayed ores on a carved stone shelf. Once again, these were covered in a thick layer of dusk and oxidized layer, and thus needed some cleaning before identification.

    Rein attempted to identify these ingots. He communicated to the team some of their names. ¡°Cold iron, a wavy high carbon steel, orichalcum, adamantite, scarletite, truesilver, starmetal ingots,¡± he said as he pointed with a finger with each name. However, there were many types of ingots that he could not identify.

    Still, the names he spoke elicited joy in the hearts of the team. Some of these metals, though not as universal as limpite and lumite, are used in craft weapons for advancers beyond the telekinetic realm.

    ¡°As for all these others¡­ I apologize for my failure in identifying them,¡± Rein sighed as he bowed his head in shame.

    ¡°It is said that the dwarves are masters of material manipulation, metallurgy being one of them,¡± Wilo softly said. ¡°They created metals that were specifically effective against certain races.¡±

    Rein had to admit his curiosity was ignited. After all, Blacksmith Rahr never mentioned such types of metals.

    ¡°However, much of that has been lost, deemed ineffective by our¡­ human ancestors. Weapons should have universal use, and needing to switch weapon types repeatedly is an inefficient use of resources and craftsmanship.¡±

    Rein understood. No wonder he could recognize some of these metals, but not most of them. Indeed, when he thought about it, much of the blacksmith knowledge he had learned from bothe Blacksmith Tiehr and Blacksmith Rahr carried ¡®universal¡¯ qualities.

    Limpite, lumite, and the incredibly rare prismatic fictite could be integrated into any armaments, and conducted all types of elements.

    The base metals in which the three conductive metals could be integrated within? Precisely the ingots of various qualities that he had successfully recognized.

    To Rein¡¯s human mind, humans simply did things much more efficiently. To use different weapons of different compositions depending on the foe? That meant having to carry, adapt, and master weapons of various weight, even if they are of similar design.

    There is also the issue of supply and reusability. A weapon designed for a fire elemental user would be useless in the hands of other advancers with no affinity to fire. In a war, this would lead to many weapons losing their usefulness on the battlefield, if the original user fell.

    With a universal design in mind, an advancer could easily pick up another weapon on the battlefield if needed. After a battle, weapons of the fallen can be recollected and quickly redistributed.

    ¡°Young brother!¡± Rein was brought out of his meandering mind by Xeeseir¡¯s voice, and his eyes discovered this kindly man handing him a few ingots.

    Rein took these and placed them inside his spatial pouch. Due to the weight of these ingots, there is a limit to how many they could take. As such, they discarded much of the stored meat of the three-headed cobra. In their minds, they should be returning to the Halls soon after this unexpected excursion-- the extra meat was not needed.

    The Iron Ant team focused on having at least one of each type of ingot, before targeting a balance of the ingots that Rein recognized. Rein, with his tempered body, was the one who could bear the most weight inside his spatial pouch, with Xeeseir in second.

    To Dahk¡¯s shock, he was not a clear third, carrying a similar amount of weight compared to Suxeire.

    Rein gave his Suey a praising smile that sent the lady¡¯s own lips curling upwards. Though Suey¡¯s tempering art focused not on raw power, their nightly activities had certainly brought her much progress on the tempering path. The flexibility of her body allowed her to spring about and tolerate increased weight.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Poor Dahk, who had come to the Halls to prove his worth and clear his name to his compatriots in the Southern Starry Seas, seemed to be facing an internal crisis of sorts.

    ¡°So what next?¡± Chirh mumbled. ¡°I think we should stay here. It is somewhat safe and all.¡± He had kept his lips sealed through their many tribulations that day, and felt that he had experienced quite enough excitement for one day.

    ¡°You are all to cooperate with me to open this vault!¡± A stern and demanding voice rumbled through Rein¡¯s and the others¡¯ minds. Wherever that treasure vault may be below, it seemed that the conflict over its contents might progress in unexpected ways.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go up,¡± Xeeseir said with a frown, as he recalled that the voice of the telekinetic Great Sect advancer intended to fleece all advancers within the ancient ruins. Perhaps they could hide somewhere undetected and avoid having their rare ingots taken.

    He led them into a grand hallway shaped by that dwarven-treated durable stone. They wandered about and bumped into a few lone fallen devils scurrying about. Naturally, those devils dashed off upon seeing their large group, unable to quickly determine their strength. Luckily, they did not encounter any strong devils-- these strong devils must be intent on gaining something from said treasure vault.

    Soon, a spiraling staircase that went both up and down was found, and the Iron Ant Team ascended the stone steps.

    Rein was perplexed by a sudden feeling in his heart. As if something was calling out to him again. Yet it was his spatial aurae that seemed restless, and not the lightning dragon that signaled a vision from the echo of Gent¡¯s spirit.

    Yet, he knew it must be something important, and as such, signaled the others to follow him. Xeeseir simply nodded in assent.

    Rein allowed his instincts to take over, and they eventually exited the spiral at the highest level into another grand hallway. Rein followed the guide of his spatial element and they entered a library after a few twists and turns.

    Somehow, the booklets here had not decayed. Rein assumed that the materials used for these books must have been alchemically and magically treated as well.

    He kept following the guide of his spatial element and came before a bookcase.

    The others watched in confusion as they observed Rein crouching in search of something. Rein ran his finger across the books while forcing his spatial element to the tip of his finger, and suddenly, he vanished from the library with a soft plop!

    The others nearly collapsed in shock, and Suey carried a deep worried look for her ¡®celest¡¯. Their hearts calmed when Rein''s voice sounded out from a book.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s just an¡­ odd space in here.¡±

    ¡°Bar the entrance,¡± Xeeseir commanded, and the members looked about for appropriate objects, and soon rushed to shift stone slabs to block the entrance. These stone slabs seemed to be decorations telling the stories of early dwarven history. In some ways, it felt like a precursor to the Hall of Heroes¡¯ structural carvings.

    Within the world inside the book that Rein had been transported to, he wandered forward towards a flat-topped grand pyramid. The very same he had seen in his vision of the dragons¡¯ battle against the young Allfather and Dragonknight Zelli.

    He entered the pyramid made of the same unique dwarven stone, now recognizing the symbol of the Molten Stone Clan across the walls. Eventually, he reached the throne room, with a large flickering lamp in the middle

    ¡°So, you¡¯re finally here,¡± the flickering lamp spoke.

    A ray of light shot forth and a spiritual form of Dragonknight Zelli coalesced before Rein¡¯s astonished eyes.

    ¡°O new carrier, inheritor of Hundun¡¯s echo. It has been too long. You took too long to awaken.¡±

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Many levels below the Iron Ant Team.

    The devils gathered around the Harvest Devil Ailehr. Only in such times are the devils able to put aside their differences. Their primary enemy? The advancers of the Great Sects on the other side of the treasure vault¡¯s entrance hall.

    Meanwhile, the Xuere elders and Lyne¡¯s team sat at a corner, hoping that they would be simply ignored. They might have a chance to attack Ailehr and steal whatever magical tool she may be using to carry the captured Lyne. Still, coming here was perhaps not the brightest idea.

    ¡°Tell me what you have discovered,¡± Bienze, the Uni Sect telekinetic advancer demanded. The devils had arrived here first. They must have figured out something.

    The gathered devils felt a force compelling them to speak. The weaker ones had to bite their tongues and use pain to resist the magic within Bienze¡¯s words and some even began to bleed from their orifices due to the telekinetic pressure.

    Harvest Devil Ailehr flicked her sleeves and Bienze was surprised to find that his telekinetic bidding had been dispelled.

    ¡°You¡¯re stronger than they say.¡± Bienze casted his eyes on Ailehr. She must actually be on the cusp of entering the telekinetic realm. His information on this woman was not accurate enough.

    ¡°We only see what you see,¡± Ailehr replied monotonously. ¡°A puzzle where one must align the pieces in the proper order and form a perfect image. Then, the vault should open.¡±

    Bienze gazed at the vast stone doors of the treasure vault.

    ¡°A few seem to be missing. Did you destroy the puzzle?¡± Bienze¡¯s eyes narrowed. This was not unheard of. Devils often would rather no one obtain the treasures that they believe to rightfully belong to themselves.

    ¡°We only arrived a few hundred heartbeats before you. Do you think we are capable of discarding evidence of destruction so quickly?¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡± Bienze tilted his head and spun towards the corner in which the Xueres had ¡®hidden¡¯ themselves. ¡°You! Attempt to solve the puzzle.¡±

    Currently, neither side wished to fight, and to maintain that balance, it was best for a third party to test the puzzle.

    The male Xuere elder could only accept his fate and stepped up to the treasure vault doors. The treasure arch doors spanned a height of ten storeys, and on it are the puzzle pieces that he needed to shift.

    He used his advancer powers to float into the air and move the pieces of the puzzle about in an attempt to complete the image. He discovered Bienze¡¯s words to be true-- some puzzle pieces are missing!

    The male Xuere elder also carried the suspicion that it was not simply completing the puzzle image, but rather how one completed said image must be part of the key to unlocking the treasure vault. The order and number of moves matter.

    He soon failed and the puzzle pieces moved back to their original positions with the sound of scraping and clunking stones.

    ¡°Again!¡± Beinze ordered.

    The male Xuere elder helplessly began shifting the stone slabs in an attempt to form a coherent image again.

    ¡°Do not intentionally sabotage your efforts, old man,¡± Beinze suspiciously said. ¡°Your life cannot be guaranteed.¡±

    When the male Xuere elder failed, again, his heart entered a state of turmoil, partly due to fear, partly anger. He was being forced to complete this puzzle, which based on his sight, had clearly lost a few important pieces! Yet, he lacked the ability to stand against Beinze, a telekinetic advancer accompanied by the many outer advancers of the Great Sects.

    He spat and swore in frustration as he slammed a fist onto the soot-covered stone door with all his strength.

    The stone door creaked open a finger.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Beinze exclaimed as his form flashed to the front of the vault¡¯s doors. A burst of aurae exploded from his body and his arms engorged into gigantic magical hands.

    Two heavenly palms slammed down and the heavy vault doors were forced open. Beinze widened his eyes. The doors opened to an empty vault!

    Ailehr was similarly flabbergasted by the empty vault. Yet when the eyes of the Great Sects turned upon her, she immediately fled up the spiraling staircase!

    She had encountered these orthodox bastards before. She knew of their methods. Since she had arrived at the treasure vault first, the orthodox bastards were sure to accuse her of having already obtained the treasures within!

    Harvest Devil Ailehr stumbled for a half-step as she felt a telekinetic art target her mind. However, her will had been tempered even before she became a devil and forced to live in the wilderness many years ago.

    She quickly regained her composure and popped a pill into her mouth. She is on the cusp of entering the telekinetic realm, after all, and needed to temporarily use telekinetic powers to escape. The pill¡¯s drawbacks can be tolerated!

    Ailehr believed that the ancient ruins must have other exits close to the surface. As such, she traveled upwards, towards the uppermost floor! Both Voxeire, the Hairy Corpse Devil, and Lazr, the Insect Devil, followed her with equal desperation to escape the Great Sects.

 Ch86: Zellis Message

    After blockading the entrance to the library within the topmost level of the ancient dwarven ruins, Suey attempted to enter the book that Rein¡¯s voice had sounded from. Yet try as she might, she could not enter said book. She was filled with worry-- she had taken great risk to approach Rein, possibly completely subverting all those future timelines that she had seen.

    The members of the Iron Ant Team have heard of worlds existing in books, paintings, treasures and more, so they understood Suey¡¯s actions.

    ¡°Stay calm,¡± Xeeseir patted the woman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve always felt a connection to Rein because through his actions, I can see that he is not one who would voluntarily harm or treat others unfairly. If so, he would have rejected your inclusion during our team formation due to your rejection of a Supreme.¡±

    Luckily, so far, Supreme Guihnes seemed to have his eyes set on something else far more important.

    ¡°Unlike me, he is less reckless. And I daresay, sometimes unpredictable. He should be fine. All advancers have their own secrets.¡±

    Suey bit her lips and nodded. Indeed, her own situation was unique. She felt a closeness to Rein primarily because he was the figure that appeared in every single one of her future timelines where she survived her home¡¯s destruction and was carted about as a slave.

    The reverse was obviously different. Rein had known her for no more than over a month.

    Within the flat-topped pyramid inside the book¡¯s unique space.

    Rein and the ghostly form of Dragonknight Zelli gazed in anticipation at one another.

    ¡°How did you know that I would be here?¡± Rein questioned, somewhat uneasy at heart. He would be a fool to not sense that forces unknown to him had led him to this point. Naturally, he absolutely detested the idea that the Golden Desert Town was meant to be destroyed, and his younger brother, his end unknown.

    ¡°I never did,¡± Dragonknight Zelli replied. ¡°I am but a remnant will. I left echoes of myself behind in countless locations to guarantee an eventual meeting-- with the one who awakens the very same echo of fallen gods that I wielded.¡±

    Rein widened his eyes. It was all¡­an excessive level of preparation?

    ¡°Fate is but a result of cause and effect,¡± Dragonknight Zelli explained upon seeing Rein¡¯s bewildered expression. ¡°It is fate for water to form a river and flow down mountains to the seas¡­ if it rains in the mountains.¡±

    ¡°Just as it was my fate to hunt dragons in an age when they erected themselves upon the fallen god¡¯s heavenly thrones, enslaving and hunting the intelligent humanoids bereft of the divine¡¯s protections.¡±

    ¡°And if you decide to find all the dwarven ruins and speak the same words to all my remnant wills¡­ it would be the fate of my remnant wills to repeat the same conversation, having a gargantuan joke played upon them!¡± Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s deep melodious voice guffawed in amusement.

    The corners of Rein¡¯s lips twitched, but he was far too tense to participate in Zelli¡¯s mirth.

    ¡°Then¡­what is it that you wish to tell me?¡± he wondered. For Dragonknight Zelli to leave so many remnant wills just to pass on a message to the possible eventual appearance of ¡®him¡¯ must be rather important.

    ¡°What is the current age?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The Age of Humanity¡­¡± muttered Rein. A heartbeat later, he realized that Dragonknight Zelli was likely deceased. ¡°You¡­ are you still alive?¡±

    ¡°No. Else that echo of Hundun would not have awakened in you,¡± Dragonknight Zelli sighed as she organized her thoughts.

    ¡°I was born at the start of the Age of Demons. The world descended into an Age of Darkness when the gods fell, and out of that abyss sprung the dragons, believing themselves to be the rightful heir to the heavens due to their control over the many elements of nature.¡±

    ¡°Us humanoid races, despite our intelligence, struggled to contend against their inborn physical capabilities and talents. They also believed that consuming us humanoids to be critical to the growth of their own mind.¡±

    ¡°So it was that we humanoid races were reduced to a critical state. It was here in this very realm that the last hope of humanoids rested. The final bastion.¡±

    ¡°And the Allfather?¡± Dragonknight Zelli examined the Hall of Heroes robe that Rein was wearing. ¡°He was born at the tailend of the Age of Darkness. Xane was the best of all of us.¡±

    ¡°His conviction and determination had no match. For a long time, I thought I was the very same. It was only later that I realized his to be a relentless obsession, far greater than mine.¡±

    ¡°Yet it was precisely his obsession that rallied all the humanoid races under one banner. Together, we created a path. The path of the advancer!¡±

    ¡°Prior to Xane¡¯s efforts, magics were a jumbled collection of talents and half-tested methods. It was Xane who gathered the best of the best and created the orthodox path that most advancers now tread. His efforts kickstarted the very rise of humanity!¡±

    ¡°I myself contributed to the exploration of shapeshifting. Ancient texts recorded the fallen gods¡¯ ability to change into various forms given their mastery of the world¡¯s laws and beings.¡±

    ¡°So it was that we soon regained majority control of this very realm. Then we invaded one realm after another. It was no longer the Age of Demons. We had initiated the Age of Chaos!¡±

    ¡°I was enamored with Xane, of course. Many were. He had many theories on the fallen gods and their creations. One such thought was that we humanoid creations are the gods¡¯ explorations at recreating different aspects of themselves. Our combined genes would then create a being equal to the fallen gods!¡±

    ¡°I was more than happy to bear a child for him. Xune, we named him. Xane was proven correct. Xune had the talent in crafting as the best of dwarven smiths. Yet, he also had the highly adaptable and devious mind of a human.¡±

    The echo of Dragonknight Zelli now paused and she was filled with sorrow.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Alas¡­¡± she lamented. ¡°I began to grow tired of it all. As did my dwarven brethren. We had already carved out a third of the myriad of realms for our people. It was more than we could dream of.¡±

    ¡°My thoughts lingered on the future. What would come after if I slayed every single living dragon? Eternal peace? Ridiculous. Many of my dwarven brethren began to seclude themselves to their crafts.¡±

    ¡°Now, the elves¡­¡± Dragonknight Zelli shook her head in despair. ¡°Their minds became warped by our success. Their role was to contend against the plant demons. A madness overtook their minds-- they began to entertain the very idea that they could nurture and guide the very growth of plant demons.¡±

    ¡°Their demise came soon enough-- the plant demons, quite obviously, would not accept their own children¡¯s growth being guided by the elves. Who would accept their own race¡¯s growth to be controlled by another? The elves¡¯ arrogance was their downfall. They assumed themselves to be some superior nurturers of nature.¡±

    ¡°I wished to provide assistance when the plant demons razed their western woodlands to the ground, but Xane blocked my path. He said that the elves had forgotten their duty to the humanoid races, and needed to be reminded of their enemy. Not unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°But the elves never recovered. Their minds were lost to the insidious idea. They remained hellbent on nurturing and controlling plant demons through their song magic. As such, the World Tree itself sacrificed all to destroy the elves. Eventually, their remnants melded with the human race.¡±

    ¡°We dwarves soon had our day of reckoning,¡± the ghostly Zelli sighed again. ¡°It was my sin. I am titled dragonknight precisely because of my prowess in hunting dragons. So many famed dragons skewered and split upon my lance. So many lifetime grudges.¡±

    ¡°Have you heard of Gent?¡±

    Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s question caught Rein off guard. It was rare to see any mention of Gent even within the Halls¡¯ immaculate Hall of Knowledge. Rein was, of course, concerned about revealing his knowledge of Gent after the many visions he experienced. Such display of past hidden events would draw much attention.

    Rein¡¯s hesitancy was enough to draw Zelli¡¯s suspicion. Goosebumps rose on his skin as he felt a tingling force examine his body.

    The ghostly Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s downhearted mood was dispelled upon examining Rein¡¯s body. Despite the protection of the hidden necklace provided by Master Yirn, Zelli was once an advancer on top of the world, and bypassed the necklace¡¯s protection!

    The echo of the female dwarf began laughing hysterically as if she had lost her mind.

    ¡°Not even I could have foreseen this fate!¡± Ghost Zelli chortled melodiously. ¡°For you to not only share the same inheritance as me, but also to carry Gent¡¯s will!¡± Her mood rose to the heavens as she continued with renewed vigor.

    ¡°In my younger years, I once dreamed of slaying the legendary Gent, of the noblest reputation since the Age of Gods. Yet, he chose not to attack, even bidding the other dragons to leave when I gave birth to Xune, my dearest child¡­¡±

    ¡°The Allfather hated Gent despite that incident. He obsessed and conspired to take Gent¡¯s life. All failures. Prior to that incident, I shared that sentiment. Yet even for us who have become gods and gained immortality¡­ we tire over the years of endless slaughter. The Allfather¡¯s obsession was an immortal fire. Not mine¡­. not mine¡­ That incident awakened a unique hope for the future in me.¡±

    ¡°In time, I came to understand that Gent wasn¡¯t necessarily noble. He just had his eyes wide open.¡±

    ¡°It is said that in his early years, he was ridiculed by the other dragons for being born of malformed elements. Perhaps¡­ that was why he was always able to maintain a clear mind. Of his own people and of others.¡±

    ¡°The Allfather offered me the chance to wage an all-out war against the dragons. At that time¡­ It was not only us dwarves that had grown exhausted. The other humanoid factions¡¯ enthusiasm for continuous battle had dulled as well. Even within the factions of the humans.¡±

    ¡°The Allfather was incensed by our response. That was the last time I had any semblance of cordial discussion with Xane.¡±

    ¡°Eventually, the dragons opted to wipe out us dwarves. Our treasures have a strange effect on the dragons¡¯ minds. The dragons blamed us, but we are only crafters. The reality is that some dragons have a belief in the deepest corner of their hearts to present themselves as the rightful heirs to the gods. Some succumb to this desire and surround themselves with treasures they believe to befit a king.¡±

    ¡°That is the last memory of mine. Meaning, that I must have fallen shortly afterwards, and never had the chance to add new memories into the various placed remnant wills.¡±

    Rein was combining this new information with the various bits and pieces he had obtained from the visions provided by Gent¡¯s remnant in his mind.

    Still, ¡°what exactly is your intention to inform me of this¡­ history?¡± Rein asked.

    ¡°That is for you to decide,¡± Dragonknight Zelli cryptically replied.

    ¡°I only entered the advancer world to search for my kidnapped younger brother.¡± Rein might have some intention to seek revenge on the Dingien Clan for the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction. How he was to achieve that¡­ he wasn¡¯t sure.

    He naturally had developed some desire to provide assistance to Suey¡¯s mysterious home. That little minx had thrown herself at him based on supposed mysterious visions of the future. He wasn¡¯t one to take another''s'' dedication for granted, even if that dedication might be of a questionable source. Since young, his father had emphasized to him the importance of an equal deal for long-term mutual benefits.

    Yet to involve himself in the grand fate of the myriad of realms¡­ that he was not prepared for. At least, that grand tale is clearly etched in Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s tale.

    ¡°When the horn sounds, you cannot reject its summons. You only ignore it at your own peril, and those around you. Destiny calls, young one. I know its song all too well.¡±

    Rein discovered that the world within the book was forcefully rejecting him-- a familiar warping force had taken hold of his body.

    ¡°Wait! Who is the enemy then?¡± He yelled out in confusion.

    ¡°That, too, is for you to decide, is it not?¡± Dragonknight Zelli maintained her cryptic position.

    Rein could only sigh inwardly as he landed back inside the dwarven library. Dragonknight Zelli spoke much of the Allfather¡¯s role in setting humans upon their course. Rein could not deny that the Halls had impressive rules. Rules that limited nobles such as Beincen of House Larne from overly abusing his family¡¯s power.

    And of what he knew of the sects so far¡­ much of his impressions were formed from his distasteful encounter with the members of Convergence Sect. Yet the Harmony Sect was friendly to Rein and Suey.

    The Minhr Nation, for years, had rejected and fought the Zoh Empire to the east, who built its eternal seven sects upon the Halls¡¯ influence.

    Rein¡¯s thoughts turned to his own situation. It was the succession struggle between the Dingien princes that wiped Golden Desert Town off the map. The fallen devils certainly played a row, but they weren¡¯t the cause.

    There was simply too much that he didn¡¯t know. He was now ever more confused concerning the demons-- the beastkin, they called themselves. Afterall, Gent and that Mystrygon seemed mostly ¡®normal¡¯...

    As Rein¡¯s head spun, he could only conclude that Dragonnknight Zelli intentionally avoided any clear instruction, perhaps fearful of causing unintentional consequences in an age beyond her knowledge and understanding.

    A loud boom suddenly sounded in the library as the blockade of smooth stone slabs that the Iron Ant Team had used to obstruct the entrance were blasted apart. Though those slabs were sent flying, none of them suffered a single crack, proving the wonder of the dwarven¡¯s mysterious material treatment methods.

    Ailehr¡¯s form flitted in and completely disregarded the inner realmed ants in the library. Not seeing any exit, she immediately left to search elsewhere.

    She had to admit that the stone material of the ancient ruins was unique beyond comprehension. Having taken a pill to temporarily raise her strength into the telekinetic realm, she discovered that her divine sense became muddled when it came into contact with these treated dwarven gray stone material of a long past age.

    ¡°Hah! Fool!¡± Bienze¡¯s divine voice rang in everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Though you may be on the cusp of the telekinetic realm, your knowledge of dwarven design is non-existent. Else you would know that the uppermost floor is but a deadend!¡±

 Ch87: Xeeseirs Sacrifice

    Though Rein had been forcefully ejected from the world within the book, with an impending battle between the Harvest Devil and the Uni Sect advancer before his eyes, he realized that he had failed to obtain critical information from Dragonknight Zelli.

    He quickly locked his sights back on that secret book and placed his lips beside the binding.

    ¡°Wait, Miss¡­ O great Dragonknight Zelli. Why did you obscure your origin ability? How should one obscure your origin ability?¡± Rein was naturally quite desperate for some guidance from this predecessor of his.

    Luckily for Rein, Dragonknight Zelli deigned to reply, her whisperings entering his mind.

    ¡°Advancer arts can be grafted onto armaments and weapons. My son, Xune, made that possible.  As for why I obscured my ability¡­ A beautiful woman should never rely on her allure to achieve merit in life. For then to some degree, she will fail to cultivate other aspects of herself. And if one day, that beauty is no longer as resplendent¡­¡±

    ¡°It must also be said that the soul is easily corrupted by absolute power.¡±

    The book then lit aflame, rapidly crumbling into an ash pile, its internal world and the echo of Dragonknight Zelli within forever destroyed.

    Rein sighed. The situation was rather unfortunate. He had so many more questions, but it seemed that the echo of Dragonknight Zelli had decided this to be the limit of her guidance. Unless¡­ he searched out all other echoes that this ancient dwarf left behind. An arduous task to be sure. Would he even gain much from such effort?

    Rein refocused his mind and began flipping through the preserved books within the library. He was, of course, attempting to collect any ancient blacksmith knowledge of the dwarves. Some may have deemed this knowledge not universal enough for modern day humans, but who was to say if he might have a use for it?

    While sweeping his eyes through a book about some random ancient monster, Rein discovered Suey¡¯s body iron-wrapped around his arm.

    He certainly appreciated the embrace of her soft and tender flesh, but now was hardly the time.

    ¡°Who was that?¡± She whispered ticklishly in his ear.

    ¡°An unimportant¡­ sort of ghost.¡± Rein naturally took precautions to avoid revealing any connection between himself and some ancient figure. Though¡­ the connection between him and Zelli wasn''t of much consequence.

    Now, as for his connection to Gent-- such a link, if known, could be the end of his life. After all, the draconic metamorphose bead should have a rather exceptional status.

    Rein finally found the section filled with knowledge on dwarven blacksmithing techniques, and he began emptying his spatial pouch of some of the less valuable ingots he had previously filled it with.

    For him, trading some Halls¡¯ contribution points for this ancient smithing knowledge was worth it. After all, some of these forgotten techniques should allow him to obscure his origin ability within an armament.

    Suey similarly pursued her query. She kept herself wrapped around Rein this whole time, and began loosening the sash that tightened the Hall of Heroes¡¯ robe around Rein¡¯s body.

    She also loosened the knots of Rein¡¯s typical jet-black half-shirt half-jacket. She slipped her dainty hand in and began roaming Rein¡¯s muscular chest with her hand before sliding lower down towards Rein¡¯s crotch.

    ¡°Tell me please~¡± Suey pouted cutely and batted her eyelashes.

    Rein was distracted by her actions for a moment and he himself wrapped an arm around Suey¡¯s lithe form and kneaded the minx¡¯s perky right breast a few times before regaining control of himself.

    He activated the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art. Though this art connected the two through the soul, by no means was this art capable of mind or soul control. Still, it allowed Rein to deliver differing sensations to keep the bearer in check.

    The current situation was hardly the time for such ¡®fun¡¯, and thus he controlled the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art to deliver a tinge of pain to the misbehaving minx.

    Suey exhaled at this sensation but seemed to draw even more pleasure as her eyes grew hazy. Rein realized his mistake, and wincing internally, forced himself to raise the sensation of pain to an intolerable amount.

    When he finally saw Suey flinch and cease her actions, he instantly disabled the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art.

    ¡°Behave yourself, kitten,¡± he glared at the woman with a lovely dash of cerulean blue paint over her right cheek.

    ¡°I¡­ I just need to know¡­ my celest, please!¡± Suey dropped to her knees before Rein. An action that astonished Rein.

    ¡°Why?¡± he asked incredulously. He did not understand Suey¡¯s desperation.

    ¡°I¡­ the more accurate information I have, the better I can peer into the future¡­¡±

    Rein sighed. His connection to Zelli was of no consequence. He lifted Suey¡¯s chin before leaning down, and the two shared a sloppy kiss.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Rein whispered into Suey¡¯s right ear. ¡°Dragonknight Zelli. Her voice called to me from within the hidden book space.¡± A half-truth, but valuable information nonetheless.

    Suey¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°I¡­I must ¡­perform the magical art¡­ now!¡± She stuttered.

    Suey stood back onto her two feet and once again pressed herself into the right of Rein¡¯s chest. She then grabbed Rein¡¯s right wrist and pulled his hand underneath her clothing to her crotch!

    Rein was bewildered by her actions, wondering if he needed to discipline her once again.

    ¡°Please, my celest¡­¡± Suey¡¯s dole-eyes peered up at him. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve struggled to use the art after seeing the many futures where I ended up¡­ enslaved. I¡­ I need this¡­¡±

    Rein sometimes felt as if he was taking advantage of this woman¡¯s inner struggles. Perhaps he was. He could only promise himself that he would take extra care of the beauty currently in his arms, if their future paths aligned.

    He carefully slipped a finger into her love tunnel, only to discover that the woman was already dripping wet.

    ¡°Slut kitten,¡± he lambasted before jamming a total of three fingers deep into her love tunnel with his hand in a curled hooking shape.

    Suey blushed but made no efforts to suppress a moan as she clenched down around Rein¡¯s thick fingers.

    She closed her eyes and began forming many different hand gestures in combination with verses from her lips, of a language unknown to Rein.

    Naturally, Rein could not resist swirling the three fingers he had inside the beauty. Suey¡¯s concentration was broken, and her flow of hand gestures and words ceased. Yet she only purred as she bit her lips and worshiped Rein with soft eyes and a daring smile.

    When she attempted to continue her future-seeing art again, Rein twisted her insides with his fingers again and his kitten cooed and grinded herself in response until her body shuddered with a small release.

    Having satisfied himself somewhat with ¡®bullying¡¯ his kitten, Rein kept his hand stationary within Suey¡¯s crotch and returned to chucking multiple books on dwarven blacksmithing into his spatial pouch with his free left hand.

    He could already hear the beginnings of a battle between Ailehr and the other advancer outside the library.

    Just as he finished emptying the blacksmithing section of books, Ailehr was thrown crashing into the library, her body crushing many shelves as well as the knowledge they carried.

    ¡°Still, you do not give up the dwarven treasures which you have stolen?¡± The man spoke as he leisurely glided into the library.

    Rein could see the symbol of the Uni Sect-- thirteen swirls coalescing into a single singular orb-- upon his white robes that occasionally glimmered a rainbow hue.

    Ailehr regained her feet and staunchly glared at the Great Sect orthodox advancer before her.

    ¡°Unrepentant, I see. Very well. Allow me, Bienze, to demonstrate powers beyond the telekinetic realm,¡± the Uni Sect advancer declared. ¡°You fallen devils should know your place!¡±

    ¡°I came upon the inheritance of one who became a powerful god. Though I can only master part of his inheritance due to my current lowly telekinetic realm¡­ I have mastered parts of his knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Transformations! Gods can transform their bodies into various beings, making their bodies far more effective for certain advancer arts.¡± Bienze¡¯s shoulder suddenly expanded as an extra two oversized burly arms grew on both sides of his body! The man now had six arms!

    Though Ailehr had no intention of dying this day, her expression wavered as Bienze withdrew six swords, one for each arm.

    One sword lit up in a fiery blaze, another coated in a soft water glow. A third had sharp stones swirl around the blade, a fourth had a soft green flow accompanied by the whisperings of a wind blade. The fifth carried a dark iron hue, while the sixth sword shockingly faded into invisibility before Ailehr¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Consider yourself lucky to witness these godly arts before your death,¡± Bienze grinned mockingly.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Ailehr¡¯s eyes darted around in desperation for a half-chance as she spat, ¡°if not for the Great Sects attempting to infiltrate this realm, you and your predecessors would have been forced to become fallen devils after being exiled by the Minhr Nation as well!¡±

    ¡°Pathetic,¡± Bienze replied. ¡°There is no use in discussing hypotheticals of a past long established.¡± He promptly threw his six different swords into the air. Well¡­ five in Rein¡¯s eyes. However, he knew that there must be an invisible blade somewhere.

    Rein immediately sought to protect himself and the muttering Suey in his arms. The beauty gasped in pleasure as Rein¡¯s movements inadvertently delivered delight to the woman¡¯s crotch. However, she maintained some awareness of the surroundings and as such kept her eyes closed and focused on her magical art.

    Both Rein and the other Iron Ant Team members picked up dwarven stone slabs as they hid themselves in a corner of the library. The one-armed Rein certainly needed a bit of help with the stone. These stone slabs might be useless if Bienze wanted their lives, but their proven durability should suffice against any wayward magical arts from the battle.

    Ailehr swept an arm and a wave of ghostly figures flew forth, their mouths chomping to devour the swords. Some of them hilariously bit upon thin air.

    Rein knew what Ailehr was attempting to do. Quite some time ago, Master Yirn had demonstrated to him the difference between outer advancers and telekinetic advancers.  In his eyes, Ailehr was probably testing if Bienze truly had telekinetic control over all six swords, and thus was trying to break any uniquely hidden aurae tendrils.

    ¡°Fool,¡± scoffed Bienze. ¡°They are like arms and legs to me.¡± The five visible swords formed a pentagonal formation and spun to deliver a multi-colored aurae beam at Ailehr.

    The Harvest Devil yelled as she concentrated her aurae to form a skeletal giant carrying a thick shield with a large demonic face on its surface.

    The demonic face opened its mouth wide and sucked in the multi-colored beam. It failed to consume the full length of the beam, and the giant skeleton shattered into a loose cloud of aurae as the remnant beam struck Ailehr.

    The woman grunted as she took the attack. To Rein¡¯s eyes, she seemed to have successfully whittled down the primary force of Bienze¡¯s attack.

    Bienze scoffed and his body warped. He transformed from his six-armed form into a flat-shaped horned eel that, no doubt, could slip through the narrowest of crevices.

    The horned eel¡¯s scales shimmered as it faded into translucency.

    Though Ailehr had gained temporary telekinetic powers by consuming a magical pill, she had weak understanding and control of telekinetic powers.

    She spread aurae tendrils in her surroundings to search for the hidden horned eel form that Bienze had taken. Her attempts were to no avail.

    Ailehr then engaged her temporary divine sense, and detected an eel-like form a few arm¡¯s length in front of her.

    ¡°Hah!¡± she hollered as she sent an increasingly solid wave of skeletal ghost soldiers swooping towards her target.

    The eel was revealed as the ghostly wave struck its body. Yet, that eel crumbled into nothingness upon Ailehr¡¯s attack!

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Upon noticing this, Ailehr immediately dodged sideways as Bienze¡¯s eel-form stabbed through her previous position. Bienze then warped back into his six-armed burly form and engaged in melee combat against Ailehr.

    Meanwhile, five differently-aspected swords flew around the two. The invisible sword was hidden somewhere, no doubt.

    Ailehr knew she was about to meet her doom. Her attempts to defend against six arms with her two was absolutely laughable. Already, she had received a number of punches all over her body, and she had to swallow down blood that had risen to her throat.

    If not for the protection of the inscriptions upon her dark robes, she would have long lost her life from Bienze¡¯s attacks. Already, the light within the inscriptions of her robes were fading.

    Bienze had yet to even fully employ the swords spinning around in the air!

    That was when Ailehr spotted Xeeseir. Her eyes suddenly lit up with hope. She released a full wave of a ghostly army that temporarily held off Bienze, and darted towards Xeeseir. As a quasi-telekinetic devil, her speed was too fast for Rein to track, but Bienze was ready as his five swords flew to strike at Ailehr.

    The Harvest Devil twisted her body like a flexible ragdoll as she dodged the first, the second, third and fourth. The fifth metallic aspected-sword grazed her robes, and it was so excessively sharp that it broke through the protections of the armament and nicked the skin of her left thigh.

    She could only grunt as the invisible sixth sword stabbed through her abdomen. She had failed to detect the position of this sword! It must be hidden by unique telekinetic methods!

    She ignored the pain and forcefully overpowered the telekinetic will within and pulled out this invisible blade. By now, she had successfully captured Xeeseir through pure speed, and made sure to only employ her physical strength to grip onto Xeeseir¡¯s neck.

    Onlookers might chuckle at the sight before them. The slim devilish beauty Ailehr was holding up a rather hunky man in the air by the neck. But all advancers present knew of Ailehr¡¯s much higher realm.

    For the members of the Iron Ant Team, this was no joke. They were already holding onto the heavy dwarven stone slabs, and lacked the speed to respond to Ailehr¡¯s move. Nothing but ants.

    Bienze controlled his swords to once again fly forward at Ailehr, and the devilish woman held up the struggling Xeeseir to defend against the aspected swords.

    The aspected swords froze midair just before striking Xeeseir.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Bienze laughed uproariously with his head tilted upwards and two of his six arms placed upon his waist. ¡°Interesting. Interesting!¡± He was no fool. The Great Sects are quite aware that a man with an incredible origin ability had entered the Halls¡¯ ranks.

    At this moment, the other devils and Great Sect advancers finally caught up to Ailehr and Bienze. Many of the devils had followed, curious if they could gain some benefit from the conflict. After all, they weren¡¯t strictly on Ailehr¡¯s side-- not when they too suspected her to have somehow emptied the dwarven treasure vault. Only one with her powers could accomplish such a feat!

    Unfortunately, this boded ill for the Iron Ant Team. Specifically Rein, for Beincen and his crew, was after his life.

    Suey finally finished her magical art, and she glanced at Rein provocatively. Rein attempted to remove his hand, but the minx squeezed her thighs together to trap his hand.

    ¡°Behave,¡± Rein growled. Only then did the woman release his arm, turning serious as she, too, noticed the arrival of Beincen accompanied by the Larne elders, supported by a few disciples of the Sun Sword Sect.

    ¡°Leave!¡± Xeeseir croaked despite being held at the neck by Ailehr. ¡°The situation will only worsen if you stay!¡± Rein knew that this middle-aged man was speaking to him. He also understood the man¡¯s words.

    If the Iron Ant Team stayed here, they might all perish. It needed to be said that Ailehr now had a rather effective shield-- Xeeseir and his origin ability, ¡®Rebound¡¯.

    Moreover, the Halls are not exactly on good terms with the Great Sects. Speaking of which, why haven¡¯t the truly influential members of the Halls arrived at these ruins yet? That query flashed through the back of Rein¡¯s mind as he thought of an escape plan.

    Rein now dashed towards the exit with a stone slab and the rest of the Iron Ant Team followed. It was not just Chirh quaking in his boots now. The other members were similarly filled with fear. Rein could only lament Xeeseir¡¯s sacrifice in his heart.

    Only Rein, with his unique tempered body, was able to continue holding the unique dwarven stone slab while traveling forwards.

    Most of the Great Sects advancers and the devils paid no heed to the Iron Ant Team. If anything their eyes were fixated on one another. Quite a number of these two sides had already fallen to one another¡¯s surprise attacks while forcing their way up to this level from the treasure vault.

    To the wonderment of all present, it was another Halls member that sought to stop Rein!

    ¡°Stop him!¡± Zehz rushed towards the Iron Ant Team as he pointed at Chirh. ¡°That wimp must be punished for selling us out!¡±

    Hunzkr, the outer Convergence Sect advancer initially considering blocking Rein, chortled as he enjoyed the show of inner conflict amongst the Halls¡¯ members.

    His glee soon vanished as five swords danced through the air and impaled Zehz one after another!

    Zehz did not even have the chance to scream as he was slashed multiple times by the blade of wind, followed by the blade of water drowning his figure in a hovering bubble of water. This bubble of water was then heated into steam by the blade of fire, first scalding Zehz¡¯s body before setting it aflame. Metallic sand then melted and coated his body in molten heavy liquid before a rush of stone buried the corpse on the very spot.

    ¡°I apologize,¡± Bienze said in the air. ¡°His voice sounded like someone I hated many years ago. A rather traumatic experience, you understand?¡±

    Many gawked at Bienze¡¯s interference, but who were they to deny the words of one of his strength? They could only nod and hum in agreement.

    The Xuere group could only swallow their displeasure in silence.

    Hunzkr was now nervous. Was this Bienze¡¯s signal to allow this group to leave? His eyes followed the traveling form of Rein with hatred.

    ¡°Worry not,¡± the Sun Sword Sect elder named Jekcen informed him. ¡°My underlings are already on it.¡± The Sun Sword Sect had stood beside the Convergence Sect through thick and thin. They naturally had a good relationship.

    Yidahr and his fellow disciples now blocked the exit alongside Beincen and Larne elders.

    Rein was grim, but not because of his situation. Rather, he was uncertain as to whether this might be the end of Xeeseir. He might not have the strength to fight head on against this collection of individuals, but perhaps, he could escape. Or even find an opportunity to isolate Beincen and finish him off for good.

    Xeeseir only injected another wave of sorrow into Rein¡¯s heart as he began firing all of his many unique-aspected arrows at the ones blocking Rein¡¯s exit. This man was literally being held at the neck, shifting to and fro as Ailehr hid behind the man of ¡®Rebound¡¯. Still, he had found the opportunity to forcibly fire his arrows to assist Rein.

    Rein roared and timed his own attack perfectly. Immediately after the various basic elemental explosions of Xeeseir¡¯s arrows, he gathered all of his physical strength, placed his palms on the dwarven stone slab, and activated his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯.

    The Sun Sword Sect disciples and Beincen¡¯s group dodged Xeeseir¡¯s rather errant arrows. Upon seeing the dwarven stone slab fly towards them, Yidahr rolled sideways to avoid Rein¡¯s attack. Unlike Yidahr, one of his fellow disciples foolishly laughed and activated a blazing sword in an attempt to slice the dwarven stone slab in half.

    This foolish disciple¡¯s sword art failed against the unique alchemically-augmented dwarven stone, and he screamed as half of his body was crushed under the slab¡¯s weight.

    In the blink of an eye, the Iron Ant Team left the library and sped towards the spiral stairs to the lower levels of the ruins.

    ¡°After them, you fool!¡± Jekcen was incensed at his disciples, but he finally understood why his descendents in the Green Trout City requested his assistance. It had been a long time since he had come across one with such a powerful physical body as Rein¡¯s.

    Seeing as none of Halls¡¯ advancers had arrived, Jekcen decisively chose to participate in the pursuit. The advancer world has unsaid rules-- such as those of higher advancer realms not bullying those lower¡­ but such rules can only truly be enforced when both sides have powerful advancers present!

    Jekcen immediately spread his aurae tendrils outwards, only to discover that the dwarven stone of these ancient ruins obstructed his tendrils! He swore inwardly. He knew that the extinct dwarves were master craftsmen, but not to this extent! His form immediately flew through the exit behind Yidahr and Beincen¡¯s groups.

    Rein¡¯s mind was spinning as to their next course of action. The initial entrance should be defended by many Great Sect members. He had absolutely no idea where other exits could be. How troublesome.

    He believed that their only chance at survival was to split apart, and hide in the most unique of holes. Eventually, the number of Great Sect members present should diminish. Eventually, the Halls should arrive. Plus, he is the primary target. Once alone, he should be able to escape with his origin ability without drawing future threats. The others on the team may even end up safer as a result.

    ¡°We split,¡± he ordered.

    ¡°No!¡± Suey hissed. ¡°You can¡¯t do this.¡±

    ¡°This is the way,¡± Rein commanded. He wondered if Suey had seen this part of the future, or something else entirely. Or perhaps her visions were simply too vague and uncertain.

    ¡°Sister¡­¡± Jory whispered. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°I¡­yes. I should not fear using such methods,¡± Suey replied as her lips hardened in determination. She knew Rein¡¯s mind would not be changed.

    The twin ladies held their hands as a pink mist rose from their bodies. They cooperated and eventually forced the aurae mist out of the bodies, filling the entire spiral stairs in a pink cloud as they traveled downwards. They both swallowed pills after forcefully expelling such an aurae mist, a skill incredibly taxing for those still in the inner realm.

    Dahk stepped out first on a level. Suey and Jory then exited on another. Chirh left at the middle-level, the floor where the entrance was. Rein did not blame him for that.

    They continued downwards and Wilo left to hide herself next. As for Rein, he had decided to travel to the depths of the ruins. As for why? He wished to give the others a chance at escape. If he could cause a ruckus to attract attention down to the bottom, the others higher up should have a better chance at escape.

    And he, with his origin ability, might still be able to save his own life, perhaps at the cost of becoming a hunted prey of the origin ability research organizations.

    Plus, the Halls might very well protect him!

    Yidahr and Beincen¡¯s groups found themselves assaulted by a pink mist and their visions of one another became warped.

    Yidahr¡¯s form, ahead of Beincen, transformed into Beincen¡¯s mother! Beincen¡¯s heart welled with passion as his mother exposed a bare shoulder alluringly by slipping off a side of her crimson gown, gazing backwards at him coquettishly.

    ¡°M¡­mother?!¡± Beincen muttered. A harsh slap from his uncle Noahr spun his head, but it was too late. Many surrounding heads stared at him wide-eyed. They experienced the same effects as he did under the mist, and were naturally aware of the mist¡¯s effects.

    Beincen dared not meet any of their eyes, but inwardly seethed. He must kill this motherfucking¡­ Rein!

    ¡°Clear your mind,¡± Jekcen intoned from behind. ¡°I will employ my outer powers to search for that troublesome little ant.¡±

    As they proceeded down the spiral staircase, Jekcen used his aurae tendrils to disperse as much of the pink mist as possible.

    They paused at the first exit.

    Jekcen slapped his hands together and closed his eyes, hovering cross-legged in the air. He was attempting to sense the aura of Rein, something that outer advancers are able to use when tracking down targets.

    Jekcen grunted in astonishment when he attempted this skill. Only now did he realize that the pink mist wasn¡¯t placed with intention to bewitch or humiliate. It seems whoever had used the pink mist intentionally augmented the bewildering and illusionary effect within the mist to obscure and disrupt one¡¯s perception of aurae.

    Jekcen had never come across such an odd effect before. Upon attempting to sense Rein¡¯s aura, that illusionary effect indicated that Rein had exited at this level.

    As for why he knew his senses were being fooled? He detected that a number of Rein¡¯s aura had continued down the spiral stairs! What an odd illusion. He might be able to figure out the nature of this art and break its roots, but that would take too much time given that he had never encountered this type of soft-handed, difficult-to-detect effect of an advancer art before.

    The others looked at Jekcen questionably, and the outer Sun Sword Sect advancer felt the very same hatred as Beincen developing for Rein and his allies.

    ¡°They have split apart into separate floors in search of an escape, no doubt.¡± Concerned that a few of them might actually escape if given time, he ordered the same course of action. ¡°Split apart and hunt them down!¡±

    Beincen was naturally disappointed, feeling that this outer advancer, supposedly his great, great and more great? Grandfather of his was lacking. However, he dared not voice out such an opinion.

    He could only consider which Rein might have gone. Where would he go if he was Rein?

    ¡°I will head to the very bottom!¡± he declared. ¡°He is certain to sacrifice all his fellow members in an attempt to survive.¡± At least, Beincen thought that to be reasonable. Cast an illusion, bait the following enemy into canvasing every single level from top down, while biding his time at the very bottom.

    ¡°I will check the very middle floor from which we entered,¡± Jekcen now wished to lop off this troublesome foe¡¯s head himself. He was certain that this Rein would attempt to sneak past the Great Sects¡¯ blockade with some unique art.

    The rest picked their floor and went forth in search of Rein and his allies.

    As for Rein? Once at the bottom, he began exploring the level. This bottom level had much more than the treasure vault. Previously, the others had no interest in the other passageways. Ailehr had assumed the bottom level to be a deadend.

    As Rein darted into the many different passageways, that initially seemed true. He continued exploring, attempting to memorize the map of the many dwarven-symboled smooth stone passageways into his mind. Once he begins causing a ruckus to draw attention to this level, having a map of these routes would give him the best chance to escape with his origin ability.

    ¡°Huh?¡± He noticed a grate on the floor after a random turn. Of course. The whole ancient structure needed some method to drain water when required!

    He bent down and despite his likely bronze-ranked tempered body, needed to exert nearly his full strength to lift and detach the grate.

    He peered down and only saw darkness.

    Rein withdrew and activated a light orb as he decisively dropped his body down this dark tunnel fearlessly.  He fell straight down the darkness for what must be more than sixty heartbeats before the metallic pipe curved and leveled out.

    Once he slid to a stop, Rein stood back up and raised his light orb in an attempt to determine the nature of his surroundings. He was overjoyed to hear the faint flowing of water and the soft whispering of wind! What luck!

    If he caused a ruckus here, he should be able to escape without even revealing his origin ability. Perhaps the fallen gods are on his side after all.

    He walked forth to find a deep chasm before him. He brought the light orb close to the ground and quickly determined that water once emptied down the metal pipe and flowed like a waterfall off this ledge into the chasm below.

    He turned his ear down towards the chasm, and his observations were proven true. The sound of water came from the depths of this chasm.

    He rummaged within his spatial pouch and found the rope that the Iron Ant Team had used to cross the Demon Ink River. He found a notch on the ancient metal pipe extending down to this ledge and secured the rope.

    He then lowered himself down into the chasm. That turned out to be completely unnecessary. The darkness caused Rein to think that the chasm was much deeper than it actually was.

    This miscalculation caused Rein to bump the tail of his spine uncomfortable against damp pebbles. Somewhat embarrassed, Rein stood onto his feet and raised the light orb.

    His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish as the orb illuminated the bottom of the chasm. The pebbles his bum had squelched onto? They weren¡¯t pebbles, but ancient limpite and lumite coins! Under the light of the orb, these two types of coins casted an ethereal jade glow upon the walls of the chasm.

    A sheen of clear sparkling  water flowed through the middle of the chasm, maintaining the cleanliness of these precious materials.

    It was then that Rein realized. The contents of the dwarven treasure vault must have somehow ended up here.

    He was about to step forward to further examine the place when a guttural rumbling voice sounded behind him, accompanied by the call of his internal orange lightning dragon within his heart.

    ¡°Father¡­ It has been so many years since I last felt your presence in my dreams.  You abandoned me. To be hunted by the Allfather. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡­¡± the rumbling descended into incoherent gnashings.

    Rein froze, not daring to move a single muscle. He repeated the words in his head a few times, and finally decided that whatever behind him must be asleep.

    He slowly turned his body, the scraping of the coins beneath his feet like thunder in his ears.

    He raised his light orb high, and his eyes gazed upon the closed eyelids of a onyx black-scaled dragon head, wrapped in thick wisps of dark aurae.

    He promptly deactivated the metallic light orb.

 Ch88: The Hunted Dark Dragon

    Rein dared not to take more than shallow breaths in the immediate vicinity of  the onyx black-scaled dragon wrapped in smoky wisps of dark aurae.

    He prowled as a hunting tiger to the side of the chasm. His best efforts, though, failed to prevent the crunching of the many limpite and lumite coins underneath his boots. Luckily, the dark dragon had no signs of awakening.

    He sat down with his back against the rough chasm wall, internally relieved that the dark dragon seemed to be in deep slumber.

    He could sense a calling from his heart that indicated a vision from the remnant will of Gent within.

    Rein initially considered it too dangerous to engage with a vision in such a situation, but he quickly realized his response to be irrational.

    The visions of Gent always lasted only a blink of the eye in real life, and would not place him in any difficulty provided he wasn¡¯t in some sort of high-paced combat.

    More importantly, he needed knowledge of this place, of the dark dragon. This knowledge might prove useful against the devils and the Great Sects!

    He closed his eyes and opened his heart to the calling. The blank canvas of his vision rapidly filled with the color of life.

    Rein found himself hovering in the sky as Gent. Most curious was the oscillating sensation of his shoulder blades. Gent turned his neck left and right as if searching for something, and Rein conveniently saw his ¡®own¡¯ draconic wings flapping behind him.

    Gent then deftly contracted the many muscles around his shoulder blades, accelerating towards the southwest of a set of mountains.

    Rein tracked ¡®his¡¯ flight over a lush rainforest with a thick canopy that normal vision could not pierce. As Gent, Rein could however identify the various creatures roaming under the cover, through what must be divine sense.

    As the wind whistled past his ears, he originally assumed the place to be some unknown realm. Rein¡¯s heart soon pounded when his eyes came across a strangely familiar river. For the water of this river had the very same appearance as that of the Demon Ink River he had crossed in the Western Wilderness!

    The only difference was that this river flowed on top of the land, while the one he had crossed sank deep into a canyon.

    This singular geographical feature caused Rein to meticulously analyze all that Gent scanned his sights across.

    If this is the Western Wilderness of an age long past, then the thick rainforest must have been destroyed and reduced at some point before his time, so Rein thought.

    It was a rather surreal feeling. Though some features no longer matched, the Demon Ink River certainly seemed familiar, as did the somewhat stubbier but just as expansive Endless Mountains. Then, there¡¯s the vast starry seas far into the southern horizon. Far more visible with Gent¡¯s height in the air.

    Rein¡¯s heart began to pound as Gent approached two forms battling out in the distant skies. No. It was one delivering a complete beatdown on another. A human knocking a pearl-gray dragon about in the sky!

    The pearl-gray dragon was wrapped in wisps of dark aurae. Rein instincts told him that this pearl-gray dragon must have eventually transformed into the onyx-black-scaled dragon within the chasm.

    Gent approached like a diving hawk.

    ¡°Cease your actions, human!¡± Rein could feel Gent¡¯s anxiety, concern and anger as his throat rumbled harshly.

    The human ignored Gent¡¯s warning and instead accelerated his movements. A flat silvery disc hovered behind the human and glowed a heavenly golden halo.

    A variety of weapons were unsheathed from each slice of the metallic disc. A sword, a saber, a spear, a hook, a metal rod, a dagger, a hammer, a chain with a metal ball, a three-sectioned staff.

    And in the human¡¯s hand was a minimalistic scepter with a single large jadeite on its tip, controlling all nine weapons with a flick of the wrist.

    The nine weapons each had their own strengths, and the human controlled them with perfect mastery. The heavier weapons smashed into the struggling dragon¡¯s body to crush scales and bones, the hook to immobilize a limb in coordination with the slice of a bladed weapon to a vulnerable underside.

    The swinging weapons moved in a different rhythm and added further complexity to his attacking patterns.

    Gent raised a hand which transformed into a muddy-scaled dragon claw as he approached the human. By then, the pearl-gray dragon had already fallen out of the sky under the human¡¯s relentless attack, its weight flattening a whole section of the thick rainforest below.

    Rein was astonished to recognize the man before him as Xane, supposedly the Allfather. What he did not know was, when in the past this vision might be.

    Xane¡¯s body shifted with a flicker just in time, barely avoiding the ray of light that is Gent.

    ¡°Gent,¡± Xane spat, his golden blonde hair a mess. He certainly seemed less controlled compared to the version of him in the vision of Xune¡¯s birth. ¡°They say you are the most noble of beings. Your despicable son! He has taken the life of my wife!¡±

    Rein could see the same rage within the man¡¯s eyes, identical to his own when he lost his family.

    ¡°He has taken the life of my son! My daughter!¡± Xane¡¯s voice quivered as it rose in volume. ¡°I may be a weak human, but his life is mine! Do not interfere! They say the dragons were once noble! And you, the noblest of them all!¡±

    Xane waved his scepter, and the nine weapons arced towards the fallen pearl-gray scaled dragon in an attempt to deliver a final set of blows.

    ¡°Father!¡± The pearl-gray dragon¡¯s form warped into a half-dragon half-human form to decrease the size of the body while maintaining some draconic features, such as the protective scales, for defense.

    Gent immediately reacted. Rein could feel all sorts of what can only be described as odd sensations as ¡®his¡¯ body shifted repeatedly from human to half-dragon to full-dragon while Gent protected his son.

    In full dragon form, a flick of his gargantuan tail easily sent Xane¡¯s bladed weapons spiraling into the thick canopy without a single dent to his scales. As for the heavy weapons, Gent had no fear of their weight as he warped into a half-dragon form to catch the metal ball before flinging it like a toy back at Xane.

    He then warped into human form, caught hold of the three-sectioned staff, and forcefully wrestled control of the weapon from Xane before using it to deflect an approaching hidden dagger.

    By now, Rein very much assessed this to be a much younger, less powerful Xane. The Xane in the current vision simply did not have that¡­ aura of power and control around him.

    Rein certainly felt a degree of confusion-- the visions occurred under specific triggers, and were not provided in chronological order.

    If his suspicion is correct-- this being a much younger Xane-- then Xane must have had a family before partnering up with Dragonknight Zelli to produce Xune.  Dragonknight Zelli did say that Xane was desired by many women¡­

    ¡°Darkendusk. Third child. I have failed you. I should not have given you so much freedom.¡± Gent sighed as he flicked a finger, sending a spatial totem into the injured dragon¡¯s claws. ¡°Leave!¡±

    ¡°I should be stronger! This ant¡¯s life will eventually be mine to take! I promise you, father!¡± Darkendusk croaked.

    ¡°Just¡­ just go¡­your mother is waiting.¡± Gent muttered as he sighed once again.

    Darkendusk cracked the totem with his half-formed claws and he immediately warped into a single point and vanished to safety.

    ¡°You demons¡­¡± Xane muttered under his breath as he recalled and reassembled the nine different weapons behind his head in a circular arrangement.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± he spat with derision. ¡°Not even you, noble Gent, have the heart deliver true justice unto your son. Yet you corner us within this realm, like food in a farm, believing yourself to be the rightful Gods?¡±

    ¡°As his father-- his punishment will be decided by myself,¡± Gent calmly but firmly stated.

    ¡°And what punishment might that be?¡± Xane mocked with a half-mad chortle. ¡°He has taken the lives of three closest to me. Will you¡­ take the lives of the three closest to him? Or his own life?¡±

    ¡°An absolute farce!¡± Xane raged. ¡°We both know that you will not. You are but demons masquerading as gods. And you, Gent, the grandest pretender of virtue! For that is the very core of your being! Created by the asurans in defiance of the fallen gods!¡±

    ¡°Only when serving the fallen gods were you of benefit to the realms!¡±

    These words triggered a hidden ire within Gent.

    ¡°Human child,¡± Gent snarled. ¡°I do not know your name, but it is of no consequence-- To me, you are but an ant. You speak many words but know nothing of the Age of Gods.¡±

    ¡°Allow me to enlighten you! The fallen gods are but earlier beings born during the birth of the myriad of realms, and thus absorbed the very essences of the world. This gave them each an instinctual understanding of specific rules in the universe! Nothing more!¡±

    ¡°Do you know of the wars that those fallen gods waged? In my time? In a time before the human race gained self-awareness?¡±

    ¡°You had best kill me today, Gent!¡± Xane roared, completely disregarding the dragon¡¯s words. His nine flying weapons arced towards Gent. ¡°Otherwise, you would have wasted your time descending to this realm! Do you feel the sparseness in the air eating away at your strength?!¡± Xane began laughing maniacally.

    Gent, seemingly downhearted, nonchalantly dealt with Xane¡¯s weapons as he did before. His form morphed repeatedly, easily deflecting all of Xane¡¯s weapons, cannoning all into the far distance once again.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    This further proved Rein¡¯s belief that this was a much younger and weaker Xane.

    Indeed, Xane¡¯s weapons were of no threat to Gent¡¯s tough body. Gent even allowed a hammer to smash into his back, and Rein, inhabiting Gent¡¯s body, only felt like he had bumped shoulders against another on a busy Green Trout City street .

    Xane flashed from position to position in the air, hoping to avoid Gent¡¯s approach. However, Gent¡¯s eyes filled with lightning, and Rein, inhabiting Gent¡¯s body, could see the whole world slow in motion. Xane¡¯s movements became trackable, and Gent easily caught up to Xane.

    With a push of the palm against the chest, Gent sent Xane tumbling into the thick canopy below.

    ¡°You are no noble dragon!¡± Xane''s voice roared as his form rose skyward through the thick canopy despite having been flicked away like a flea. ¡°If you do not kill me today, I will one day hunt down you and your son! I will flay your son, dismember his body limb-to-limb and feed him to the crows!¡±

    Gent, tired of dealing with the relentless madman who seemed to not realize he was outmatched, morphed into a humongous dragon turtle, with a shell a thousand plus feet in length.

    Its size casted an endless shadow over Xane as Gent ceased controlling his flight and simply allowed gravity to pull his heavy dragon turtle form towards the ground.

    Xane attempted to escape, pushing himself forward in a straight line towards a chosen direction. He discovered that his flickering form could not escape the shadow. He then opted to attack the dragon turtle above him, but his weapons and magic bounced off the turtle shell harmlessly.

    A thunderous rumble sounded as the earth shook upon Gent¡¯s landing, flattening Xane alongside a vast portion of this rainforest.

    Gent transformed back into winged-humanoid form, and stood tall in the sky as he gazed down upon an unconscious Xane, whose body was half-buried in the soil with a stream of blood leaking out the corner of his lips.

    Surprising to Rein, Gent chose to now leave after demonstrating his strength to Xane.

    ¡°Human child.¡± Rein could also feel a deep sorrow within his chest. ¡°Consider yourself lucky that you are not facing the ancestor dragon on this day. If not for me¡­ and my promise to your ancestor, Yirn¡­ Humans may have long ceased to exist in these realms.¡±

    ¡°Then again¡­ if not for Brother Yirn¡­ we dragons would still be carrying the weight of the fallen gods upon our backs.¡±

    Gent sighed once again as he cracked a spatial totem in his hand.

    He, too, warped from the realm, and the vision ended.

    Rein found himself returned to the present, and knew for certain that this onyx-black dragon wrapped in this dark devilish wisps of aurae must be Darkendusk, Gent¡¯s third child!

    He had initially wished to draw attention to the bottom to give his allies an opportunity to escape. Now¡­ that has become much more dangerous, if a necessary risk.

    The vision he experienced was an era long past, highly likely to be during the Age of Demons.

    Darkendusk must have since long recovered from his injuries, and become an incredibly powerful dragon over the eons.

    Rein recalled Xane taunting Gent regarding the sparseness of aurae in this realm. It made sense-- Rein had never heard of someone above the telekinetic realm residing in this realm.

    Xane had even stated that ¡®the sparseness of aurae in the air can eat at one¡¯s strength¡¯. Perhaps in the current era, with Xane the Allfather on top, Darkendusk had chosen to hide himself here for this very reason, even if it meant his body weakened.

    ¡°Hey, youngling.¡± A sudden whisper belonging to a man filled Rein¡¯s mind.

    At first, Rein thought the dark dragon had awakened and might pursue him due to Gent¡¯s familiar presence. However, he had just experienced the vision, and he knew Darkendusk¡¯s voice to be of a different quality.

    ¡°Come over here¡­ I¡¯ll tell you if you¡¯re going the right direction. Just crawl along the wall away from the dark dragon. I¡¯ll help you escape and use the dark dragon against those above.¡±

    Ridiculous. Rein¡¯s mind could feel a sort of mesmerizing quality within the voice in his head, but it was not particularly effective. Though telekinetic advancers could manipulate one¡¯s mind, it required the suggestions to somewhat align with the target puppet¡¯s own heart.

    Rein certainly wished to escape, and using the dark dragon was his intention, if risky. However, why would he crawl along the wall with the rope back to the top beside him?

    ¡°Just kidding. Hah! You never had a choice!¡±

    Rein suddenly felt a ring wear itself onto his index finger! The ring must have been hovering in the dark, waiting to latch itself to a passerby!

    ¡°Thank you for your body, youngling.¡±

    His mind was filled with the face of a being-- Blood God Hahrn!  A piercing ache sent pain through his skull, and it was identical to when a devil had attempted to possess him during the burning of the Golden Desert Town!

    Through the pain, Rein wondered how this devil had survived. This devil should have been consumed by the Endflower!

    Anyhow, this time was different. For the will of Gent is within him!

    A dragon¡¯s roar sounded within Rein¡¯s mind.

    ¡°No! This cannot be!¡± The image of Blood God Hahrn¡¯s eyes filled with fear as his form within Rein¡¯s was shattered into smithereens.

    Rein¡¯s mind cleared. He surmised that Blood God Hahrn must have known his impending demise against the Endflower, and sent a part of himself away in a ring. Somehow, that devil had discovered this place and hidden himself here!

    What did not make sense was how Blood God Hahrn could do this. To Rein¡¯s knowledge, only a telekinetic advancer had such ability. Blood God Hahrn must have some secrets. Perhaps within the ring now on his finger?

    He will have to examine the ring¡¯s contents in detail after escaping, for the voice of Beincen and Naohr now sounded down the pipe into the chasm.

    ¡°There¡¯s actually another route down here!¡± No doubt, Rein¡¯s removal of the grate made this obvious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him escape!¡± Beincen¡¯s desperate voice echoed in the chasm.

    Scraping metallic pipe sounds could be heard. Rein¡¯s mind spun to determine the necessary action for achieving his goals. He needed to save his allies. He needed to save himself. And he needed to kill Beincen without a fight. Combat would awaken the dark dragon and complicate matters. If possible, he preferred to escape this chasm upon the dark dragon awakening.

    On that note, he had long identified the direction of the whistling wind. Luckily, he did not need to go past the dark dragon to reach the source of that opening.

    A devious idea formed within his mind. Its success was, however, contingent on the behavior of Naohr and Beincen. Based on his knowledge of Beincen, Rein believed that his plan should work.

    ¡°There¡¯s a rope¡­ is it safe down there?¡± Beincen¡¯s whispers floated down into Rein¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Your uncle will descend first. He will not be able to take my life even if he ambushes me. Perhaps the man is already dead, or escaped.¡± He, too, noticed the soft whistling of the wind.

    For Rein, that was perfect. If Beincen descended himself, that would have been troublesome-- Rein knew he would not be able to kill the noble quickly, and thus their conflict would awaken the dark dragon close by.

    Luckily, Rein¡¯s guess proved true-- Beincen¡¯s priority was to protect himself.

    Now was the time to use the shifting mask he had received from Baejenh quite some time ago. He had rarely employed the mask so far, primarily because no situation demanded it, and he also preferred not to reveal this treasure to his enemies.

    Rein activated the shifting mask, and his whole body was covered by an illusion of the same texture as the chasm walls. If Naohr examined his spot closely, he would be able to tell that something was off. Rein was betting that the man would not shine a light onto his spot. The surrounding darkness certainly helped.

    So it was that Rein watched as Naohr¡¯s feet landed before his eyes. Naohr, too, employed the common light orb to illuminate the chasm.

    Upon seeing the piles of limpite and lumite coins underneath his feet, he immediately crouched down and began collecting them into his magical storage ring, his eyes darting furtively left and right in the darkness!

    Rein did not quite expect this, internally squirming in fear that the clinking noise of said coins would immediately awaken the dark dragon.

    Perhaps he should not be surprised by this. Rein¡¯s primary objective was to seek an exit, and thus when his eyes came upon this treasure hoard, he was able to control his greed.

    Naohr, however, had other objectives. Although Beincen desired to take Rein¡¯s life, that was not Naohr¡¯s primary goal. Noahr¡¯s heart yearned for the rise of House Larne. That was why he willingly assisted the scion, Beincen, despite being a generation older.

    Upon seeing the treasure hoard, his first thought was to obtain as much of it as possible for House Larne before the Great Sects and Devils above discover the place. In Naohr¡¯s mind, once Ailehr falls in combat against Bienze, they would soon discover her storage equipment to be empty. And upon searching the ruins, they will discover the downward pipe to this location sooner or later.

    Rein had no intention to launch any attack right before the dark dragon¡¯s snout. He instead began climbing up the rope. The sound of his movements were easily obscured by the sound of rattling coins.

    Naohr¡¯s mind had long concluded that Rein must have already escaped. He very much believed that the young man must have been so filled with fear that he ignored the treasure hoard!

    ¡°Uncle Naohr. Did you find him?¡±

    ¡°Dear nephew. All is well! Do not worry!¡± Naohr dared not even communicate his discovery, fearful that his voice might travel to the topmost level of the dwarven ruins.

    As Rein climbed, he controlled his shifting mask to give him the appearance of Naohr! He lacked the ability to imitate Naohr¡¯s body shape, nor his voice, and could only hope that Beincen would be too foolish to notice these details.

    When he reached the top, he intentionally adopted a hoarse throat to obscure the nature of his voice.

    ¡°Dear nephew,¡± Rein¡¯s voice cracked with excitement as he climbed back onto the ledge with the appearance of Naohr. ¡°The treasure hoard is actually down there!¡±

    Beincen¡¯s eyes widened, failing to notice that the Naohr before him was an extra two feet or so taller.

    ¡°Really? Hah!¡± Beincen leaned forward and looked over the ledge.

    Rein smiled as he lashed out with his right leg. The foolish Beincen was sent down into the dark chasm! As he fell, he screamed and he flapped his two arms in an attempt to fly, with a flabbergasted expression on his face.

    Rein immediately began pulling the rope up to trap both Beincen and Naohr in the chasm below. These two are just shell advancers, unable to take flight. Still, it was unlikely that Beincen would die from this fall, and the two might be able to escape with some method to climb the vertical chasm walls.

    His primary concern was whether Darkendusk could sense Gent within himself. He reasoned that the necklace provided by Master Yirn should completely hide the draconic metamorphose bead¡¯s effects. He convinced himself that It must have been coincidental-- Gent¡¯s presence within the dragon¡¯s dream. A necessary risk, he told himself

    Thus, Rein stuck his head into the pipe, inhaled a chest-full of air before clenching his throat muscles.. ¡°I¡¯ve found the dwarven treasure hoard!¡± His words echoed up the pipe and the ruins. Unsure if these words would travel high enough, he then controlled his upper body to imitate the dragon roar that Gent had used quite a few times in his visions.

    Despite not being able to control external aurae, Rein¡¯s activation of his internal energies still gave his baby dragon roar an ear-rumbling quality that cascaded to the highest heavens!

    Unfortunately for Naohr and Beincen, Rein¡¯s baby dragon roar also awakened the dark dragon.

    Darkendusk¡¯s eyes opened wide. Unlike humans, most beastkin have decent sight even in the darkness.

    Upon rising from his slumber, Darkendusk was initially confused, having sensed some presence of his father. His mind soon cleared and he remembered that his father, Gent, had passed countless years ago.

    The feeling he had felt was also just a weak tugging of heartstrings. Darkendusk thought it to be ridiculous, and soon chalked it up to an imagination of the mind. After all, his father was of heavenly strength in his heyday, and his very presence made other beasts cower in servitude. The weak presence he felt must be his imagination borne of his yearning after years of suffering under the Allfather¡¯s hunt!

    He still remembered how he once mocked his father. That grew into hatred-- he blamed his father for not taking Xane¡¯s life when the human was weak. It was only later, with the death of the ancestor dragon that he began recalling many of his father¡¯s words, and came to wish that his father had remained around.

    Since then, he hid himself, comforting his heart upon a bed of riches and fortune.

    And¡­ before his eyes was a thief, attempting to gather a hill of limpite and lumite coins!

    His neck snaked forward, and his jaws opened wide, displaying rows upon rows of jagged teeth.

    Naohr never bothered exploring his surroundings, obsessed as he was with enriching himself and House Larne.

    He did not even have the chance to scream before his death, only noticing the row of gleaming teeth as jaws crushed his body. Blood burst out of his body like a fountain and bathed the coins around him in a sea of blood, only to be washed away by the gentle flowing stream.

    Beincen was only in the process of getting back onto his feet, groaning in pain having fallen onto a hill of metallic coins, when he spotted jaws shredding his uncle¡¯s body.

    His mind and body froze in fear.

    Then a voice entered his head.

    ¡°Do you wish to live¡­? I¡¯ll save your body!¡± Beincen felt a ring slip itself onto his right index finger.

 Ch89: Witnessing a Nefarious Deal

    At the top level of the ancient underground dwarven ruins, Ailehr was barely keeping herself alive through the use of magical pills and Xeeseir¡¯s body.

    She could already sense the imminent breakdown of her very flesh after consuming pills repeatedly to maintain her strength at the telekinetic realm.

    Her original strength was at the peak of the outer realm, and the overuse of said magical pills has devastating long term effects. Still, she had no choice. Not when faced with death against Bienze of the Uni Sect.

    Bienze struggled to regulate a stable breath as he hovered across her in the distance. His six arms vanished as he transformed back into a normal human form.

    ¡°You¡¯re not doing much better,¡± Ailehr forcefully uttered through the pain pulsing in her veins.

    ¡°Hah!¡± Bienze scoffed. He could see that Ailehr had begun to understand the use of telekinetic abilities after remaining in this advancer realm for an extended time through pills. ¡°Of course. These transformation skills are meant for those above the telekinetic realm.¡±

    ¡°But!¡± He leisurely smiled as he crossed his legs midair in a meditation posture. ¡°Unlike you, I simply feel¡­ somewhat tired. You, on the other hand¡­¡±

    Bienze had to admit inside his heart. That if there was one thing about the devilish advancers that he respected, it was their tenacity, willingness to push themselves to the very brink even for just a tiny breadcrumb. He could tell that Ailehr¡¯s body might very well crumble into dust within a few full moons even if she survived this day.

    Seeing Bienze meditating, Ailehr finally had the chance to activate a treasure that required preparation. She was never given the chance to do so prior to Bienze¡¯s exhaustion.

    She withdrew a miniature model and threw it onto the ground. The miniature model expanded into a gate. The gate consisted of four pillars and three overhanging roofs with upturned eaves. The central two pillars framed the main gateway and had the higher roof.

    Upon the top of the central gateway were the symbols for ghost and spirit. Motifs of malevolent faces were carved around the four stone pillars of the gateway.

    Ailehr settled herself upon the top of the gate, gathered her aurae, and began smacking down upon roof of the gateway with her free palm in a meaningful rhythm. Every few strikes of the palm, she would take a moment to steady the state of her own body.

    The gateway soon exuded a chilly mist that raised goosebumps on Xeeseir¡¯s skin, who had no choice but to cooperate with Ailehr¡¯s hand clenched upon his neck.

    Bienze sighed, recalling memories of the many devils that hopelessly struggle to their last breath. Having mostly recovered, he warped back into the see-through horned eel and faded invisible.

    Ailehr flicked the wrist of her free hand and an army of hundreds of ghosts charged forth from the gateway.

    She could barely contain a painful smile. Her understanding on how to wield her divine sense had grown after the time she had spent in the telekinetic realm. Her ability to wield ghosts to enfeeble her opponents is a devil art that relied on telekinesis. After all, the art attacked the very souls of enemies.

    She once again focused on attempting to wield her divine sense. It was effectively a sixth sense, of the soul and mind.

    Finally, she was successful at employing this new sixth sense-- she felt a sort of odd feeling from a specific direction. Like the buzz of an untraceable fly on the corner of her mind. An intuition of an enemy¡¯s location.

    ¡°There!¡± She gestured with her free palm, while clutching Xeeseir before her in a defensive posture. Half of her ghost army charged forth.

    Ailehr was overjoyed when the form of the translucent horned eel flickered into visibility as it crashed into and crushed a group of onlookers, its flat body swamped by the ghostly forms of screeching skulls.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Lightning gathered within the horned eel¡¯s body and discharged blinding zigzags that arced across the eel¡¯s body, shattering the ghostly forms in its immediate vicinity.

    Ailehr immediately recalled her ghosts with her heart palpitating in a panic. This was the first time that Bienze had displayed the horned eel¡¯s ability to wield lightning, an element rather troublesome to deal with for those of certain devil arts.

    It should have been expected-- many eel-like creatures can perform lightning-aspected skills, after all.

    ¡°Still not handing over the stolen treasure?¡± Bienze sighed as the horned eel darted towards Ailehr with lightning wrapped around its body.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said,¡± Ailehr stared with venom at the approaching horned eel. ¡°I do not have said treasures!¡± These damned orthodox advancers!

    Her ghosts recoiled away from the lightning surrounding Bienze¡¯s approaching eel form, and Ailehr could only hold Xeeseir up, intending to use the man¡¯s ¡®Rebound¡¯ body to reflect the lightning energies of Bienze back to the origin.

    At the same time, she kept an eye on the six aspected swords of Bienze. She could now somewhat sense the invisible sword¡¯s movements after spending extended time in the telekinetic realm.

    Yet, how could Bienze allow Ailehr to protect herself in such a manner? Right as he reached Ailehr, Bienze transformed back into the six-armed form and intended to use his physical strength to remove Ailehr¡¯s shield--Xeeseir-- once and for all.

    Ailehr understood Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability enough to know that Xeeseir could not reflect pure physical attacks.

    She flew backwards to gain a small gap, and controlled her ghosts to attack the six-armed Bienze now devoid of lightning.

    She also had no choice but to make preparations to block Bienze¡¯s fists with her free palm and body. She cannot allow Xeeseir to die here, for she needed to use him to block aurae-based attacks, such as those aspected swords coming in tandem with Bienze¡¯s fists!

    Bienze¡¯s goal was, of course, to take the life of Xeeseir with the physical power of his six-armed form, and thus remove the danger of potentially having his aurae-based attacks reflected back to his own self.

    Ailehr focused all of her efforts on using her abilities to counter the physical means of Bienze, while using Xeeseir as a shield against aurae-based arts.

    So it was that Ailehr¡¯s ghosts flung themselves at the six-armed form of Bienze, many of them wrapping themselves around his arms simply to drain the strength coursing through those muscular limbs.

    Meanwhile, Ailehr was ready to block any weakened fist that bypassed her blockade. She held Xeeseir upwards, ready to use his body against any of the aspected swords.

    Bienze simultaneously attacked with the six aspected swords as he punched with six of his arms, and Ailehr was forced to maneuver some of her ghosts to tangle with four of the swords. Even with speed, she¡¯d only be able to use Xeeseir to block two swords.

    This freed up Bienze¡¯s six-armed form, and the Uni Sect advancer successfully delivered two powerful punches. One, to Ailehr¡¯s abdomen that fractured her ribs and caused further internal bleeding to her organs, and a second that was diverted by Ailehr¡¯s free palm at an angle. The devil woman dared not directly block Bienze¡¯s fist.

    Still, the additional injury to her ribs worsened her fate. If she was going to survive for three full moons, she¡¯d only survive for two now.

    Suddenly, Bienze stepped on air as he leapt backwards to the surprise of all present.

    As a telekinetic advancer, his senses are far sharper than the others. As such, his attention was drawn to the faint remnants of Rein¡¯s hollering of treasure from the depths of the ruins. In comparison, the others¡¯ ears failed to pick up Rein¡¯s voice.

    Bienze decisively disappeared. He wasn¡¯t attacking Ailehr just because of his original belief that she must have taken the treasures from the dwarven vault. He was, in fact, rather interested in obtaining Ailehr¡¯s heartblood, and had some desire to absorb part of her understanding of souls borne of her use of the ghostly art.

    It is rare to find a weaker advancer, a devil at that, with unique traits. For orthodox advancers, taking the life of a devil has no consequences, for the most part. Unless said devil happens to be a disciple or a useful tool of one far more powerful.

    Bienze¡¯s disappearance caused confusion amongst the onlookers. Only Ailehr breathed a sigh of relief at being given a chance to escape.

    Then upon Rein¡¯s baby dragon roar, even the other advancers of the outer realm, both orthodox and devil, knew something unexpected must have happened, and understood why Bienze had vanished.

    They rushed towards the spiral stairs, already many steps behind Bienze.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Prior to Rein¡¯s faint hollering, Jekcen was furiously searching the middle level-- the original entrance to the ruins-- for Rein¡¯s shadow. Though his sense of aurae had been warped, he could not be bothered to figure out how exactly. Surely, his plain eyes would not fail him, so he thought.

    These were the sorts of moments where he wished he could employ the divine sense of the telekinetic realm. Unfortunately, he was currently only an outer advancer.

    He flitted about with his feet an arm¡¯s length above the stone ground, yet failed to find any signs of that elusive member of Rein¡¯s group. The name, he knew not, but he believed in his ability to recognize a face.

    He grew increasingly frustrated, and finally chose to rely on his currently distorted aurae sensory skill that all outer advancers have.

    Upon circulating aurae into his eyes, he noticed a figure cloaked in Rein¡¯s aura directly before him a short distance away!

    ¡°Found you!! Hah!¡± he laughed as he now leisurely floated towards his prey, who no doubt would fail to escape him now.

    ¡°Why¡­ hello there, old man,¡± that figure said. ¡°Jekcen, was it?¡±

    Confused by the figure¡¯s casual tone, Jekcen ceased circulating his aurae to augment his vision. The energy of the world vanished from his eyes, returning his surroundings to a normal appearance.

    To his shock, the figure he thought carried Rein¡¯s aura was not Rein, nor any faces of his companions!

    Jekcen felt a tingle of fear as his eyes rested on an infamous man-- Wahrzein of ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯!  One might wonder why he felt fear facing a man still in the shell realm.

    The truth is that ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯ was only given to Wahrzein as a nickname. In order to master ¡®Infinite Faces¡¯, Wahrzein needed to have a good level of affinity with nearly every single element in the world, as well as have a decent understanding of all these elements. Only then, can one weave the many elements together to form an unlimited number of disguises.

    That meant Wahrzein of the Uni Sect could use all sorts of advancer arts, and likely, have combined many together to create unique complex magics. Wahrzein was simply the prodigal son, the fated one of the Uni Sect¡¯s dreams.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Jekcen croaked, his mouth dry with nervousness.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Wahrzein shrugged. ¡°I have always been here. I might be a guard you¡¯ve walked past. Or perhaps even¡­ your very disciple.¡±

    Jekcen¡¯s left eyelid twitched. He circulated aurae back into his eyes.

    ¡°You have the aurae of a figure that I am tracking,¡± he went on the offensive after having his feathers ruffled. ¡°Explain yourself!¡±

    ¡°Really? Have you fallen under the effects of an odd magical art?¡± Wahrzein beckoned with a hand as he indifferently turned his back and strode towards the exit.

    Jekcen clenched his teeth, evermore perturbed.

    He followed Wahrzein until his aurae vision came upon the members of the Great Sects placed as guards around the exit. He was shocked to discover that all these guards had Rein¡¯s aura.

    ¡°So?¡± Wahrzein raised an eyebrow as he questioned the Sun Sword Sect ¡®elder¡¯.

    ¡°N-nothing. My mistake.¡± Jekcen turned and floated away, having no desire to further humiliate himself. If he revealed that he was still in the process of figuring out how his aurae vision had been infected to a shell advancer¡­

    ¡°Are you certain you don¡¯t need any help, elder?¡± Wahrzein pointedly asked.

    Jekcen waved an arm as he increased his flying speed. However, he could not escape his humiliation.

    ¡°Elder!¡± Wahrzein elevated his voice, ensuring that all members of the Great Sects guarding the area heard his words. ¡°You must have risen to the outer realm with an overreliance on psychedelics, and lack understanding of aurae vision!¡±

    ¡°I recommend oscillating the aurae within your eyes before gathering your aurae and performing multiple aurae bursts from your eyes to flush your vision!¡± Wahrzein¡¯s loud voice echoed on the level, finalizing Jekcen¡¯s absolute loss of face.

    Jekcen could feel a deep-seated hatred rising from his heart, which he had squashed when facing Wahrzein earlier.

    The Sun Sword Sect, having sided with the Convergence Sect, naturally came into conflict with the Uni sect. The truth of their disagreement came from a much deeper source.

    The reality was that the Sun Sword Sect was not just a branch of a Sect from an upper realm world. It was a leaf of a branch. The mother sect of the Sun Sword Sect is the Celestial Sword Sect.

    The Celestial Sword Sect had many sword arts, the best based on celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, the fire star, and more, each with unique powers.

    Only with combined masteries of all these sword arts could one be considered the top of the Celestial Sword Sect.

    Naturally, the Uni Sect, which considers mastery and combination of all elements to be supreme, views the Sun Sword Sect in this Fusion Realm as a joke.

    Jekcen¡¯s ears then heard a beastly roar from the depths of the dwarven ruins, and he discarded the issue of the elusive figure who he knew must have at least entered this level. His form flitted back towards the spiral stairs.

    Meanwhile, Wahrzein casually strode out of the ancient dwarven ruins as he whistled. The guards lowered their heads regardless of their own sect. They all feared Wahrzein. More so after his sudden reappearance after many months. He must have further strengthened himself in seclusion, so they thought.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Rein sat to the side of the pipe opening to the chasm. He was not entirely sure if he had taken the right course of action.

    Part of him wondered if he should simply have quietly escaped by following the whisperings of the wind within the chasm. However, doing so would doom his companions being pursued up above. And Beincen would survive.

    As such, he chose to knock Beincen down into the darkness before alerting those up above-- an action which would undoubtedly awaken the dragon within the chasm, thus sealing Beincen¡¯s fate.

    The only dodgy aspect of his imperfect plan was that he would need to enter the chasm to find his escape route. Not exactly possible with it currently being the awakened dark dragon Darkendusk¡¯s domain.

    He could but wait for an opportunity once those up above arrive and clash with the dark dragon Darkendusk. Yet¡­ how long would they even last against this ancient powerful dragon? Doubt filled his mind.

    ¡°Huh.¡± Bienze narrowed his eyes, somewhat perplexed when he arrived at this hidden chasm and discovered Rein to be the one who ¡®attracted¡¯ him here.

    ¡°Just to be safe.¡± Bienze flicked a finger and Rein was sent spinning by an invisible force, his body burrowing into the opposite rocky chasm wall!

    Rein could not believe that one such as Bienze would take such action against him, a harmless ant. He lamented inwardly as he puked crimson blood, his bones shattered under Bienze¡¯s telekinetic powers. In the blink of an eye, his life now hung by a tenuous thread!

    A dragon¡¯s guttural grumble sounded within the chasm. A flash of alarm filled Bienze¡¯s face, but only for a heartbeat.

    Bienze fearlessly descended into the darkness, and did not bother to examine Rein¡¯s body. As far as Bienze was concerned, not even a master of the physical augmentation, body tempering arts below the shell realm could survive a flick of his finger.

    He clapped his hand and a neon blue spark rose into the sky and illuminated the whole treasure hoard, including the onyx -scaled Darkendusk, in a soft glow.

    ¡°A measly telekinetic advancer. You dare to plunder my hoard as well?¡± Darkendusk threatened Bienze with dense rows of razor teeth.

    Bienze theatrically laughed as he paced back and forth before Darkendusk¡¯s intimidating draconic head, his boots kicking up no small amount of limpite and lumite coins.

    ¡°What is your name, dark dragon?¡± he asked, but did not give the chance for Darkendusk to answer. ¡°Well, that matters not. For it is known that the Hall of Heroes are hunting dark dragons. A personal vendetta of the Allfather, so they say.¡±

    ¡°You are but an ant to one such as me. You dare threaten me?!¡± Darkendusk¡¯s neck curled around, and his large skull lowered beside Bienze, a single narrow pupil glared at the human. Upon seeing the eye, Bienze felt a heavy pressure that forced him onto one knee, and he had to transform into the six-armed form to avoid being flattened onto the ground.

    ¡°There¡­ are many others descending the ruins, and they will soon ¡­ arrive. You may be powerful, but do you¡­ think you will be able to take the life of all? And even if you could¡­ such a display of power and significant loss of lives-- you believe that the Allfather would not¡­sense your presence here?¡± Bienze remained incredibly calm in the face of such pressure, forcing words out from his clenched jaws.

    ¡°What is your offer?¡± Darkendusk growled.

    ¡°I want three-tenths¡­ of the hoard. Not for myself, you¡­ understand. The Uni Sect will offer you a¡­ temporary cover and give you an obscure pathway to another¡­ realm.¡±

    ¡°Two-tenths!¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    Bienze agreed to two-tenths so quickly that Darkendusk realized that this was the human¡¯s original aim.

    ¡°Damn humans!¡± he growled, and the invisible pressure increased. Bienze groaned and had to use four of his six arms to prevent himself from knocking his forehead against the ground.

    After a few heartbeats, that pressure lifted and Bienze stood back onto his feet with relief.

    ¡°Thank you for your mercy, dragon,¡± Bienze politely hooked his fingers and bowed in greeting.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Darkendusk warped into a humanoid with gray skin, his body framed with sparse onyx scales and two horns. He waved an arm to gather his treasure hoard. The treasure hoard was not just limpite and lumite coins. There were also many types of armors, weapons, cloaks and more that spun into Darkendusk¡¯s storage ring.

    ¡°If I may¡­?¡± Bienze hesitantly interjected.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°You may wish to leave something for the others to squabble over,¡± Bienze said. ¡°Else¡­ they will sense something amiss.¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± A wave of a clawed hand and one-tenths of his treasure hoard was flung back onto the chasm ground.

    ¡°Dragon,¡± Bienze sighed. ¡°Why did you release a roar? We would have more time to arrange the scene and sow confusion if you remained silent.¡±

    ¡°It was not me, but the child that you flung into the wall,¡± Darkendusk replied. ¡°Hmm¡­he strangely seems to still be somewhat alive, though it¡¯s uncertain how long he might still draw breath.¡±

    ¡°It was that child?!¡± Bienze was astonished. That dragon¡¯s roar, though faint, was rather realistic to his ears.

    ¡°How odd¡­¡± Bienze muttered to himself. ¡°Well. If you wish to finish him, that is your choice. If he somehow survives and reveals your presence¡­ he is a member of the Hall of Heroes, after all.¡±

    Darkendusk, in human form, floated beside the hole that Rein¡¯s body had drilled into the side of the chasm wall.

    The dragon peered into the hole and his unique vision beheld Rein¡¯s half-dead state.

    ¡°How odd¡­¡± It was Darkendusk¡¯s turn to feel the situation to be bizarre. He almost felt a sense of familiarity with the human child before him. A feeling that only two dragons would sense in one another.

    He extended a wisp of his dark aurae towards Rein¡¯s body, and when said wisp touched Rein¡¯s skin, he was astonished to see a recognizable and unique orange-toned lightning spark defend Rein¡¯s body. The very same draconic lightning that he had lost many years ago upon transforming into a dark dragon.

    ¡°We leave,¡± Darkendusk growled. ¡°Let the heavens decide his fate.¡±  He could not tell if Rein was an ally or an enemy, and thus chose inaction.

    The figures of Darkendusk and Bienze flickered out of sight.

 Ch90: Arrival of the Halls

    Rein vision was hazy, and his mind drifted in and out of consciousness. He had heard many stories of those who had strayed too close to the grim reaper.

    Many say the events of their lives flashed before their eyes. Some felt intense sorrow and melancholy. Others? A punishing burning pain.

    Rein¡¯s injuries were severe to the point where his mind¡¯s mechanisms completely suppressed his body¡¯s sensations to a dull ache.

    He could only sigh at his own idiocy. Of course, the unspoken rules of the advancer world weren¡¯t always followed. With him alone, a telekinetic advancer such as Bienze could crush him between thumb and finger like a breadcrumb with zero repercussions.

    He could but accept that he would not be able to find if his younger brother still breathed, and he himself, a failure. So much for his origin ability and Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s ¡®plans¡¯.

    Yet, before his heart ceased its struggle, Wilo¡¯s appeared before him, mysterious as ever.

    The woman with all of her body covered with cloth and hooded robe, and a wooden mask upon her face, held a glowing golden needle in her gloved hand.

    She opened Rein¡¯s Halls¡¯ robes and jet-black jacket to expose his chest, before stabbing the golden needle into his heart. The needle melted into a golden liquid and entered his body.

    A warm feeling spread from his heart through his body, and Rein could feel a ticklish and tingling sensation throughout his veins, muscles, skin and bones!

    ¡°What¡­¡± Rein coughed as the vitality in his voice rose. ¡°Why?¡± That golden needle must be some sort of life-saving treasure.

    ¡°Wake up, Rein,¡± Wilo murmured. ¡°You¡¯re not done yet.¡±

    Wilo gripped Rein¡¯s arm and pulled him to his feet. Rein discovered that his body had magically fully healed, his aurae recovered to the peak. He easily climbed out of the shallow tunnel that his body had involuntarily drilled after being casted into the chasm walls by Bienze¡¯s telekinetic powers.

    ¡°You owe me,¡± Wilo softly said. ¡°That was a life-saving treasure given to me by my mother.¡±

    Rein could but nod. He felt nothing wrong with his body as he stretched his limbs.

    ¡°The treasure hoard!¡± A voice entered both Rein and Wilo¡¯s ears.

    ¡°We must leave.¡± Wilo pulled Rein¡¯s arm to get the man into action.

    Rein stumbled for a few steps at the bottom of the chasm, still finding his feet after having nearly lost his life.

    The two followed the whisperings of the wind to escape, desperate to avoid confrontation with Rein¡¯s and the Halls¡¯ enemies. Their lives are simply much more valuable than the treasure left behind by Darkendusk.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    In another part of the dwarven ancient ruins.

    Jory gestured at her twin sister in frustration. Suey had communicated her plans immediately following the sound of the dragon¡¯s roar.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do this sister!¡± She hissed. ¡°You¡¯re playing with fate. If we lose you¡­ our chances will worsen! None can save you if you choose this path!¡±

    ¡°It must be done!¡± Suey glared at her younger sister. ¡°All of our previous mothers, aunts, grandmas, ancestors-- have had to make this choice to twist fate. The heavens have been pulling out strings for too long! This is the only way!¡±

    ¡°As our ancestors have done, you must leave and protect yourself. Follow the rituals and give birth to the next generation of twin sisters. The eldest must be taught to take on the mantle. The younger one must give birth to the next generation of twin sisters.¡±

    ¡°We must not give in. I have to take the risk. There will be no more discussion. This is my mantle!¡± Suey¡¯s firm tone indicated that the discussion was final.

    The twin sisters split apart in a huff, and Jory could only wring her hands in worry, concern, and a deep fear. She had cooperated with her older sister for many tasks, hoping to keep Suey in check. However, her older sister had only grown increasingly brazen with risky bets.

    Jory removed her Halls¡¯ robe and dressed herself provocatively in a thin crimson silk robe from her magical storage pouch, exposing a bare dainty shoulder.

    She climbed to the middle level and swayed her hips as she approached the guards, her seductive art at the ready.

    As for Suey? She stood at the opening of the spiral stairs connecting to the middle exit level.

    Soon, Ailehr, still with her hands clasped around Xeeseir¡¯s neck appeared, her eyes darting nervously about.

    Suey instantly dropped onto her knees and bowed three times, her head bumping against the stone floor to display her subservience.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Harvest Devil Ailehr felt a deep sense of urgency to escape this place, yet felt curiosity as to why a random woman of the inner realm was kowtowing before her. Then she realized-- this woman is part of the team around Xeeseir!

    ¡°I wish to offer my body for your possession!¡± Suey announced. ¡°Your injuries are heavy. My only desire is for you to release the man in your hand.¡±

    ¡°No! Do not--¡± Xeeseir¡¯s protests were thwarted as Ailehr squeezed his neck with her grip.

    Ailehr felt shock in her heart. How did this weak ant have knowledge of her plight? Ailehr¡¯s injuries against Bienze were severe and extensive. Though she currently suppressed her suffering, she suspected she would not live for more than two moons. Her path to survival was to possess another body.

    Originally, she was to hand the captured Lyne of the Xuere Clan over to the second prince. Now, she planned to possess the young scion before handing ¡®herself¡¯ to the second prince, and take power in the royal courts of the Minhr Nation.

    That plan has some flaws-- Lyne¡¯s talent laid in her sword and icy arts, which was simply¡­ incompatible with Ailehr¡¯s methods.

    Lyne had also already become a shell advancer, meaning that certain aspects of her body had already been solidified in the inner realm. The path of her body, too.

    Ailehr originally accepted that it was her best course of action given the present conditions. Until Suey¡¯s present offer.

    Ailehr wasn¡¯t sure if this young woman before might be a trap, but she had to take the chance.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    The Harvest Devil raised one hand, and aurae tendrils wrapped themselves around Suey¡¯s body to examine her nature.

    ¡°How interesting!¡± Ailehr exclaimed. ¡°A tinge of demon and devil-like aura, affinity with seductive and fate-related arts.¡± It was almost too good to be true! These unique qualities are compatible with her own ghostly arts! ¡°What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Suxeire.¡± Suey answered subserviently with a lowered chin.

    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Ailehr¡¯s further examination discovered the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art upon the young lady. ¡°You¡¯ve been¡­ enslaved?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Suey replied in fake sorrow. ¡°But I have no doubt you can overcome such magic.¡±

    Ailehr cackled as she blessed the heavens in her heart. She initially had doubts, but now it all made sense-- at least, in her head. This young lady must have been enslaved by some bastard, which was why she desperately desired some form of revenge, even if it meant losing control of her body!

    ¡°I only hope that the man in your hand will be freed. He treated me well. I promise I will not resist possession as long as he is freed,¡± Suey softly reminded Ailehr of the deal.

    ¡°Hm. Very well!¡± All the powerful advancers should be down at the bottom of the dwarven ruins. Ailehr believed that she would be just fine without the shield that is Xeeseir, with the exit so close.

    With Suey¡¯s agreement to not resist possession, this would ensure that Ailehr¡¯s control over her body to be far more complete, avoiding potential long term issues-- Possession isn¡¯t without risks. This is why some devils would repeatedly jump from body to body until they find the ¡®right¡¯ one.

    Ailehr dropped Xeeseir to the ground. Xeeseir coughed, his head spinning from the lack of air. Ailehr had continued compressing his neck with her hand throughout the whole negotiation, ensuring that he would not be able to protest Suey¡¯s offer.

    Ailehr withdrew a transparent cube surrounded in dark wisps, and Suey did not resist as a force dragged her into another space. Once inside, Suey would spot an unconscious Lyne!

    Xeeseir could only watch as Ailehr¡¯s form flickered towards the exit of the ancient ruins. Without the presence of Bienze, those guards would be useless against a quasi-telekinetic devil.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    As they escaped, Rein¡¯s mind repeatedly returned to the existence of Darkendusk. He recalled that Wilo has always displayed unique knowledge of the advancer world.

    ¡°Wilo. Do you know of the dark dragons?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Think of them as similar to the fallen devils of humankind,¡± Wilo explained. ¡°They may seem normal in day-to-day life, but are defined by occasional moments of madness, often driven by their vices.¡±

    ¡°Most dark dragons are dragons who fail to completely control their initial beastly cravings, or drown themselves in worldly treasures. Thus, their magical arts and their very aura becomes infected by dark aurae overtime.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Though Rein trusted Wilo, he felt that Darkendusk seemed¡­ rational for the most part. Or perhaps the dark dragon¡¯s fear of the Allfather and his desire to survive tempered his deep desires?

    Rein still lacked understanding of the advancer world, and could only hypothesize.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Rein eventually asked as he gazed about at the passing scenery of a meadow with lush grass ten feet tall. They had followed the sound of wind in that chasm, and traveled through a cave system that eventually led to an obscure crack in the southwestern tip of the Endless Mountains.

    Since then, Wilo had led Rein southwest continuously.

    ¡°And why are we still running?¡± Rein was confused.

    ¡°We¡¯re being pursued,¡± Wilo informed Rein. ¡°They¡¯re coming. Closer.¡±

    How did Wilo know? Rein could not tell.

    ¡°Who?¡± Rein followed Wilo, their forms splitting the tall grass as the sound of insects buzzed in their ears.

    ¡°Your enemies!¡± Wilo rolled her eyes as she grumbled. ¡°The Sun Sword Sect! That outer advancer named Jekcen!¡±

    ¡°Fuck.¡± Rein no longer doubted Wilo. He originally had some confidence, having relied on his uniquely powerful body to cause trouble for shell advancers such as those of Convergence Sect and Beincen.

    However, his brush with death had shown him that telekinetic advancers, and perhaps even some outer advancers, could crush him in the blink of an eye. If only he had been given a few ¡®Spears of Heaven¡¯ javelins by the Halls¡­

    Should he employ his origin ability to escape? Yet¡­ revealing such an ability would cause untold future trouble. He recalled Dragonknight Zelli and Master Yirn¡¯s words.

    ¡°We have to reach that marker to the southwest!¡± WIlo increased her speed as they burrowed through the surrounding vegetation.

    ¡°I¡­ what marker?¡± Rein had still to fully dispel the surreal feeling that clouded his mind from his brush with death.

    ¡°The marker at the beginnings of the Rabid Wilds-- the mysterious jungle to the west.¡±

    Had they exited the Endless Mountains that much farther to the west?

    ¡°Down!¡± Wilo commanded and Rein trusted her words. She clearly had some unique ability that allowed her to sense their pursuers.

    As Rein dropped to the ground, a huge fiery sword a thousand feet long, formed by the sun¡¯s energy, horizontally swiped and dissected a huge area of tall grass. Jekcen had caught up to these two escaping ants, and flung a sword projection at their location!

    ¡°And you just had to make an enemy of one of the sun swords,¡± Wilo stonily commented as they leapt back onto the feet and dashed forward.

    Rein recalled that Wilo seemed to have a deep dislike for fire.

    ¡°You two still think you can escape with your lives? After making a fool of me?!¡± Jekcen¡¯s voice echoed through the expansive grasslands, joyous at finally having the opportunity to clean up for his supposedly ¡®lost¡¯ descendents, House Larne.

    As Rein continued southwest, he withdrew his staff from his storage pouch, and began activating the water droplet skill through the inscription.

    A number of fiery swords formed from pure flaming aurae pursued and surrounded the two.

    Rein released the large and glimmering water sphere formed above his head, and large waves cascaded outwords. A sizzling noise sounded as the sun sword projects¡¯ bright flame faded, causing drifting tendrils of steam to rise into the sky.

    Rein felt deep gratitude towards Master Yirn, for the outer-ranked water art engraved upon this staff. It has proven itself useful quite a number of times already.

    Unfortunately, he would not be able to continue the usage of this skill. Jekcen¡¯s aurae reserves are simply much deeper than his, due to him being in only the inner realm. And-- the skill worked by gathering water droplets in his surroundings. Of limited use.

    So it was that the two soon found Jekcen descending upon them from the skies above. The man raised an arm.

    Both Rein and Wilo understood that aurae tendrils, invisible to the two, must be extending themselves to entangle their limbs. As such, the two subconsciously zigzagged, hoping to at least make it somewhat difficult for Jekcen.

    Rein sighed as he felt an all-encompassing heat behind his back. It seemed to him that he would be forced to employ his teleportation skill to escape, after all. The air became incredibly dry, and he knew that it was not possible to activate that water droplet skill a second time.

    Then a voice sounded through his Halls¡¯ robes. The mysterious lady¡¯s voice! The watcher! The Halls had come after all!

    ¡°Two arms to the left.¡±

    Rein side-stepped.

    ¡°Tilt your head to the right on one.¡±

    ¡°Three¡­ Two¡­. One!¡±

    Rein tilted his head as a javelin, traveling at a speed he could not track, grazed his jaw and pierced towards Jekcen!

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Jekcen was taken by surprise as a javelin suddenly appeared before his eyes upon Rein¡¯s head tilt.

    He gathered all his sun sword projections into a single blade in his hand. A large and dense blazing aurae blade barely connected with the javelin in time.

    For a heartbeat, Jekcen thought he had defended against this ambush, only for his blazing aurae blade projection to shatter, forcing Jekcen to move his feet in an odd rhythm, employing a movement art that caused his body to rotate midair under a mysterious force, barely avoid the path of the javelin.

    The javelin then flickered and a hundred hovering javelins now surrounded Jekcen!

    ¡°Who dares to ambush me?!¡± Jekcen seethed. He was so close to cleaning up the man who had caused his descendants in Green Trout City no small amount of trouble.

    ¡°Truly respectful. You¡­ an outer advancer hunting down two inner followers of ours,¡± a drawling voice drifted over the grassland as burning patches of smokey tendrils rose to the sky here and there.

    A figure drifted into the sky from a patch of coherent tall grass. A figure dressed in regal purple robes decorated with zigzagging jet-black lines. Supreme Huhrz! One eye carried a crescent moon, the other, a blazing sun! The most secretive of Supremes of the Halls, and said to be the most powerful of them all!

    Supreme Huhrz raised his right arm, his demeanor relaxed and confident.

    ¡°Allow me to give you a taste. The sun-moon revolution!¡± Then he snapped his fingers.

 Ch91: A Mysterious Art

    Sun Sword Sect Elder Jekcen was naturally alarmed by the sudden appearance of Supreme Huhrz. He has heard many unbelievable rumors regarding Huhrz. Supposedly, none ever survived a battle against Huhrz. As for battle competitions? Huhrz never deigned to participate in any. As such, Huhrz was the most mysterious shadow of the Halls.

    How had such a dangerous Supreme arrived here so soon and laid an ambush?

    Only now did Rekcen sense something to be off. His mind spun through all the possibilities and quickly identified what the Halls might be after.

    The Halls must have discovered House Larne to be in possession of minor levels of low grade jade and determined it to be from some distant ancestor no longer tied to the mortal house-- him!

    If Jekcen were to be told that Beincen had revealed the existence of that jade from bribing Halls¡¯ officials, he would cough blood in anger.

    ¡°The jade mine¡­¡± scoffed Jekcen. This was the only possible reason that the Halls would specially target him.

    ¡°I have heard the Halls to be calculative. Sensible. Astute. Prudent. The branch you belong to is young. Are you all fools?¡± Jekcen¡¯s voice was filled with mockery, but his darting eyes betrayed his inner doubt. ¡°The jade mine is located in the thick of the Evergreen Mountains. Even should you gain temporary control of it, you will not be able to maintain your hold, surrounded by us Great Sects.¡±

    ¡°Hah,¡± Huhrz chortled at Jekcen¡¯s words. ¡°Do you believe that to be the reason for my presence here?¡±

    Jekcen¡¯s squinted his eyes at the regal purple form of Huhrz, his mind attempting to identify other possible explanations. His thoughts repeatedly returned to the jade mine, yet he soon realized his own guess made no sense. There was no way for the Halls to mine the jade within while besieged on all sides by the Great Sects. The Evergreen Mountains is the Great Sects¡¯ turf!

    ¡°I¡¯m simply giving the Great Sects a hand,¡± Huhrz shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°The Great Sects have a clear policy of not having their upper ranks corrupted by noble members, no?¡±

    A ridiculous explanation. Jekcen¡¯s links to House Larne are beyond weak. It is known that the Great Sects always looked the other way when it came to miniscule ties. After all, one could not blame an ancestor for giving some care to their descendents-- as long as said ancestor stands on the Great Sects¡¯ side should the Minhr Nation come into conflict with the Great Sects.

    Huhrz simply smiled as he activated his sun-moon revolution art. He placed his two palms against one another, then the two hands began flipping against one another.

    Jekcen immediately began his own preparations as well. He controlled his aurae tendrils to form a few dozens of sun swords. As an outer advancer, he controlled these aurae-formed sun swords through those aurae strings. He surged aurae to his eyes and could see that Huhrz similarly controlled the many hovering aurae javelins through such strings-- tendrils given purpose.

    He calmed his heart. Since tendrils connected Huhrz to those aurae-formed javelins, that meant his opponent had yet to enter the telekinetic realm. Huhrz may be infamous, but this man should not be that much more powerful-- so he thought. He thought wrong.

    Jekcen glanced at Huhrz¡¯s face, and his heart shook as the sun in Huhrz¡¯s right eye along with the moon in Huhrz¡¯s left eye began to revolve around one another, distorting the man¡¯s face in an illusion.

    Jekcen blinked his eyes repeatedly, attempting to dispel a sensation of dizziness caused by the two spinning eyes, only to now find Huhrz¡¯s sun and moon eyes stationary in their position.

    Huhrz raised his right arm and pointed towards the sky with his index and middle finger. He chopped downwards in execution, and his many aurae javelins drilled through the air towards Jekcen.

    Jekcen initially thought this to be a sort of ¡®testing the waters¡¯ start to duel, but when he attempted to gesture with his right arm to send his own aurae swords forth, instead of his right arm moving, he discovered that it was his left leg flapping about instead!

    Alarmed, Jekcen moved every single one of his limbs-- his control and sensation of his limbs had been completely rewired! As such, he could not control his fiery aurae swords properly to block Huhrz¡¯s javelins! His aurae swords became a chaotic mess in the air, flying in random directions due to Jekcen¡¯s disorientation.

    A few of Huhrz¡¯s javelins clashed against swords flying about like headless chickens, and the two aurae projections shattered and showered the air with dispersed many-colored aurae mist.

    Jekcen ceased attempting to block the incoming javelins with his chaotic mess of aurae swords, and instead attempted to wrap himself in aurae tendrils, hoping to gain control of his body and move through controlling his body like a puppet, purely using said tendrils. This was of no use.

    When he attempted to fly downwards into the tall grass to ¡®hide¡¯, he failed. Instead, he floated sideways towards his right as one of Huhrz¡¯s javelins stabbed towards his chest.

    Jekcen grunted as his defensive robes¡¯ inscriptions lit up and dissipated much of the strike. His heart pounded in fear along with an ache. The javelin carried an incredible amount of power, and had bruised his insides despite the robe¡¯s protection.

    He quickly realized that his survival depended on one single point-- understanding of Huhrz¡¯s unique advancer art.

    Is he in an illusion? Jekcen recalled the spinning sun and moon eyes. There are two common ways to break illusions. Identify something odd within an illusion and use that point of weakness to break said illusion, or forcibly erase the enemy¡¯s magic with an overwhelming surge of aurae.

    The latter is, of course, not possible for Jekcen. He would have to be realms above Huhrz to forcibly overwrite Huhrz¡¯s art-- if it is an illusory art.

    Jekcen now attempted to move towards his right. If his attempt to move downwards sent him right, perhaps moving right would send him down. So he thought.

    He was wrong once again. He actually did move right this time, as another aurae javelin clashed against his defensive robes. Once again, his robes¡¯ inscriptions lit up and defended him.

    Jekcen attempted to steady his heart as he tried to find a potential weak point, believing it to be an illusion. He couldn¡¯t accurately control where his head turned and where his eyes looked, but of what his gaze scanned, he found nothing suspicious.

    Jekcen''s heart began to sink ever lower. Try as he might, he could not understand the basis of Huhrz¡¯s magic. Then-- an epiphany. He recalled how his combined humongous aurae sword had shattered at the start of the battle, when he was ambushed. Perhaps said clash provided the contact that allowed Huhrz to infiltrate his body.

    His lack of control over his body led to another three of Huhrz¡¯s aurae javelins striking his figure at the same time. The inscriptions on his robes lit up again, yet this time, it flickered like a dying flame, barely protecting Jekcen. Jekcen realized he would have to begin pouring his own aurae reserves to keep the robe¡¯s defensive qualities active.

    Jekcen began examining his body, thinking that if he could identify some foreign presence in his body, he could remove it and be free of Huhrz¡¯s debilitating magical art. He frustratingly found nothing!

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Huhrz pointed his index and middle finger to the sky again as more aurae javelins formed. Another few aurae javelins dove toward Jekcen, as others javelins jabbed elsewhere to remove his remaining aurae swords headlessly charging around in the air above.

    A number of javelins crashed into a number of swords, their forms shattering and showering the area above the grassland with another cloud formed from specks of aurae.

    Jekcen cursed Huhrz in his heart. This man was simply too meticulous! Jekcen had hoped that if he could figure out the nature of Huhrz¡¯s art, he¡¯d be able to regain deft control of his aurae swords and mount a counterattack.

    Huhrz¡¯s care in removing Jekcen¡¯s aurae swords effectively depressed the Sun Sword Sect elder¡¯s heart further. It would require much aurae to reform said swords, and he was already being drained by the constant demand of the defensive inscriptions upon his robes.

    Rein and Wilo had ceased their escape, desiring to observe the battle between Jekcen and Huhrz

    Rein could not fully understand the battle before his eyes. All he could see was Jekcen seemingly unable to move properly, swinging his limbs erratically and floating around, even dodging into the path of Huhrz¡¯s javelins as if attempting to inflict injuries upon himself.

    All he could conclude was that Jekcen seemingly was unable control his body, and was under siege by the aurae javelins-- once an outer advancer concentrated his aurae into a concentrated form, even those below the outer realm would be able to perceive  said aurae weapons.

    Still, observation of this battle further opened Rein¡¯s eyes. Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s words were proven correct. There are many unique magics in the world, and learning to not over-rely on or expose an origin ability is wise.

    At this moment in time, another group arrived-- the forms of Malak, Yidahr and four other Sun Sword Sect disciples appeared at the edge of the tall grasslands.

    Malak¡¯s lips curled and he exploded off his feet with his physical prowess and vanished into the distance before the Jekcen could even make an attempt to order the Sun Sword Sect disciples to imprison this man.

    Though Jekcen never fully trusted Malak, he also never suspected that the Halls had him in their sights, and thus paid little mind to Malak. Not that Jekcen could punish Malak in the current conditions. Huhrz was about to take his life!

    Yidahr and his fellow disciples did not pursue Malak, despite having put two and two together after seeing their elder in trouble.

    They, instead, took notice of Rein and Wilo,and chose to target the two.

    Five opponents in the shell realm? That was simply too much for Rein and Wilo. The two turned their heels and continued to flee. Rein was confident he could face one shell advancer, but not more.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± Wilo beckoned urgently. The two exitted the grassland and entered an area of sparsely-spaced number of trees, the beginnings of a lush forest.

    Rein¡¯s eyes widened as he noticed rows upon rows of demon beasts in the distant west, barely visible through the loose rows of trees.

    Demon beast waves. He recalled that the Halls had mentioned that such an attack was coming. At least, that was the reason provided as to why the recruits of his cohort were sent to the Western Wilderness in an accelerated fashion.

    This might also be the reason as to why they did not encounter a demon beast yet during their escape from the Endless Mountains. The demon beasts had begun to gather under the summons of whoever their leader may be.

    Luckily, Wilo¡¯s target location was right before them. Wilo led Rein to the front of an inconspicuous tree trunk and pressed the side of her head against the tree as she chanted soft murmurings indecipherable to Rein¡¯s ears.

    Amazingly, the roots of said tree lifted up and a tunnel sloping underground opened. Rein, though bewildered, followed Wilo in, and the tree lowered its roots again to perfectly enclose this underground area.

    ¡°What is this place?¡± Rein suspiciously questioned Wilo.

    ¡°I have a unique affinity with the element of wood. So I came to know of this place.¡± Wilo explained as if it was very normal for her to be aware of this hiding spot.

    Rein furrowed his brows and began exploring around. The tunnel seemed to extend deeper towards the west endlessly. He dared not follow it, uncertain of where it may lead, or the potential dangers of the tunnel itself.

    Then, their surroundings began to rumble, a force oscillating in Rein¡¯s ears from above. It felt like a million horses were galloping overhead.

    Cold sweat rolled down Rein¡¯s back. He understood very well that the demon beast wave had just been launched towards the Minhr Nation. And he had narrowly avoided it. He initially thought himself lucky, only to recall that it was the mysterious Wilo who had led him here.

    He turned his head to find Wilo placing her head next to a thick tree root that closed over their entrance, as if she was listening to something.

    Should he question this woman? Though Rein had the urge to, he ultimately decided against it. After all, Wilo did save his life with that golden needle.

    When the earth finally ceased its quaking, the roots opened up. Rein and Wilo returned to the surface, and discovered the skeletal remains of five humans, with some flesh still stuck to the bones. Tattered bits of cloth here and there identified these as the Sun Sword Sect¡¯s disciples.

    Rein¡¯s suspicions of Wilo were certainly heightened, but once again, he found himself unwilling to confront the woman. Wilo also cared not to explain herself.

    ¡°So¡­ how do we get back?¡± Rein wondered as he sighed. A demon beast army now stood between them and the Minhr Nation. They would have to avoid this army on their return, but whether they could was another matter.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    An aurae javelin pierced Jekcen¡¯s dull robes and stabbed through his left abdomen. Meanwhile, another aurae javelin clashed with one of his aurae swords in the air and further added to the thick cloud of aurae formed by their shattered aurae projections.

    Jekcen had failed. He could not identify the nature of Huhrz¡¯s advancer art, try as he might. He had examined himself repeatedly, as well as Huhrz¡¯s control of his aurae. Nothing suggested there to be an illusion, or that Huhrz had somehow infiltrated his body.

    All Jekcen knew was that he could not control his body properly. He began to believe that Jekcen must have used some mental-based attack to confuse his mind. Yet that should not be possible until the telekinetic realm. Or perhaps. An origin ability?

    Regardless, without understanding how Huhrz was manipulating his senses, he had little control of his body, and was repeatedly and viciously struck by every single one of Huhrz¡¯s attacks.

    That was not all. Jekcen was also about to exhaust his aurae reserves. Huhrz, however, appeared perfectly fine, as if he was still in his peak condition.

    The result was that Jekcen could no longer maintain his pride, and his body slumped down onto the ground, flattening a patch of tall grass.

    He heard footsteps approaching, and expected Huhrz to appear before his face to further humiliate him before delivering a final blow.

    Yet instead, a mature and seductive woman in heavy and vibrant makeup, thick lips and curled dark locks peered down at his face, her lips wrapped around an exquisite smoking pipe. In her right hand were four bottles pinched between each of her fingers and thumb.

    The corks of these four bottles opened up and the woman blew a smoke cloud from her enchanting lips. This smoke cloud traveled into each of these bottles to mix with the vibrant liquid within each, before flying towards Jekcen¡¯s mouth.

    Jekcen wished to have one final struggle, but then he realized that it was pointless. He was aware of this woman. Supreme Yaor. A seductress and expert alchemist of the Halls. Even if he had put up a better fight against Supreme Huhrz, he would have similarly fallen if this second supreme was forced to enter the fray. Jekcen was doomed from the start.

    Soon after.

    ¡°Do you have the location?¡± Huhrz asked seriously .

    ¡°Of course,¡± Yaor coquettishly giggled as she swayed her wide hips under a tight clinging violet dress and sauntered towards the stoic Huhrz.

    ¡°Behave yourself,¡± Huhrz ordered.

    ¡°Give me a kiss and I¡¯ll tell you~¡± Yaor blinked repeatedly as she made this request like an unruly child.

    Huhrz sometimes wondered whether this woman was more suited to be a devil with this type of demeanor. Her nature would certainly be compatible with many devilish arts.

    A flick of his sleeves and ten aurae javelins surrounded Supreme Yoar¡¯s voluptuous body.

    ¡°Stop playing around,¡± Supreme Huhrz sighed with exasperation. He had been dealing with Yaor¡¯s antics for many years. ¡°The demon beast waves have begun. Now is the time to strike at the Great Sects¡¯ jade mine.¡±

    ¡°Promise me that I''ll be rewarded,¡± Yaor whined.

    ¡°Fine. Fine.¡± Huhrz relented. He could feel through his aurae connection to the environment, the demon beasts¡¯ march. They do not have much time to prepare.

    Supreme Yaor smirked and the two flickered and vanished. They cared not of Rein¡¯s fate. As far as they were concerned, Rein was but the reliable bait to lure out Rekcen.

 Ch92: Puppets on Strings

    If Rein thought it difficult to return to the central outpost controlled by the Hall of Heroes, he would be mistaken.

    He soon discovered that Wilo¡¯s ability was far more advanced than he imagined. He had previously observed the androgynous form of Wilo-- it was Wilo¡¯s higher-pitched tranquil voice that led to Rein believing her to be a woman-- ¡®communicating¡¯ with the roots of a tree.

    Wilo might not have displayed this ability openly prior to this day, but she no longer cared to obscure said ability under the current situation. She repeatedly placed her ears and her wooden mask against different vegetation-- bushes, grass, trunks, leaves and more.

    Their path through this supposedly perilous western wilderness was bewilderingly smooth. It was certainly easier with many of the demons having been drawn into the supposed demon beast wave, but Wilo¡¯s navigation played a role as well.

    Rein began to wonder if somehow, Wilo had inherited some sort of ancient elven magic not belonging to the orthodox modern advancer system-- in tales passed down to modern humans, occasionally sung by bards, elves supposedly could speak to all sorts of vegetation. If the remnant elves had melded into the human population eventually, then it wouldn¡¯t be at all surprising if some of their magic was passed down through a few human inheritance lines.

    This, however, also placed a seed of fear and uncertainty in his heart. He had originally thought that with his origin ability that is teleportation, to be a surefire method of escape. Now, he understood that he would not be able to escape a pursuer capable of communicating with the essence of nature to track all existences under the heavens.

    As the journey continued, Rein began to consider how exactly he would approach the issue of making use of his origin ability without drawing inquisitive eyes.

    As that remnant will of Dragonknight Zelli had suggested, understanding his origin ability and imprinting a specific quality of said magic into a weapon or armor should be an effective first layer of obfuscation.

    The predecessor of his origin ability, Dragonknight Zelli, existed in a time before the era of ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯, before inscription-powered weapons had become the norm. This was why it should be unlikely for any to make a connection.

    As for the appearance of said armaments-- Rein decided he would have to examine and imitate ancient relics. If he could craft said armaments to look like ancient relics-- he discovered that he could recognize runes due to Gent¡¯s remnant will within his mind-- that would certainly cause observers to believe some ancient magic to be at work even if some suspicion was aroused. Ancient magics do not follow the rules of the now common orthodox advancer path.

    However, that wouldn¡¯t be enough. If a somewhat knowledgeable advancer forcibly examined such a weapon, they might soon discover clues.

    As such, Rein thought of an additional method that he had already taken some interest in-- alchemy. Originally, Rein had wished to learn of poisons, a common tool of the devils that had captured his brother. And useful against the expansive and dominating Dingien Clan.

    He had seen the Harvest Devil Ailehr consume pills to raise her strength beyond comprehension.

    The way Rein saw it, if he could build a reputation of creating unique and powerful pills, it would add a second layer of obfuscation over said origin ability, even if he drew suspicions from overcoming ¡®impossible¡¯ odds.

    And of course, his physical body from a dragon, combined with the flashy and potentially theatrical quality of lightning arts, would add a third layer of obfuscation.

    Rein had the space and time to consider all these factors, due to his mindless following of Wilo¡¯s form. Regardless, in just a single day, Rein discovered himself back in the central outpost, safe and sound, just as the sun began to set!

    The two immediately received a piece of paper with an order from the silver-clad soldier guarding the gate.

    The order was for all to return to the Halls, in preparation to defend against the incoming demon beast waves. Wilo was truly skilled-- Rein had noticed no signs of demon beasts during his return journey thanks to her expert navigation around their gathering spots.

    However, Rein would not be able to follow this order, after the arrival of a certain someone-- Jory. This raven-haired twin sister of Suey had a rather¡­ attention-drawing return to the central outpost.

    She arrived on the back of a demon beast, its appearance best described as a cross between a tiger and a bear, its fur between orange and brown, accompanied with black stripes. As such, the demon beast was like an extra-wide tiger lumbering at a breakneck speed towards the central outpost.

    A current commander within the outpost initially, vice-leader Kurhz shouted to ready the defenses, and the Halls¡¯ silver-clad guards lined up in perfect formation, their aura  combining into a heat capable of burning all within their sight.

    Once closer, Kurhz recognized Jory as one of the new initiates that had passed through but a few days ago, and thus called for the guards to stand down while remaining vigilant for the possibility of this Jory being an imposter.

    That was unnecessary. Jory leapt off the tiger-bear in front of the central outpost entrance, her crimson dress torn and exposing flesh in many inconvenient areas. However, the guards and other Halls¡¯ members¡¯ eyes were drawn by another spectacle.

    The tiger-bear demon beast¡¯s knotted phallus stood tall below its belly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Kurhz, the white-robed tall and slender vice-leader of the central outpost muttered.

    Jory understood that her appearance did not help her case. She could only explain her situation.

    ¡°Vice-leader Kurhz. I had no choice but to use all my wiles to escape the discovered ancient dwarven ruins. It was only with luck that I successfully ¡®convinced¡¯ a member of the Demon Taming Sect to lend me their tamed demon beast for my return journey. This demon beast was fed some pill by its master to ensure the timely execution of its orders. It will leave upon receiving some demon meat.¡±

    ¡°Convinced¡­¡± muttered Kurhz as his left eye twitched. ¡°Demon Taming Sect¡­¡± A sect considered to be dodgy with relation to the orthodox advancer path.

    Vice-leader Kurhz had, of course, received news of the ancient dwarven ruins. His higher-ups had not called for action though, so he had stayed put to guard the central outpost.

    Rein motioned for Wilo to hand him a piece of the three-headed cobra¡¯s meat. He had discarded the pieces stored within his own storage pouch, in order to collect dwarven blacksmith books.

    Wilo ejected a piece of said cobra meat, and Rein, with his physical strength, hurled it over the ramparts towards the tiger-bear demon.

    The ten-feet-tall tiger-bear demon¡¯s eyes glowed cutely like a puppy being rewarded treats as it bowed its head. Its huge tongue gave Jory a suffocating lick, drenching the woman in beastly saliva, before picking up the piece of cobra meat in its jaws and dashing back towards the west.

    The demon beast¡¯s actions confirmed Jory¡¯s words, and as such, she was allowed in.  The silver-clad soldiers, though well-trained, could not help but wince at Jory, beastly saliva dripping off her soaked body. It certainly did not help that her torn crimson dress became semi-transparent.

    Jory, blushing, hurried in and instantly rushed towards Rein, who upon his return, had already set up a tent in hopes of gathering the Iron Ant team together once again.

    ¡°I¡­ I need it¡­ It is your duty. I¡­¡± Jory became a bit of an incoherent mess, to Rein¡¯s shock.  A lewdness had entered her eyes. If not for the fact that this raven-haired twin lady did not have a scar on her cheek, Rein might have mistaken the woman for Suey-- The most obvious difference between the two ladies is their temperament. Jory always maintained a withdrawn and quiet demeanor. Until now.

    Well. There are three other differences. Suey had long developed the habit of calling Rein, ¡®My Celest.¡¯ Also, based on Rein¡¯s memory of their initial coupling, Jory had a slightly smaller chest, and was of a shorter height.

    Anyhow, Jory¡¯s change in temperament, combined with the smell of the beastly saliva, caused Rein to take a few steps back in apprehension.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Jory was suddenly filled with fury after seeing the man back away. ¡°Did my sister not say she was fine with others? Now. Just satisfy me, you prick! Give it to me like how you railed my mmmph--¡±

    Rein was flabbergasted at Jory¡¯s current demeanor, his eyes wide in astonishment. He resisted his aversion to the demon beast¡¯s saliva, and reached forth an arm to grip the out-of-control woman¡¯s neck to stifle her ability to speak such egregious words.

    The silver-clad Halls soldiers remained professional at their task, and revealed nothing. However, many onlookers, in their minds, began to wonder as to what sort of drama might be occurring.

    There was no drama, of course. Something must have caused Jory to lose her senses.

    Rein pulled the woman into his tent, suspecting that it might have something to do with the demon beast saliva.

    ¡°Stay,¡± he ordered, and went back out in search of a large tub of water, typically used in these outposts.

    When he returned, he discovered that Jory had already stripped herself bare, and her skin was mostly covered in a layer of thin pink aurae cloud-- an aurae shell of seductive qualities. The woman had also rolled onto her side, posing in an incredibly provocative manner, chest arched, hand on hips, legs extended, disgustingly accentuated by a layer of persistent beastly saliva.

    He maintained control of his mind and went out to retrieve a second large tub of water.

    ¡°Get in.¡± Rein said as he lowered the second large tub that he had carried over his head after his return.

    ¡°Mmmm~¡± Jory shook her head and rejected Rein¡¯s request. Instead,  she rolled across the ground a few times with her wrists squeezed between her thighs as she glanced coquettishly into Rein¡¯s eyes.

    Rein internally sighed. He wondered if Jory would feel overwhelming embarrassment once she regained her senses. He braced himself and picked up the wanton woman.

    Upon contacting the pink aurae shell, he could feel an assault on his mind, a lifting of his sexual inhibitions.

    His own manhood rose to a full mast, and he felt a desire to ravish, to ravage, and perhaps even, in a man¡¯s mind, sexually ¡®break¡¯ the woman in his arms.

    He barely retained his self-control, and exhaled as he lowered Jory into the large tub of water. He began cleaning the similarly lithe form of Jory with a wet cloth.

    Jory oo-ed and ah-ed the whole way through, and Rein sighed internally with relief. With the demon beast¡¯s saliva washed off, Jory should return to normal. He was wrong.

    ¡°So. Where¡¯s Suey? What happened to your twin sister?¡± Rein asked, assuming his ¡®ordeal¡¯ to be over.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you after¡­ if you satisfy me with this¡­ monster,¡± she whispered as she recoated her hands in a pink mist and reached under Rein¡¯s robes. ¡°I think I begin to understand why some women love advancers who temper their bodies~¡±

    Rein temporarily lost control of himself at Jory¡¯s actions and climbed into the large tube of water as well after quickly stripping himself of his robes.

    His mind cleared enough for a short moment of clarity, allowing him to lean back on the opposite side of the large tub relative to Jory.

    ¡°I had to employ seductive arts to escape the ancient dwarven ruins,¡± Jory explained. ¡°A typical downside of such magical arts is that, sooner or later, the user themselves need some sort of¡­ release.¡±

    She edged forwards to close the small gap, and partook in a sloppy tongue-lashing kiss with Rein.

    ¡°So,¡± she then whispered in Rein¡¯s right ear. ¡°You could think of me as just a bitch who has succumbed to her base desires.¡±

    She then dove her head underneath the water surface, oralling pleasuring Rein¡¯s rod as her tongue lashed about. She certainly was not mentally as experienced as Suey was, but her effort was no less.

    Rein could not resist holding down her head  and forcing himself down her throat. After twenty heartbeats, Jory was allowed to rise, the water rolling down her olive skin and raven hair creating an erotic sight. She coughed a few times, but she grinned happily and dove her head back underneath the surface.

    Rein had originally thought Jory to be of a completely withdrawn nature. He discovered that to be false, at least, if Jory overused her seductive art-- an art supposedly inherent and came easily to the twin ladies.

    ¡°Where is Suey?¡± Rein asked once again as Jory rose back above the water, and positioned herself in preparation to impale her body upon Rein¡¯s third leg.

    ¡°That dumb and careless bitch,¡± Jory bemoaned as she forcibly stretched her own honeypot to receive Rein¡¯s spear. ¡°She has forgotten the fates of our mothers, grandmothers, great¡­ she has succumbed to the curse of the seer. Now, I am left alone to carry on our monumental task.¡±

    Though Jory called her twin sister a bitch, Rein could tell that she was masking a deep sorrow, a sense of abandonment, and even anger.

    ¡°The curse of the seer?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Whe--heekh¡± Jory squealed as she successfully forced Rein into herself with her body weight.

    A moment of silence filled the tent.

    ¡°If I didn''t pick up that water-based body-tempering art¡­¡± The woman panted lewdly with a ragged breath. She probably wouldn¡¯t be able to receive Rein¡¯s abnormal rod.

    ¡°Where we come from¡­ our home is constantly under siege.¡± She now stayed relatively still as she allowed herself to adjust to Rein¡¯s manhood. ¡°Me and my sister¡­ we are the twin head priestesses of our temple of worship.¡±

    ¡°The elder twin would always be born with the ability to peer into the hazy future, and take up the main role of head priestess. The younger twin would assist the elder while being given the role of giving birth to the next generation of the twin priestesses. My body has long been engraved an art to guarantee the birth of twin priestesses.¡±

    ¡°The fate of all our previous head priestesses-- mothers and grandmothers and¡­ well you might say it¡¯s more accurate to refer to them as aunts, but we consider ourselves to have two mothers and one father-- is to see a false vision and succumb to said false vision.¡±

    ¡°Once such an event occurs, the head priestess always ends up walking to her torturous end. For example¡­ well-- my sister has already mentioned her horrible visions of her future to you. I need not say more.¡±

    ¡°You mean to say¡­¡± Reini muttered. Though he felt somewhat downhearted, his lower half could not resist the pleasure of Jory¡¯s inner folds, especially with Jory exuding a layer of pink mist.

    ¡°Yes. My sister¡¯s end is¡­ almost assured,¡± Jory muttered. ¡°I must give birth to the next generation of priestesses. My mate must be the one picked by the primary head priestess. As it has always been in all previous generations.¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°What?¡± Rein was baffled as Jory finally recovered somewhat and chose to fearlessly go all out. She lifted herself up with a moan before forcefully lowering herself down with a squeal. Not wishing to risk potential non-compliance from Rein, Jory poured more aurae to strengthen her pink misty aurae shell, bringing Rein to the brink of sanity.

    Jory would proceed to describe Suey¡¯s actions: Suey had traded her body to the Harvest Devil Ailehr, offering to allow Ailehr to freely possess her body, negotiating for Xeeseir¡¯s freedom.

    No wonder Jory considered Suey to be doomed. Ailehr, a quasi-telekinetic devil, has now imprisoned Suey¡¯s body, and would soon take possession of said body. As for the captured Lyne? She would, no doubt, be offered to the Dingien Clan.

    Rein could suspect this, because prior to entering Green Trout City, he had been informed by Master Yirn¡¯s investigations that a royal in Dingien Clan was cooperating with the devils out west, in order to gather more power for the ongoing tug-of-war between the princes of Minhr Nation.

    Jory¡¯s seductive art caused Rein¡¯s lower body to remain fully engaged in the current debauchery, while his head¡¯s original downhearted understanding of Suey¡¯s fate was gradually blanketed by a rising anger.

    He was, of course, recalling Suey leaving herself safely in his grasp while using her seer art to see critical visions, prior to the battle between Ailehr and Uni Sect¡¯s Bienze.

    After said vision, Suey had in no way communicated to Rein what she had seen, or planned to do. At least, Rein suspected that it was due to said vision that Suey had chosen her eventual course of action.

    This frustration wormed its way to Rein¡¯s hips, and his hands gripped onto Jory¡¯s hips as he lashed out with a twist of his lower half.

    A wanton yelp sounded through the central outpost.

    ¡°By the fallen gods¡­¡± Kurhz muttered atop the ramparts. ¡°That damn demon beast saliva must have some aphrodisiac in it. Perhaps part of the demon beast contract or something along those lines.¡± He flicked the sleeve of his left arm. ¡°Take out the silencing rods!¡±

    Little did he know it was something else entirely. Regardless, a marching row of silver-clad soldiers came forth and planted wooden stakes in a circle around Rein¡¯s tent, The inscriptions upon each stake lit up and Jory¡¯s squeals vanished from the ears of all others within the Halls¡¯ central outpost.

    Inside the tent, Jory was screaming her lungs out and her eyelids fluttered as she very nearly lost consciousness. Rein finally calmed enough to give the woman a rest.

    ¡°Xune¡¯s spear¡­¡± Jory whispered bashfully. ¡°No wonder my sister threw herself at you. Though my elder sister is all but lost, perhaps you were a successful vision of hers. As the remaining head priestess, I am of the opinion that you must follow me back to my home.¡±

    Rein doubted this to be true. Suey had never mentioned their coupling in said future visions. The primary reason for her approach must be something else.

    ¡°I have unfinished business here,¡± Rein grunted, feeling a deep sense of¡­ loss. He did not even understand why he now treasured Suey¡¯s company that much. Perhaps his soul recognized value while his mind lagged behind.

    Then¡­ a thought occurred to Rein. A crazy and half-mad idea.

    Is it possible that Suey¡­ intended to draw Rein to the Harvest Devil Ailehr¡¯s lair? The Harvest Devil Sect?!

    He suddenly recalled the words of Dujahrn, another member of the Harvest Devil Sect. That man, before his careless death from Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability, had mocked Rein for his attempt to rescue his brother.

    Supposedly, Saenise, that bewitching devil who had captured Jein in the now destroyed Golden Desert Town, had been sent to the devil realm. A realm belonging to some powerful ruling devil named Devil God Hehrn.

    A connection may exist in Harvest Devil Sect!

    This insane thought, though possible, only led to more baffling questions. Suey could have informed him of this possibility if she had seen such a possibility in her vision. There is no need to¡­ unless Xeeseir might have an important role in a future event?

    By now, Rein had begun to use Suey¡¯s actions to predict possible futures.

    Yet the more he thought, the more infuriated he became. Once again, he felt himself dancing like a puppet on strings to mistress fate.

    He hated it. The fact that Gent was somehow¡­ imposing certain wishes onto himself through the  draconic metamorphose bead that had transformed Rein. Dragonknight Zelli, though less direct, too, must have laid some sort of hidden groundwork that led to the current world.

    The events of the Golden Desert Town, to Rein¡¯s understanding, was an inevitable result due to Dingien Clan¡¯s internal conflict, and possibly, the inaction of other powers that be.

    Then there was Suey¡­ now also partaking in this unhinged sort of string-pulling game of fate.

    He absolutely detested the whole game. As he saw it, he only entered the advancer world to see out at least a hair of justice for his family, and primarily, to rescue his younger brother.

    All these brewing frustrations came to a head at this very moment, and the unfortunate-- or perhaps a rare few might consider this fortunate-- receiver of Rein¡¯s internal storm was the flesh of Jory in his arms.

    He stood up and lifted Jory into the air. He then promptly unleashed his deep frustrations into Jory¡¯s folds.

    A rather harrowing ordeal for the mostly inexperienced woman.

    Luckily, she shared certain similar traits as her twin sister, which eventually revealed itself as her lust-befuddled mind led her to scream for Rein to seed her such that she could give birth to the next generation of twin priestesses.

    ¡°Seed me! I, as a head priestess, demand that you obey and seed me!¡± Well. It would seem unlike Suey, Jory actually hid a level of pretentiousness behind her normally withdrawn demeanor.

    Without Kurhz¡¯s call for the silencing formation, Jory¡¯s scream of final pleasure would have caused the loins of all those within the central outpost to rise to a heated peak.

    Rein stepped out of the large tub of dirtied water with himself still buried within Jory, before lifting the woman and throwing her limp form onto the soft earth.

    He wondered if Jory was only normally withdrawn because of Suey¡¯s presence as the supposed main head priestess.

    Jory gazed up at Rein¡¯s hulking form, a hint of fear in her eyes. Her body felt absolutely ravaged. She had initially felt close to heaven at the peak, but now, her body ached like never before.

    If Rein had left her as such, perhaps this fear might have festered and been given a new harmful form.

    However, Rein¡¯s mind had somewhat calmed, and he admittedly felt guilty at having lost control. Thus, he bent down to gently pick up Jory with the aim of lowering her into the second tub of water, now somewhat cool, but usable for another round of cleanup.

    ¡°No,¡± Jory first muttered before uttering in a demanding tone. ¡°No! I must guarantee the next generation of twin priestesses. And unlike my idiotic elder sister, I understand what is necessary. You must¡­ ensure your seed stays within me.¡± She reached into her spatial pouch and withdrew a short rod-like object.

    ¡°You should serve me now,¡± She stated with a glimmer in her eye.

    Rein rolled his eyes. He had never expected Jory to have such a nature hidden behind her quiet facade.

    He cared not for its implications, grasped the rod, and inserted it into Jory¡¯s gaping opening to as she said, ¡®ensure¡¯ what she desired.

    ¡°Blanket!¡± Jory further demanded, and Rein, from his storage pouch, withdrew a warm fur to cover the ravished simultaneously absolutely filthy but lovely body of Jory.

    Rein opted to clean himself within that other large tub of water as Jory drifted off to sleep with her half-closed eyelids turned to observe Rein.

    ¡°Rein, my dear brother!¡± Xeeseir¡¯s voice soon sounded, and Rein exitted his tent. Once he did so, a number of silver-laden soldiers removed the stakes creating the sound barrier.

    ¡°You survived,¡± Rein simply replied.

    ¡°Suey sacrificed herself,¡± Xeeseir shook his head with a sigh.

    ¡°Mmmm.¡±  Rein explained that Jory had already informed him of Suey¡¯s actions.

    Xeeseir sighed and he shook his head a number of times.

    ¡°Many have sacrificed themselves to give me a chance. This time included,¡± he said. ¡°In some ways, I think they all paved the way. For me to accomplish something bigger than myself.¡±

    ¡°Bigger than yourself?¡± Rein himself was certainly feeling perturbed by his ties to the ancient past.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Xeeseir continued. ¡°When I was young, my older sister sacrificed herself to some noble, after I rushed into a conflict headstrong and caused unnecessary¡­ complications. Her actions guaranteed that I would have another chance.¡±

    ¡°I had friends who did the same for me, when we ventured carelessly into the western wilderness for a bit of glory.¡±

    ¡°I believe those before pave the possibility for something greater in the future. So it goes. Even if it may not be obvious.¡± Xeeseir patted Rein¡¯s shoulder, and sensing Rein¡¯s internal struggle, left the impressionable youngster with these words.

    Xeeseir sighed again and began setting up his own tent. The man must have experienced many difficult situations in the past, and well¡­ simply kept marching forward despite his unsettled heart.

    When Rein returned to his tent, Jory was deep asleep.

    Rein sat himself down on one side, and his mind returned to his connection to Gent, his connection to Dragonknight Zelli. The destruction of the Golden Desert Town.

    What is fate, really?

    Rein once interpreted it as some sort of omniscient being controlling his future. As such, he detested fate. For that would mean the fall of the Golden Desert Town was meant to be.

    Now, however, Xeeseir¡¯s words led his mind towards another interpretation.

    Rein¡¯s mind escaped into the very sky, gazing down at the world from a far-flung perspective.

    Everyone is born from their mothers¡¯ wombs, with the world in a state built and paved by those before. No matter who, they will have to live in such a world, and interact with and perhaps even be controlled by the dangling elements that are strings of ¡®fate¡¯, created by those of the past, no matter how limiting some of them may be.

    Rein¡¯s thoughts now turned to the zone between the Minhr Nation and the Zoh Empire to the East.

    Indeed, he had heard of the families and children inhabiting that region, often born not even knowing if they were of the Minhr or of the Zoh. Many of these children grow up rejected by those of both nations. This was common knowledge, with the Minhr Nation and the Zoh Empire having traded lands repeatedly over many centuries of conflict.

    This was the fate of those mixed children. To contend against such unfortunate circumstances. They can only make the best of their lives, with every chosen action.

    His mind began to expand. He realized that there was no need for him to rile himself up against supposed fate. He only needed to do what needed to be done. What he believed to be the right course of action.

    It mattered not what Gent or Dragonknight Zelli wished for. If he was pulled by a string to take certain action, it was fine as long as he himself believed such action to be just. If he was yanked by a string to take questionable action, it was fine to reject such an act as long as he bore the consequences with his back straight and true, even if said consequences were unjust.

    His path forward mattered the most. The will within his beating heart. To live and act with no regrets. One matter at a time.

    As Rein¡¯s will coalesced, he began to feel the aurae within him rising. And when he opened his eyes, his body was cloaked in a nearly-complete aurae shell of blackish-purple aurae, with sparks of orange lightning dancing across the blackish aurae cloud surrounding much of his form.

    An instinct entered his mind, and he hardened the blackish aurae cloud into a gleaming thick concentrated layer around his skin. The only exposed circular area that he could not wrap in this shell aurae was the top of his head, around a few fingers width in diameter.

    That meant he wasn¡¯t in the shell realm yet, but his mental elevation has gotten him much closer.

    He activated an instinctual art within the echo of the fallen god of his origin ability, and the blackish-purple shell roiled, before forming a gleaming dark mirror surrounding most of his body.

    Rein discovered that he could no longer see, and had to quickly remove the aurae layer from his eyes. Then, he suddenly began falling into the very ground!

    He panicked and attempted to disable the art, only to discover that he could not as he continued to fall into the earth.

    He gazed upwards, and activated his origin ability with his hands forming a circular dark sphere.

    He popped into the air, and he discovered that he now could disable the aurae shell. He landed back on the ground, slightly disoriented as he bent his knees to find his balance.

    The spring lady¡¯s words echoed in his mind-- spatial arts are supportive in nature, and space is something that objects exist in. Indeed, Rien understood that portals cannot close as long as a solid object occupied said space through said portal.

    Rein now recreated that gleaming dark mirror around one hand.

    He pushed this hand against the walls of his tent.

    Amazingly, his hand passed through the fabric. The piece of tent his hand passed through seemed to be all warped within the dark mirror layer coating his hand. Alarmingly, he could not disable the magical art.

    When he pulled back his hand, no damage was done to his hand or the tent. Without the presence of an object passing through the dark mirror layer, he could now cancel said art.

    He began testing this shell advancer art in various ways, and discovered that the dark mirror layer was like a portal. He could create these gleaming mirrors across various parts of his body with a connection, and objects that entered one area would exit from another.

    Truly a godly defensive art.

    Except for the issue of how he was not able to deactivate said art as long as an object was passing through the space-warping mirror surrounding his body.

    As such, he could very well trap himself or exhaust his aurae reserves under certain conditions if he acted carelessly.

    And of course, the exposed area above his head.

    Another potential problem was his inability to interact with objects with any body part covered with the dark mirror.

    Speaking of which, he was now completely in the nude due to his initial recklessness of covering nearly his whole body in the dark mirror.

    Rein redressed himself and began testing with partial small-scaled aurae shells. Indeed, his black-knotted jacket and Halls¡¯ robes would not fall off if he only created a dark mirror over his heart, and another dark mirror on his back, to ensure any weapons targeting his heart would pass through out of the portal on his back.

    The robes effectively clung onto his body through his shoulders and limbs.

    Rein suddenly understood Dragonknight Zelli¡¯s prowess against the dragons during her age. It must have been incredibly confusing for her opponents. To believe themselves to have delivered a mortal blow to Zelli, only for Zelli to reappear unscathed. Timely small dark mirrors hidden underneath clothing should be rather difficult to sense in the cacophony of an intense battle.

    Of course, in the case of Dragonknight Zelli, most attributed her resilience to her stone form and molten form. Rein suspected that the dwarf, in her days, must have abused this dark mirror technique without drawing any suspicion through such trickery.

    Rein closed his eyes. He also finally understood why Master Yirn had laid down the rule of rejecting psychedelics'' use. His mental state had risen to a vital degree this day. He might not have gained this much if he used psychedelics to overcome the gap between his previous advancer realm and the shell realm.

    But of course, this was not the end of his transformation.

    A will awakened within him. He no longer considered whether he should accept or reject fate. He no longer bemoaned fate, or held misgivings regarding the events that had imposed itself upon his life.

    He simply needed to take action. To ensure his heart remained his, content in his chosen course of action.

    And who is he?

    His father had taught him many things-- one being that a fair deal was always key for long term dealings with the northern desert tribes.

    Many northern desert tribes had ceased doing business with most merchants of the Minhr Nation, primarily because they later discovered they had been taken advantage of in agreed deals with a significant number of overly greedy merchants.

    For those northern tribes, these merchants¡¯ common excuse of, ¡°You agreed to the deal and should have known better,¡± was always seen as a joke. The northern desert tribes did not rely on administrative laws, but rather, simply, upheld values.

    To the northern tribes, such laws, rules and regulations, are built upon certain values to push for positive relations. If one technically broke no law, but desecrated said values¡­ From the northern tribes¡¯ perspective, this was as good as breaking said law.

    It was precisely the Hehr Merchant Family¡¯s-- Rein¡¯s father-- understanding of this that allowed them to continue trading with the northern desert tribes.

    And it was precisely this element that had long entrenched itself within Rein¡¯s heart. Ever since his hazy recollection of unjust expulsion from the household of the Hehr¡¯s supposed ancestors.

    This element now revealed itself, as Rein made a critical decision.

    Master Yirn had bid him to avoid using his origin ability, in fear of attracting unwanted attention.

    And the ghost of Dragonknight Zelli had implored him to not overly depend upon it.

    However, certain risks must be taken, so Rein thought.

    Suey had thrown herself at him with excessive devotion, and traded the place of prisoner with Xeeseir.

    It was only fair that he went out of his way to rescue the damn minx, regardless of what strings she might be attempting to pull.

    Rein had a wry smile on his face.

    Indeed, Suey had prepared for such a situation well beforehand. For when he now activated the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, he could feel the faint direction of Suey¡¯s location!

    Though Rein might not fully understand the origin of this advancer art, it was developed many years ago, and carried ancient qualities of magic such as tying together the souls of the ¡®slave¡¯ to the ¡®master¡¯.

    The typical long ranged sensory advancer art would require an outer advancer realm to execute, and it could be interfered with as well.

    This was why the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art was once seen in a much better light before it was used for more nefarious purposes.

    Obviously, it was far more limiting compared to all outer advancer ranked sensory arts, usable in all sorts of situations to search for every sort of target. The ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art only allowed one soul to sense another. Incredibly limiting in most cases, but perfect for the current situation.

    Rein chuckled to himself. Indeed, Suey was pulling his strings all along. Perhaps prior to his recent enlightenment, he would have reacted negatively to such a realization.

    He was no longer preoccupied with such notions of fate and string-pulling. Since Suey had shown such unearned devotion and had  never acted maliciously against him, then he would play along. At least, his heart felt it to be fair!

    He left his storage pouch within the tent, and even removed the protection of his Halls¡¯ robes.

    Though the watcher should generally not be able to monitor that far into the west, Rein preferred to be careful, to keep his cards hidden.

    He procured a horse from the stables, and galloped out of the central outpost, westward.

    ¡°The team I belong to completed a few dangerous tasks. Take my credits should it be needed,¡± Rein said he passed the silver-clad soldiers guarding the gate.

    ¡°Very well,¡± one of them replied.

    The silver-clad soldiers made no attempts to stop Rein.

    The Hall of Heroes was just such an organization. Its members simply needed to bring-- results! Those who carelessly charge to their death? Unneeded. But if they achieve the impossible? Elevated to the heavens! An endless test of one¡¯s prowess!

 Ch93: The Harvest Devils Heart

    Author¡¯s note: This is a trigger warning that this chapter may contain certain elements overly disturbing to the psyche as tagged.

    Jory would awaken to discover that Rein had ridden off westward back into the wilderness.

    She only inwardly sighed, internally bemoaning what she viewed as something akin to destiny. Her thoughts lingered on what she had always known.

    The head priestess--the elder of the twin-- of every generation always picked the mate for the twin sisters.

    The elder sister was to contribute a few descendants with unique traits to support the war effort, depending on how long they survived before succumbing to a false vision. The younger would give birth to the next generation of twin priestesses, and pass on the critical tradition and vital teachings.

    As for the world from which they came from? There only exists one society in that small realm-- theirs!

    This small realm of theirs traveled through a sea of chaos, a speck of dust difficult to spot, but always hunted.

    Every once in a while, their small world would come too close to a developed realm, and any forces they might have formed over the years would perish in defense. Not to win. Rather, to delay the enemy until their small world broke away from the draw of the developed realm.

    It was only through special methods that Jory and Suey arrived at the Fusion Realm. Methods only available to the temple and the throne.

    As for her elder twin sister¡­ Jory felt a deep sorrow. Every head priestess would run off pursuing some false vision, their skull filled to the brim with madness. As for the mate she had found? He would pursue the head priestess in madness as well, to their deaths. And so the tale ends. Generation after generation.

    As for Rein-- Jory felt only a tinge of sadness. Though she held no negative feelings towards him, she also did not hold much positivity either. Still, he is the father of the twin daughters forming within her womb.

    She had been taught from birth that it was her elder twin sister who would make the selection. At least, it was a man that had given her a decent degree of pleasure.

    As for his treatment of her elder twin sister? She did not necessarily see it as distasteful. Jory had grown up with her elder sister. In her eyes, this elder sister of hers was always overly reckless and undeserving of her position. Deep down, a part of her even thought that Rein was right to ¡®discipline¡¯ her elder sister.

    She once thought that she would be--and should have been-- the better primary head priestess. Her thoughts and desires soon faded once she learned of the fates of all the previous primary head priestesses.

    All this might suggest that Jory disliked Suey. That couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. Jory shared a deep bond with her elder twin sister. It was simply that¡­there were bound to be certain disagreeable factors between the two, having been born into their supposed roles.

    Jory sighed. No matter. Her task was done. She had employed her inborn seductive arts to ensure the Rein would not get cold feet at the critical moment. Or become distracted by the situation of the elder twin sister prior to the deal being sealed.

    She resolved to find an opportunity to return to her small realm and continue her duty as was taught to her beginning with her birth. Her people must continue. To survive another generation.

    -

    Xeeseir gazed westward atop the ramparts. He was aware of Rein¡¯s origin ability. He had seen Rein teleport that ¡®Javelin of Heaven¡¯ to pierce the chest of that careless outer-ranked Convergence Sect elder.

    Though his heart desired to provide more assistance, he also believed that he would be more of a burden with his skillset, for this particular situation.

    That was not all. His recent experience of being but a defensive tool under Harvest Devil Ailehr¡¯s hand caused him to have an odd feeling. The feeling of the walls closing in around him. He had won the psychedelic on entry to the Hall of Heroes. He had failed to raise his strength with said psychedelic.

    He couldn¡¯t shake a certain sensation. The sensation of his limbs being bound by the very air surrounding his body.

    Doubt gnawed at his mind, as his memories of all the choices he had made throughout his life  returned to the forefront.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Back in the Western Wilderness, Rein soon abandoned the horse and sent it back towards the central outpost.

    He only used the horse to travel a certain distance, such that he could begin employing his origin ability without eyes on his back.

    He apologized to Master Yirn in his heart for making use of his origin skill so quickly, breaking the promise to not rely on said ability. Though the man only considered him a half-disciple, that man did provide him with sanctuary and training at a critical moment of his journey.

    It was only at this moment that the effects of Jory¡¯s seductive arts began to wear off, and Rein¡¯s mental state returned to the norm.

    Rein was naturally¡­ perturbed, to say the least. His deceased mother was right after all, to ¡®train¡¯ him. Indeed, he always ensured that Suey would drink her vial of protection.  Jory¡¯s seductive art had certainly pushed him past a line that he thought he would never dare cross.

    As for how he now felt-- Rein was not at all sure.  The reason for this was that he had interacted with the northern desert tribes a number of times in the past, and learned of their different ways of life. Additionally, he had heard tales from the gossiping wives of many merchant families, discussing the many practices adopted by certain religious groups.

    To put it simply, Rein was aware of the existence of many odd practices in different areas of the Fusion Realm. He had no doubt that practices even more outlandish might exist in other realms.

    That is to say-- although he might not know of the complete circumstances behind the odd tradition carried by Suey and Jory-- he did not find it that bizarre compared to some of the other ones he had heard of.

    Many of these practices do, in fact, have some intended and unintended magical effect. Ancient ritualistic arts, so the scholars classify them as.

    Rein could only sigh as he focused his thoughts. A day ago, his mind might be trapped by anger after such a realization of Jory¡¯s purpose in using seductive arts on him. Now? His somewhat elevated mind moved past these bumps easily.

    What¡¯s done is done. Jory did not demonstrate any maliciousness towards him after all. His mind and body should be focused on preparing himself for the immediate delicate task of finding Suey.

    He first activated the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ to change his appearance to a fisherman he had seen in the Green Trout City. He adjusted the Shifting Mask to darken, creating the effect of a shadow obscuring the appearance of this fisherman¡¯s features.

    Then he activated his ¡®Aurae-restraint¡¯ skill, to minimize the potential of him attracting unnecessary eyes.

    Unfortunately, he was no illusionist like Master Yirn, and this was the best he could do to disguise himself. The ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ would not fool stronger advancers, unless supported by physical props.

    He then activated the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, allowing him to sense the direction of Suey. Truly an art with unique ancient roots. Surprisingly, the art pointed to somewhere in the North-northwest. Rein had thought that Ailehr¡¯s lair might be deep into the Endless Mountains to the Northwest. It seems that her lair was, in fact, east of the beginning of those mountain ranges.

    Initially, Rein was concerned that he might crash head on into a demon beast wave. With this direction, it should be rather unlikely. As far as he knew, the demon beast waves¡¯ target was the Xuere gap, and should not extend northward by much.

    His hands formed a circle as a blackish-purple sphere formed. A soft sizzle sounded and Rein teleported, a shadow flashing North-northwest, at an impossible pace.

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    The Harvest Devil Ailehr had long returned to her lair.

    The Harvest Devil Sect was, of course, built by her. Gathering numbers wasn''t particularly difficult-- once she gained some might and notoriety, many weaker souls abandoned to the Western Wilderness flocked to join her.

    As for the sect¡¯s appearance and location? An ancient battlefield.

    The area once had a huge battle between powerful advancers, taking the lives of millions of souls, leaving behind a deathly blood-soaked land inhabited by the remnant unyielding ghosts still holding onto their frail existences.

    That battle was ended by the power of a godly figure, who¡¯s palm, the size of a few thousand feet, collided against the ground from the heavens, forming a deep hand-shaped indentation in the earth.

    The blood of millions of advancers on the battlefield flowed into said hand-shaped indentation, creating a collection of vile aurae alongside the remnant ghostly wills of those filled with regret.

    Centuries ago, Ailehr had come to this place, seeking opportunity after being expelled to this god-forsaken zone. Many had told her that she was a reckless fool, but desperation caused her to take such action.

    She was fortunate, for she encountered a ghost willing to impart to her a unique set of ghostly arts, capable of sucking out the very lifeforce of her victims. Of course, it was not free-- a deal needed to be made.

    As for the details on said deal, only Ailehr would know.

    She then settled down within the plummeting indentation caused by the godly palm, for she discovered the vile energies within the blood seeped into the area, and was rather effective for her in learning her newly obtained devilish art.

    So began the Harvest Devil Sect.

    Since then, those that had gathered to her built living quarters against the cliff walls of the sunken palm. Certain extraction units were built to gather and allow the vile blood energies trapped in the surrounding earth to flow and form fountains, providing a foul aurae for the members to absorb.

    In time, a structure of power was formed. They were by no means orderly, and the members of the Harvest Devil Sect had little trust in one another. Most joined out of necessity or self-preservation.

    Of course, they needed to demonstrate some level of contribution to continue to remain here under Ailehr¡¯s protective umbrella. An umbrella now about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

    Ailehr had long foreseen such a delicate situation. There was never much certainty in the world of advancers. Especially in the case of devil advancers.

    She had made ample preparations. Her mastery of the unique ghostly arts had given her a slight head start in terms of soul powers, and she had used this talent to form a circle of mindless devotees.

    These mindless devotees surrounded her now, within a stone cavern dug into the side of the palm¡¯s cliffs.

    However, Ailehr was not the center of attention. It was Suey¡¯s immobilized body that had everyone¡¯s attention.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    She had been thrown out of Ailehr¡¯s portable prison space, stripped nude before being bound by four manacles, each attached to one of her limbs. The black chains attached to each manacle were then pulled taut through a number of contraptions, and thus her body now formed an X midair.

    Suey turned her head sideways, her cheeks red in humiliation, further accentuating her vulnerable position.

    She had certainly been exposed to a crowd before, but she had been in Rein¡¯s presence. Though others might not know, her visions of the future was the source of her heightened trust in Rein. Well, some might argue that visions of the future weren¡¯t always accurate¡­

    This was not the most humiliating aspect of her current situation though.

    Her heart was more burdened by the betrayal of her body. The flower between her long and slim legs was positively leaking.

    She wanted to blame Rein for inserting a sensitivity art into the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art engraved around her abdominal and upper thigh area, but deep down, she knew the truth.

    In the past, she had spared no efforts to peer into all possible futures, and nearly all of those futures had ended up with her home destroyed, and her enslaved, becoming nothing but a pleasure toy passed among the upper echelons of the advancer world.

    Despite it being a vision, and not reality, her mind had still ¡®experienced¡¯ those visions. The mind was, of course, linked to the body. Thus, her body had already begun to prepare itself, perhaps a protection mechanism or memory reflex of sorts. A betrayal.

    No-- Suey voiced to herself staunchly within her mind. This was completely Rein¡¯s responsibility. She forcefully repeated these words to herself, and felt somewhat¡­ better for it.

    Before her stood many women and men. Many of those men gazed at her with their crotches bulging in heat.

    These devotees had already been informed that Suey would be the new body for Ailehr. As such, they saw Suey in some way as the mistress they were enamored with. A twisted circumstance.

    ¡°Begin the examination. Nothing can go amiss,¡± Ailehr announced.

    A woman in black robes walked forth, flipped back the hood to reveal a pretty round face with soft brown eyes, a delicate nose, full lips, and silky hair that flowed to unknown lengths within her robes. She sank to her knees and pressed her forehead to the maroon stone ground before Ailehr, then rose back to her feet.

    ¡°As you command, Mistress,¡± Enhr obediently said.

    What a pitiful woman, Ailehr recalled. This woman named Enhr had been framed, and was now hunted by a sect within the Minhr nation after endlessly rejecting the advances of a man considered a key talent by said sect¡¯s hierarchy.

    She wasn¡¯t much of a devil, but she must become one if she desires to survive. Ailehr had chosen to offer her some protection for now, and guide her upon the path of the devil, due to Enhr¡¯s unique talents.

    Enhr had studied many arts that linked two or more together. Such as the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art.

    She first lit a number of additional candles to brighten the interior. The light from the candles reflected off the maroon stone-- originally black stone now turned red by the blood of a million advancers. This soft red glow casted an erotic glow on Suey¡¯s olive-skinned body.

    Enhr approached the bound and vulnerable Suey, formed a claw hand and gently placed the fingertips of her five digits on Suey¡¯s right calf.

    She brushed her fingertips up Suey¡¯s unblemished slender leg.

    ¡°What lovely skin,¡± She whispered as she turned her gaze to observe Suey¡¯s facial expression. Indeed, if not for that jagged scar upon Suey¡¯s right cheek, she would be the typical traditional slim-bodied jade beauty.

    As she closely observed Suey¡¯s expression, Enhr noticed that the woman had bitten down on her full lips to hold back a moan. Enhr was filled with deviousness, an aspect of herself that she had gained after being framed by her previous sect, and further cultivated with the guidance of Ailehr.

    Enhr could not resist now running the tips of the fingers of both hands on Suey¡¯s two lengthy legs.

    Suey began to squirm helplessly in her bonds until her body twitched in release after the relentless teasing of Enhr¡¯s fingertips across her inner thighs.

    Enhr giggled in amusement at Suey¡¯s responsive body. Inwardly, she considered the possibility of using some minx like Suey to entrap the man who had caused her such grief.

    She turned to see the male devotees helplessly adjusting their crotches.

    If one thought her own experience might make this sight uncomfortable for her, they would be wrong.

    ¡°Does it excite you men?¡± She simpered with a smirk, ¡°That before your death, you might have your mistress squirming underneath your weight in this responsive body?¡±

    These male devotees were to sacrifice their life energies, allowing Ailehr to quickly recover her previous strength after the supposed possession. Their minds though, had been altered, and thus was thoroughly enthralled by their planned demise.

    ¡°Enough. Tell me of her condition,¡± Ailehr herself was also entertained by this show, but she wished to know of complications that might arise if she were to possess Suey¡¯s body. It would be foolish to fully trust Suey¡¯s offer.

    Enhr nodded and proceeded to run her hands all over Suey¡¯s body, intentionally kneading different parts of her body, especially her full and perky breasts, as well as flicking the tips. Suey humiliatingly moaned as her sensitive body experienced a number of peaks.

    Enhr then muttered words under her breath, and her hand was coated in a powder blue misty aurae.

    She brushed her hand across Suey¡¯s abdomen, and the whole inscribed ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art appeared over Suey¡¯s skin.

    Enhr began to examine the inscription.

    In time, she turned back towards Ailehr and bowed with the fingers of her two hands hooked together respectfully.

    ¡°Mistress. Her body has been tempered by some water art, giving her flesh softness and flexibility that can dissipate much force.¡±

    That, Ailehr did not know. However, this was a boon-- ever since facing the six-armed form of Bienze, she had felt that putting in the extra effort for some type of body-tempering art might be worth it after all. Though she did not know of which art Suey practiced, switching to another water-based body tempering art should be a smooth transition.

    ¡°As for the enslavement art-- this is the infamous ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art as you are most definitely aware of. It is of the telekinetic level, making it impossible for us to forcibly break it. Within this ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art is the additional supplementary art that allows the master to increase the sensitivity of the sub.¡±

    ¡°Nothing more? Or suspicious?¡± Ailehr frowned as she asked.

    ¡°I sense some ancient ritualistic magic, but it is nothing but a lingering effect.¡±

    ¡°Then all that¡¯s left is to break the lock of said ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, yes?¡± Ailehr understood quite a number of aspects regarding these sorts of magical arts.

    ¡°Since the method of force cannot be employed, we can only attempt to imitate the lock. Else, after possessing her body, you would find yourself under the man that is her current master, even if your soul has changed,¡± Enhr explained.

    ¡°Begin,¡± Ailehr nodded. She knew much of this before, but needed to confirm the facts from one specialized in such magic.

    She thought that breaking the lock shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Elements of unique quality are rather rare, after all. It was only later that she discovered how wrong she was.

    As for now, Enhr flicked a sleeve to motion for those of the correct attributes to approach.

    ¡°Those of some level of mastery over wood, lightning or spatial elements step forth.  You will be adjusting your output levels, cooperating with one another to combine and create levels of elemental affinity, such that we break the lock on this ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art,¡± she ordered.

    A number of both female and male devotees stepped forth, their hands raised with a finger encased in a partial aurae shell.

    Enhr strode behind Suey and placed her hands over Suey¡¯s abdominal region, intending to sense the progress and give instructions to the other devotees.

    The devotees stepped forth to place their aurae-encased fingers around Suey¡¯s pelvic region, as well as to insert into Suey¡¯s defenseless opening.

    Her body having already betrayed her, Suey could only inwardly blame Rein for her responsive body, while simultaneously reassuring herself that Rein would not fault her for having such a body. No-- he would simply enjoy such a show before proceeding to punish her after. She would be fine, so she told herself.

    Meanwhile, Ailehr had moved on to another important task while her devotees attempted to break the lock of the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art engraved into Suey¡¯s body.

    This task, was of course, her cooperation with the Second Prince of the Minhr Nation. The object of her task? Lyne.

    She strode out through the doorway of Suey¡¯s prison, guarded by two devotees in  frayed black robes, before entering another prison cave close by, similarly guarded by two devotees.

    The areas she traveled through were also filled with the red glow of candlelight reflecting off the blood-seeped stone that filled the Harvest Devil Sect.

    Before her eyes was the ethereal appearance of Lyne, similarly bound just like Suey.

    Lyne¡¯s long hair was originally half silvery-white, half black. However, her recent exertions during the incident that is the dwarven ancient ruins had turned her hair a complete snow white.

    The Xuere scion¡¯s porcelain skin originally appeared overly pale upon her initial capture, but soon recovered a slight warmth after her icy arts had been sealed.

    Ailehr observed the noblewoman¡¯s body. Lyne certainly has a more fit and trim body with a wider set of hips that provided the woman with more stable footing to wield her icy sword arts.

    Well. With the exception of her ample breasts which could only be described as fattier with more width that slightly swayed from gravity. A contrast to her incredibly toned abdominals below.

    Ailehr was, of course, still weighing the possibility of possessing Lyne¡¯s body and reentering the Minhr Nation. Yet, she could not deny that the advancer icy sword arts that Lyne possessed within her body was of questionable value to herself.

    Finally, Ailehr snorted to dispel Lyne¡¯s worth as a possessed body. She was filled with a sort of derision at what she saw as this noble scion¡¯s naivety. The pointless pride in her station as the Xuere scion.

    Lyne¡¯s eyes were naturally filled with fear as she observed Ailehr¡¯s approach.

    Ailehr walked to the side of this crimson-lighted stony prison, and reached within a trunk, withdrawing a black whip.

    Ailehr chose Suey as her possession candidate. Not Lyne. As such, Ailehr now has no qualms with enacting some pain upon the Xuere scion-- especially with the urging of the Second Prince.

    The Second Prince had simply urged her not to break the woman. He desired to be the one to deal the final blow, so he said.

    ¡°Xuere Lyne,¡± Ailehr sneered as she swung her right arm a few times to adjust to the black whip. ¡°There is no such thing as a happy end for any of us. You should have accepted the Second Prince¡¯s offer long before this day.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s the Second Prince?!¡± Lyne fiercely breathed.

    Her livid expression soon weakened as Ailehr swung the black whip, a number of inscriptions lighting up to augment the whip, creating a short woop through the air.

    A smacking noise echoed within the prison cell as the whip struck Lyne¡¯s flat and sculpted abdomen.

    The Xuere scion was able to hold back a scream, which only caused Ailehr to become even more determined.

    ¡°Centuries ago¡­¡± Ailehr continued as she flexed her arm in preparation again. ¡°I, too, contended for the throne for my beloved son.¡±

    ¡°He was a noble soul. Of integrity. A boundless love and desire to improve the lives of those of the Minhr Nation.¡±

    ¡°He was murdered,¡± Ailehr swung upwards with her black whip venomously.

    Lyne could not hold back a scream as the whip sent an immeasurable pain through her loins when she was struck between her legs.

    As the pain throbbed through her body, her mind strove to comprehend this new information. Centuries ago¡­ that must be the previous conflict for the throne. Ailehr must be one of the queens from a long past era.

    ¡°A vicious betrayal!¡± Ailehr growled. ¡°My son was, at the time, allied with the current king against the other princes of those times. My son was willing to step aside, as long as certain reforms to the nation were guaranteed. Instead, he was killed.¡±

    ¡°I finally realized. That in this world. Only power and viciousness matters! What you--can-- do!¡±

    The black whip was swung again, and this time, Lyne¡¯s breasts jiggled as they were struck, accompanied by a distraught yelp.

    Ailehr gazed at the bound Lyne. The Xuere scion irked her heart. Lyne had a reputation for upholding the noble cause of defending against the Western Wilderness, hunting demons and devils like some kind of heroine of the Minhr Nation.

    Ailehr wished her son had been ¡®wiser¡¯, and hated that both he and herself had been a fool in the past. Just like the Xuere scion squirming before her.

    In Ailehr¡¯s eyes, Lyne should come to the reality that ultimately, she was just another piece to be used and put to the side in the current conflict between the princes. Of course, Ailehr¡¯s motivation wasn¡¯t simply that, twisted though her mind had become.

    ¡°Luckily, my son had descendents hidden away, and in time, they reappeared, proven to be of the noble Dingien Clan from the trace amounts of stolen dragon blood detected within their veins.¡±

    ¡°You-- WILL-- guarantee the Second Prince¡¯s ascension,¡± she declared. She then began a frenzied whipping of the ethereal white glowing form of Lyne.

    Lyne soon stopped screaming, out of breath from the repeated whippings of her body, as the pain continued to radiate through her beaten flesh.

    More humiliating though, was the beginnings of twinges of pleasure mixed in with the pain whenever said whip struck her breasts. A detail that Ailehr unfortunately soon noticed with Lyne¡¯s pink areolas hard as diamonds.

    Ailehr began to laugh, her shrill cackle rising, needles piercing Lyne¡¯s weakening heart.

    The devil placed down her black whip, and sauntered towards the bound Lyne, an evil grin on her face.

    ¡°No, no¡­¡± Lyne begged. ¡°Please, I--¡±

    Her voice was caught as Ailehrs thumbs and fingers pinched her teats tightly, before twisting and turning in a repeated assault.

    A final hard yank and tears rolled down Lyne¡¯s cheeks as she could only scream with honey flowing forth from between her thighs.

    Her ordeal, however, was not over.

    Ailehr, the Harvest Devil, hellbent on ensuring that the Second Prince, a descendent of her son, would gain the political alliance to guarantee his victory, proceeded to further push Lyne¡¯s mind to the brink.

    She disappeared behind the slumped Lyne¡¯s sight, who¡¯s ethereal glow had long been extinguished, her body layered with red welts.

    Ailehr appeared before Lyne with a thick needle, a foreboding smile upon her face-- a face that would occupy Lyne¡¯s nightmares.

    The contraption immobilizing Lyne was adjusted, and now Lyne¡¯s gaze faced the ground, her tits swaying downward.  Lyne bent her head back in a struggle to keep Ailehr in her sight.

    ¡°Just a gift for the Second Prince, I think,¡± Ailehr softly said as she pulled back her own robes to reveal her own pierced nipples, a simple rod with two secured ends in the gaps. ¡°Yours, however, will be large and beautiful rings. For the second prince to pull on as he so desires.¡±

    Another two screams would soon sound within the crimson prison, followed by the sobbings of a woman.

 Ch94: Infiltrating the Harvest Devil Sect

    It did not take long for Rein to reach the edge of the ancient battlefield within which the Harvest Devil Sect was located. With the impending demon beast wave, the lands had become mostly if not completely empty.

    He soon encountered the ¡®natural¡¯ defenses that prevented his entry.

    For one, the whole of the ancient battlefield was covered in a thick reddish fog while the ground was layered with decrepit armor and weapons of an ancient time.

    Rein needs to see the location clearly if he wishes to employ his teleportation skill to travel. As such, he could not simply flash into the Harvest Devil Sect, with his sight impeded by the dense crimson fog.

    One careless step and Rein discovered he had crushed the skull of skeletal remains.

    Another hundred feet in and ghostly figures began to appear in the surrounding fog. Rein was shocked to discover that many of these figures were stocky with a lower height. Dwarves must have fought in this battle, he surmised.

    Rein further examined these ghostly figures. No-- calling them ghosts would be inaccurate, for they all carried a vacant expression upon their misty faces. They are but lingering spirits formed by the will of those upon a reluctant death.

    This would change as Rein leapt deeper into the fog. The lingering spirits suddenly turned their heads towards him, and their eyes now carried a hatred, a desire to devour his flesh and bones.

    Rein backed out a few steps, and the lingering spirits returned to their vacant expression. These ghosts must have been commanded to protect a specific vicinity around the sect by Ailehr. That was Rein¡¯s guess as he recalled Ailehr¡¯s ghostly arts.

    Rein sighed as he considered his options. It would be foolish to force his way in, with so many lingering spirits tracking his movements in desire of his body. And if these lingering spirits had been overtaken by Ailehr, then Ailehr would be alerted if those lingering spirits communicated his presence.

    How do the members of Harvest Devil Sect travel through unscathed? Though Ailehr, the Harvest Devil, mastered a ghostly devilish art, the others who had joined the sect, most likely, would not have mastered ghostly-related skills.

    Rein soon had the answer, for the approaching sound of a cart entered his ears. He turned his head about, hoping to find some form of cover. Naturally, none existed in this area.

    But of course, he owned a ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯. As a last resort, he projected the image in his mind into this magical tool, and plopped down onto his side. His appearance now transformed into a skeleton encased in ancient plated armor, similar to those lying about on the ancient battlefield.

    ¡°Huh,¡± a shrill voice of a woman exclaimed. ¡°I never noticed this skeleton before.¡±

    Her words sent Rein¡¯s heart pounding.

    ¡°This damned place has always been filled with numerous skeletons,¡± the hissing voice of a man replied.

    ¡°No, no,¡± the shrill voice replied. ¡°We¡¯ve traveled south and sneaked through the Xuere gap many times to procure supplies from the Green Trout City. Entry from this direction into the sect--my memory of the placement of every skeleton and piece of shattered armor is perfect.¡±

    ¡°Except every desperate soul who wishes to join our sect carelessly disrupts the battlefield on their approach.¡±

    ¡°Mmmm¡­¡±

    Rein was lucky-- if that woman was by herself, she would no doubt examine Rein¡¯s appearance, and his shifting mask was unlikely to hold up against close scrutiny.

    Anyhow, a basic wooden cart pulled by a crumbling puppet soon trundled past Rein¡¯s illusory skeletal pose.

    The puppet was unique in the sense that it was formed by haphazard pieces of worn scraps welded together by an absolute amateur.

    The cart carried many supplies that Rein recognized to be purchasable in Green Trout City. His eyes were drawn by a much more sinister sight-- the limp bodies of many human bodies piled together beside the other supplies.

    At this point, the crumbling puppet stuttered to a stop.

    ¡°Damned puppet,¡± the shrill voice belonging to a thin and deathly white woman complained. ¡°If only we could use the zombies instead of this broken thing.¡± Her long-as-her-waist, black and somewhat frazzled hair swung about as she examined the crumbling puppet pulling the cart.

    ¡°You know we can¡¯t use zombies in the Minhr Nation,¡± a skinny man with a gaunt face replied. ¡°Senior is already doing his best to build these puppets.¡±

    The deathly white woman eventually gave up on identifying the supposed malfunction of the puppet and simply slapped the patchy puppet. To her pleasant surprise, the puppet began pulling the cart forward again.

    Rein observed closely as these two Harvest Devil Sect members entered into the zone where the lingering spirits would turn to stare at an enemy.

    That never happened, for the deathly white woman and the gaunt man both placed a talisman over their foreheads. The symbol upon the talisman glowed and dispelled the lingering spirits¡¯ attention.

    The cart also had a few inscriptions upon its body light up, preventing any drawing of the lingering spirits¡¯ attention.

    How incredibly troublesome. Rein realized that he had to take calculated risks to get both in and out.

    Rein was soon alone again as the two Harvest Devil Sect members along with their cart vanished into the crimson fog.

    After some thought, Rein disabled his ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯, and began rolling himself in the dirt. The dirt surrounding him, of course, carried the vile smell of the ancient battlefield. He also roughed himself up to create a disheveled appearance.

    He then simply laid down upon the supposed path that Harvest Devil members needed to travel through from the south to their sect.

    His hope was that other members of the Harvest Devil Sect would soon return as well.

    As luck would have it, his guess turned out true.

    ¡°Finally.¡± a man¡¯s voice of relief grumbled into the fog. ¡°We managed to return before the onset of the demon beast wave.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± The man leading his cart noticed Rein¡¯s limp body laying on the ground. ¡°Which desperate returning idiot dropped such a perfect specimen for zombification? A tempered body, that much I can tell.¡±

    ¡°Heh!¡± his partner at the back of the cart replied. ¡°Must be some juniors absolutely shitting their pants because of the demon beast wave.¡±

    ¡°Our gain!¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Devil Shihr will be ecstatic with this bulky tempered body.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not already dead, is he? The best wights and zombies are created from those that have just passed.¡±

    ¡°Oh please. It''s a strict protocol for all of us to kidnap and drug good zombie material.¡±

    ¡°More like the Sect Master wishes to check if there¡¯s any good man she can swallow before he gets turned into a zombie.¡±

    ¡°I would not mind dying under her hips.¡±

    The two men then cackled in laughter for a time.

    ¡°Refresh the inhibiting drug. For all we know, the fools accidentally dropped him many days ago.¡±

    ¡°Yes, senior!¡±

    Rein felt a sharp object poke at his arm. It failed to break his skin.

    ¡°By the Devil God Hehrn. Senior! This man truly has a good tempered body for zombification! This needle could not even pierce his skin!¡±

    Rein could hear one of the devilish men rummaging through his belongings.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    A hand and cloth damp with an unknown drug covered Rein¡¯s lower face. In order to put on a convincing display, Rein could not react-- he was forced to breathe normally, inhaling a rather sickly sweet drug into his lungs.

    The many orange lightning dragons within his veins roared in anger as they swarmed about in an effort to defend Rein¡¯s body.

    Though Rein had begun to feel slightly faint, he still had enough clarity in mind to recall that lightning carried certain defensive qualities against poisons.

    However, that battle was ongoing-- his body would feel devoid of strength for a time, at least.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose this really is a body that some juniors dropped accidentally. He did not even struggle against the delivery of the drug.¡±

    Rein felt himself lifted by four hands and tossed onto the cart. He was in.

    As for the cost? The orange lightning dragons in his veins were currently warring against the mysterious drug that had invaded his body. Though his body felt somewhat weak, his mind still had clarity.

    Rein internally sighed in relief. His risky method of entry was not a complete disaster. His heart gained more confidence, with the knowledge that heavenly lightning had been absorbed into his draconic lightning source. He had no doubt that this gave a unique quality and edge to the lightning dragons in his veins.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    The cart lumbered on. Rein repeatedly bumped against the other slow-breathing unconscious bodies on the cart. Bodies to be zombified or turned into wights, no doubt.

    Rein opened his eyelids by a hairsbreadth. Enough to catch glimpses of his surroundings while still appearing unconscious.

    He had to admit that though the place was sinister and vile, and its practices abhorrent, there was a certain¡­ striking attraction to the Harvest Devil Sect.

    A hand-shaped hole at least ten thousand feet across sunk into the ground, creating dizzying cliffs long littered with the settlements of the Harvest Devil Sect¡¯s members.

    As for the cart that Rein rested upon in a feigned unconsciousness? It descended down into the hand-shape hole across wooden bridges that zigzagged down the face of the cliff. These strung up wooden bridges connected platforms that served as guard posts, and swayed ever so slightly in a breeze, creaking alarmingly in Rein¡¯s ears.

    The crimson fog faded as the cart descended into the Harvest Devil Sect. After the time it would take to consume a meal, they reached the bottom.

    ¡°Junior. We head to Devil Shihr first.¡±

    ¡°Huh? But the Sect Master-¡±

    ¡°Devil Shihr has promised to reward me-- us-- if we bring quality bodies to him directly.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Yes!¡±

    The cart changed direction.

    Rein peeked at his surroundings. Many devil advancers lined up before multiple fountains of bloody liquid. It was obvious as to the reason for this. Even Rein could feel a source of thick yet vile aura from the bloody liquid.

    The cart soon entered a tunnel into the walls of a cliffside, and further descended before opening up into a cavern.

    In the center of said cavern was a humongous pool of murky and gooey liquid that casted a neon green glow upon the rocky walls.

    Before this pool stood a man of unique appearance. A man with a vibrant collection of hair sprouting from many parts of his body, including odd places such as his neck and shin. Primarily green, purple and red. Revolting, really.

    ¡°Devil Shihr! We have brought you a most wondrous body!¡±

    Rein was lifted by two pairs of arms and lowered before Devil Shihr.

    ¡°Perfect¡­Perfect!¡± Devil Shihr exclaimed as he pinched the skin of Rein¡¯s arm. ¡°Your rewards!¡±

    Something was handed over to the two men out of Rein¡¯s line of sight as he laid on a simple clean-cut stone block.

    ¡°Much thanks, Devil Shihr! I cannot wait to enjoy myself the next time we travel into Minhr!¡±

    ¡°Have you not heard?¡± Devil Shihr informed the two. ¡°The Sect Master has declared that she will not distribute the ghost-diversion talismans in the near future. Not until the demon beast wave has completely ended.¡±

    ¡°Then we will harvest the spoils of conflict between the orthodox bastards and the demon beasts!¡± Devil Shihr cackled in excitement.

    The two men had never participated in such a harvest before, and so did not understand Devil Shihr¡¯s excitement.

    Rein, however, was the one most uneasy from this news. He originally planned to obtain one of these ghost-diversion talismans to escape Harvest Devil Sect. If there still remained any in circulation, it has just become even more difficult for him to get his hands onto one.

    Talismans are of use for a limited number of times, or for a certain length of time. Indeed, the two men that had brought him here promptly discarded their ghost-diversion talismans once they entered the Harvest Devil Sect.

    ¡°Now leave!¡± Devil Shihr ordered as he gestured with an arm for the two men to leave him alone. ¡°I will immediately process this body! Don¡¯t disturb my work!¡±

    The two men apologized and bowed their heads three times each in thanks before hurriedly leaving the way they came, cart in tow.

    Devil Shihr unsheathed a blade. Of course, he needed to take Rein¡¯s life before turning him into a zombie! With such a fresh and tempered corpse, Rein would be one of his best zombies yet!

    Shihr held the blade in a reverse grip. The blade pierced downwards towards Rein¡¯s body, limp on the stone block.

    Instead of feeling the resistance of a human¡¯s flesh, Shihr instead felt the tip of his blade clash against a hard material, clinking against a stone surface!

    Rein had activated the ¡®dark mirror¡¯, connecting the piercing point of the blade, the skin in front of his heart, to a portal layered on his back.

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure as to the level of Devil Shihr¡¯s strength, but he had no choice but to take yet another risk. It was kill or be killed!

    To Devil Shihr¡¯s shock, Rein¡¯s body suddenly rose from the stone block, and two muscular arms reached forth as two hands grasped his throat!

    Rein was attempting to choke Devil Shihr to death. This also served the purpose of preventing Devil Shihr from alerting others.

    However, Devil Shihr was much tougher than Rein expected. Many of the Harvest Devil Sect members appeared deathly and frail, yet Rein discovered that their bodies carried a unique durability.

    Another issue was that Rein¡¯s physical strength had been somewhat restrained by the earlier drug.

    Though Rein had yet to learn any lightning-related arts of the shell realm, he still chose to send his draconic lightning into overdrive through his veins, hoping that it would further dispel the effects of that inhibiting drug.

    This proved effective, as Rein began to feel his strength recovering as he tightened his grip.

    Meanwhile, Devil Shihr, not aware of Rein¡¯s ¡®dark mirror¡¯ art, attempted to swing his blade, believing that such action would slice open Rein¡¯s internals.

    Devil Shihr soon discovered that he could not perform such action! He felt as if his blade was trapped in a narrow passageway, and could only move forward and backward.

    Rein¡¯s ¡®dark mirror¡¯ was, after all, effectively a spatial tunnel connecting his front to his back. It would not close as long as an object remained to pry open the spatial tunnel.

    As for breaking the walls of said spatial tunnel? Though possible, it would not harm Rein. That would only cause an opening into some unknown spatial dimension. At least, there have been cases where advancers battling one another while traveling through spatial tunnels carelessly broke said wall and threw each other into some mysterious chaotic dimension.

    Devil Shihr¡¯s eyes bulged under stress as he activated an aurae shell around his body. Though Rein was concerned as to what effects this aurae shell might have, his dragon claws only gripped with increasing force as his strength returned.

    Rein¡¯s physically tempered body had once taken the life of a few shell realmed Convergence Sect talents. Unless this Devil Shihr turned out to be an outer devil, or his aurae shell carried unique effects¡­

    An effect that Rein would soon detect as a vile aurae seeped into his body through the connection of his hands.

    Rein widened his eyes as he felt the flesh in his hands weakening. Though he had no shell-ranked lightning art, and only had a partial aurae shell, he activated his pure orange-colored draconic lightning to coat his hands and arms in a sizzling power.

    The invasive aurae was blocked and and pushed back with such ease that Devil Shihr''s face immediately filled with despair.

    Impossible. Heavenly draconic lightning?! These were Devil Shihr¡¯s thoughts as his vision swam. All devils feared lightning. Lightning was heaven¡¯s judgment upon their unorthodox paths!

    Devil Shihr gave up on attempting to slice through Rein¡¯s internals, and withdrew his sword from Rein¡¯s ¡®dark mirror¡¯ spatial tunnel.

    He now swung his blade to chop off Rein¡¯s two arms!

    Two dark rings formed around Rein¡¯s two forearms, a form of his partial aurae shell abilities. The blade passed through the ¡®dark mirror¡¯ as if his forearms weren¡¯t there. Meanwhile, Rein maintained a full-on grip on Devil Shihr¡¯s throat.

    Devil Shihr was naturally flabbergasted by such a sight. He had never seen or heard of such deft spatial-related powers with relation to the aurae shell arts.

    Rein took advantage of this moment of confusion in Devil Shihr¡¯s mind to twist himself behind the man, transitioning into a neck lock, his right arm wrapped around the devil¡¯s neck. This allowed him to exert far more strength to choke the man to death.

    Before his death, Devil Shihr only had a phrase in his mind as the blade in his hand dropped onto the ground from his weakening grip. Origin ability!

    Rein maintained his neck lock for a good few hundred heartbeats to ensure the man was truly dead.

    He then picked up the blade and began to slice apart Devil Shihr¡¯s corpse. No clear evidence could be left. He could not take any chances. He very much recalled how that devil named Blood God Hahrn had somehow survived and attempted a takeover of his body in the depths of the ancient dwarven ruins.

    As such, Rein ensured to split apart Devil Shihr¡¯s body. He crushed the devil¡¯s brain and heart. As for the smell? Surely, none in this devil sect would even blink at the iron smell of blood.

    By the end, Devil Shihr was unrecognizable, just pieces of meat and organs strewn over the ground in his cavern.

    Rein chucked the blade into the green gooey pool. He then activated the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ and transformed into the appearance of Devil Shihr.

    He could but groan, troubled by the limitations of the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯. Most members of the Harvest Devil Sect had frail-looking bodies, and Rein¡¯s tempered frame was simply too bulky. The projected image of Devil Shihr upon his body was unnaturally stretched. Only a fool would believe him to be Devil Shihr.

    As such, when Rein left the cavern and returned into the sunken palm zone, he stayed at a significant distance from all, hoping that such a distance would prevent too much scrutiny.

    Meanwhile, he was thinking of how to come into contact with prisoners of the devil sect. He soon had an idea-- food. Prisoners needed food!

    He slunk into a dark corner against a cliffside, and activated his ¡®aura-restraint¡¯ art. He was concerned that Devil Shihr¡¯s appearance might attract some attention. He needed to divert eyes and give himself the chance to observe.

    Luckily, Devil Shihr had a reputation of being unapproachable, for even those that noticed his presence from afar dared not come close.

    It did not take long before he spotted a bulky man in ragged clothing dragging his feet while pushing a tall and vertical wooden trolley. This bulky man was easily noticeable among the thin frames of the Harvest Devil Sect members.

    The man with a stubbled square jaw and shaved head appeared absolutely spent as if he was about to collapse over at any moment. Upon his right cheek was a crimson mark.

    Rein raised an eyebrow. He kept an eye on the bulky man, while re-observing his surroundings. Indeed, a few of the sect ¡®members¡¯ who behaved subserviently shared this crimson mark.

    Rein followed this bulky man into a different tunnel.

    The bulky man, once alone in the tunnel, crumbled onto the ground in exhaustion. It was only when Rein closed in with the image of Devil Shihr that the bulky man noticed his presence.

    The bulky man¡¯s eye opened wide in fear as he prostrated before Rein.

    ¡°Devil Shihr! Please¡­ please forgive my incompetence! I¡­ I am a worthless weakling!¡± The bulky man blabbered as he pressed his forehead against the ground. ¡°I will bring your meal to your chambers at once!¡±

    Rein considered how he should reply. His short observation of Devil Shihr gave him an idea.

    ¡°Slave!¡± Rein lashed out with a foot at the bulky man¡¯s head, sending him sprawling. ¡°I am beginning the zombification of a perfect specimen! Yet here, I find you resting in these tunnels!¡± Another kick was delivered to the bulky man¡¯s head.

    ¡°Mercy, Sir! Mercy!¡± The bulky man clutched at his head in pain as he returned back to his prostrating position and blabbered desperately. ¡°I am returning to the kitchen to pick up and deliver the most sumptuous meal!¡±

    ¡°I will give you at most five hundred-- no-- three hundred heartbeats! You had better hurry!¡± Rein delivered another kick that sent the bulky man sprawling once again.

    ¡°Yes. Yes, Master Shihr!¡± The bulky man croaked, winded by pain.

    Rein hurriedly returned to Devil Shihr¡¯s cavern. This sight wasn¡¯t uncommon to the Harvest Devil Sect¡¯s members. Devil Shihr has a reputation of being obsessed with creating various unique zombies.

    Soon enough Rein could hear the clattering wheels of a trolley approaching. Rein hid himself beside the entrance.

    The bulky man entered Devil Shihr¡¯s cavern, only to see dissected lumps of meat upon the stone block.

    Then his vision turned dark as he felt a force connect with the back of his neck. Rein had chopped down at the back of the bulky man¡¯s head with a blade hand.

    He then stripped the man of his rags and switched his own clothing. The very real rags would serve to support the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯¡¯s effects.

    Just to be safe, he pounded down upon the bulky man¡¯s head a number of times to guarantee the man¡¯s death.

    The bulky man¡¯s flesh was soft as tofu despite his frame. He turned out to be a mortal slave.

    Rein then transformed into the bulky man¡¯s appearance-- far more fitting for the frame of his own tempered body.

    He opened the food trolley and swiftly emptied its contents.

    He then pushed the empty trolley, imitating the bulky man¡¯s exhausted slouch, back towards that tunnel where he had seen the bulky man rest. He had limited time. Sooner or later, Devil Shihr¡¯s disappearance would be noticed.

 Ch95: Devil God Connection

    Ailehr was enraged. She wished to take out her frustration on Suey, but restrained herself. After all, Suey¡¯s body is her body.

    As for the source of her fury? The inability of her subordinates to break the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art engraved over Suey¡¯s womb.

    The art was engraved by two telekinetic advancers of the Harmony Sect, and as such, Ailehr could not forcibly break said spell without sufficient knowledge of the telekinetic realm.

    That was why she had resorted to picking the lock.

    Initially, good progress was made. Whoever was the key to said lock only had a miniscule affinity to most elements. The rather twisted part was that her subordinates eventually detected a high elemental affinity to wood, with the lightning and spatial affinity at a peak.

    It must be noted that the Hall of Heroes had failed to detect these attributes of Rein accurately due to Master Yirn¡¯s gifted necklace. However, the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art obviously captured these qualities.

    Ailehr¡¯s frustration lay in the peak lightning and spatial affinities. As devils, they feared the element of lightning, a judgment of the heavens. Those with a peak spatial affinity were also incredibly rare-- perhaps one in a billion. Ailehr would have coughed up blood if she knew that Rein¡¯s spatial affinity actually had another unique quality to it.

    As such, Ailehr felt a deep frustration, which she chose to once again release upon the other prisoner-- Lyne¡¯s-- welted body with a vicious whip.

    She began to doubt Suey¡¯s offer, but the woman only repeatedly stated that she was captured and forcibly enslaved, and carried no knowledge of the qualities of said ¡®master¡¯.

    Eventually, Ailehr lowered her pride and descended to the very depths of the Harvest Devil Sect, a cave a thousand feet underneath the palm print.

    Here existed a spherical portal to a hellish world, a fallen heaven of an ancient god, now a chaotic realm ruled by Devil God Hehrn.

    She beseeched the guardian of this portal to contact Devil God Hehrn for assistance.

    The guardian, a shadowy and indistinct form slowly nodded

    Though Ailehr could not see the guardian¡¯s face, she could tell he was full of derision for her current predicament.

    To Ailehr¡¯s surprise, a young and handsome man with sharp eyebrows, a pointed chin, high cheekbones and red lips warped in through the portal after a quarter of a day.

    Ailehr exploded out with her aurae tendrils, her spiritual sense, to discover with disappointment that this man was only a peak shell advancer. If he had any outer realm powers, it would be quite restricted.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± the handsome man snorted. ¡°You have no need to know my name. My task is simple. This¡­ replacement body of yours. I will repeatedly place a child within her womb.¡±

    ¡°The formation of a newborn will gather a unique aurae within the world, and by sacrificing this newborn, the creation energy will be directed to destroy the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art upon her abdomen.¡±

    Ailehr very nearly lost herself to rage at this point, but a voice at the back of her head reminded her that Devil God Hehrn would not show mercy if she rejected his methods after requesting his assistance.

    ¡°I see that you are dissatisfied,¡± scoffed the handsome and vampiric-looking man. ¡°Have you not walked the path of the devil for centuries? If this body is as you say, of high compatibility with yourself¡­ then such an opportunity should not be missed.¡±

    Ailehr clenched her hands to calm herself.

    ¡°Plus,¡± the unnamed assistance continued, ¡°When you took possession of your current body, did you have knowledge of how many times that body might have been fucked?¡±

    How coarse. By now, Ailehr was positively trembling, but she simply could not offend this man sent by the  Devil God Hehrn. Moreover, she needed to possess the body, and was out of ideas herself.

    ¡°You will eventually give birth to a child, and he will be of Devil God Hehrn. You will be rewarded,¡± smiled the handsome man.

    ___________________________________________________

    Finding the ¡®kitchen¡¯ of Harvest Devil Sect wasn¡¯t exactly difficult. A rather odd stench filled Rein¡¯s nostrils that led him to an underground room.

    A chef was slicing apart a human body with a large cleaver, cutting off lumps of meat and tossing them into a large black wok as he whistled.

    Rein barely managed to swallow his retching. Otherwise, his cover might very well be blown.

    When Rein pushed the towering trolley back into a kitchen, another lanky teen of mostly skin and bones, with quick movements began refilling every compartment of the wooden trolley with bowls of bloody meat soup.

    It was obvious what type of meat it was. Rein very nearly lost control again.

    He glanced at other areas of the kitchen and saw a number of other scrawny figures scurrying around, reaching into wooden shelves for various spices and jars of foul liquids under the chef¡¯s command--preparation of the ¡®ingredients¡¯ for the bloody meat soup. Rein even spotted a few eyeballs floating about within a glass jar.

    ¡°Dahsunz! Thank the Devil God Hehrn for your strength. Without you, our brothers would have long been exhausted to death,¡± this lanky man whispered with devotion in his eyes.

    This man¡¯s friendly words caused Rein¡¯s heart to sink. Rein had hurriedly taken the place of that bulky man named Dahsunz because he feared that others would soon notice the unnatural bulky form of Devil Shihr.

    Another part of him felt guilty-- it seemed that Dahsunz had intentionally taken on delivering meals to protect the others with his strength. Obviously, Dahsunz might be physically strong for a mortal, but it was nothing compared to Rein¡¯s body, which had been transformed by the draconic metamorphose bead and further tempered by the lightning energy within his blood.

    Still, Rein knew he did not have much choice if he wished to whisk Suey away from the Harvest Devil Sect.

    Rein gazed into that lanky man¡¯s eyes. A tension rose as the two stared into each other¡¯s souls. Rein could see a dangerous glint, a growing killing intent within the man¡¯s pupils.

    Had he been discovered so quickly?

    ¡°That damn Devil Shihr,¡± Rein suddenly croaked with a hand on his temple, doing his best to imitate the voice of Dahsunz. ¡°He viciously knocked me about with kicks to my head! Now, I cannot even tell left from right!¡±

    The killing intent within the lanky man faded and was replaced by an amicable smile.

    ¡°So. It is like that! Do you even remember my name?¡± he asked.

    Once again, Rein had to suppress his inner panic.

    ¡°Your face is familiar,  but I strangely cannot recall your name¡­¡± Rein shook his head in bitter dejection.

    Rein¡¯s words caused the lanky man¡¯s smile to widen into a beam.

    ¡°Tihz,¡± he replied as he patted his own chest. ¡°Well. Your memory will return. Have you also forgotten the map we all received when we were¡­ entered into service?¡±

    Rein rummaged through his ragged clothing and discovered a small stitched pocket. He had failed to notice it prior, due to the coarseness of the material. He withdrew a parchment that displayed the layout of the Harvest Devil Sect. The true Dahsunz had written many annotations, describing the preferences of the major devils in the sect.

    ¡°Chef!¡± Tihz hollered. ¡°Dahsunz¡¯s memory was knocked out of his skull by Devil Shihr! I will have to accompany him for his deliveries!¡±

    The chef, similarly dressed in rags, originally whistling as he butchered a human body, was immediately incensed.

    ¡°That Devil Shihr truly thinks with a bit of ability to create zombies, he can do as he pleases?! We¡¯re fucking overworked!¡± A vicious swing of his cleavers and a whole human thigh was dissected. ¡°Heh. He will be shitting bricks tomorrow.¡±

    Rein shuddered at these words. At the same time, he was also¡­ baffled that his ridiculous memory loss explanation had worked.

    Little did he know that on the dark side of advancers, there are many devilish arts that often cause one to lose their minds, whether it be a muddling of the senses or even memory loss.

    As such, those of devil sects saw this phenomenon as a norm.

    ¡°Allow me to ensure you go the right way until your head clears,¡± Tihz beckoned with an arm.

    Rein followed Tihz as they returned to the palm indentation zone. Rein pretended to struggle with pushing the wooden tower cart, panting like a dog.

    They soon entered a tunnel on the pinky finger of the palm indentation, and reached a cave covered by a magical defense.

    Rein glanced at the annotations on his map parchment. The devil here preferred to be referred to as ¡®O Corpse Bride Goddess¡¯. Obviously, that was not her true name.

    ¡°O Corpse Bride Goddess!¡± Rein prostrated before the magical barrier. ¡°Your servant Dahsunz has arrived to deliver your succulent meal.¡±

    Rein kept his head to the ground, and after a few heartbeats, the magical barrier to this cave vanished.

    In his peripheral vision, a set of pale bare feet belonging to a woman stood before him. Rein naturally dared not gaze up to examine this ¡®Corpse Bride Goddess¡¯.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for your pathetic worship. Hand it over then scram!¡± A soft voice hissed.

    Rein immediately stood, withdrew the wooden tray labeled with this cave number, and handed it over with his head still lowered, before falling back onto his knees, pressing his head to the ground.

    ¡°Hmph.¡± The woman snorted as she disappeared back into her abode. A few heartbeats later, the magical barrier returned.

    Rein stood up, somewhat nervous. He was initially worried that his cover would be blown in front of these more talented individuals given special treatment in the Harvest Devil Sect. The truth was that many never even bothered observing the ant that is Dahsunz. This would remain the case throughout Rein¡¯s deliveries.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Rein fell into confusion as he spun around. Tihz had vanished.

    -

    Not far along the tunnel around a bend, Tihz held a bamboo cup in his hand. The bamboo cup was filled with blood.

    Tihz brought the bamboo cup to his lips as he tilted his head backwards.

    His eyes lost focus for a moment as he savored the taste, lost in an euphoric dream.

    His appearance flickered and revealed the face and form of Beincen as his indulgence in the blood caused a momentary lost of control. The layer of bloody aurae mist regained form around his body as his appearance returned to that of Tihz.

    Blood Devil Hahrn had successfully overtaken Beincen¡¯s body. The Larne scion¡¯s will was weak, and caved under the presence of the dark dragon.

    As for why Blood God Hahrn had infiltrated the Harvest Devil Sect?

    The truth was that the Blood Devil Sect had always desired to capture the Harvest Devil Sect, for the vile blood that filled this very ancient battlefield.

    There was one major problem-- those of the Blood Devil Sect could not control the ghosts and spirits that still occupied the battlefield. As such, they had no hope of controlling the area.

    Thus, only Ailehr with her ghostly arts could control this region.

    Ailehr naturally would not allow those of the Blood Devil Sect into her territory. The primary reason was that devils who practiced blood arts would absorb the very blood itself, and drain the ancient battlefield of its sustenance.

    The members of Harvest Devil Sect might use the vile aurae pouring from the blood fountains to grow, but the blood itself would be returned into the ground, replenishing itself with the vile aurae of these lands.

    Blood God Hahrn, now stuck in the body of Beincen, wished to rapidly recover his strength. He had fallen to this middle realm, and then unexpectedly suffered further losses against the Blissful Endflower.

    In fact, Hahrn had initially considered replacing the original Dahsunz, but he knew he had too much pride-- he would not be able to survive the process of kneeling before every single one of these talentless hacks without lashing out and revealing his true identity.

    Thus, he was absolutely euphoric when he discovered that Dahsunz had lost his memory. Now, as Tihz, he could accompany Dahsunz, and steal blood from those that Dahsunz would serve.

    He slipped in undetected once the ¡®Corpse Bride Goddess¡¯ removed the magical barrier, and quickly stole some of her stores of unique blood. Already, he felt addicted to the unique blood extracted by the Harvest Devil Sect.

    His mind wandered, recalling how he had lost one of his rings to a young man. He wasn¡¯t sure how that young man had survived his soul fragment¡¯s invasion, as said soul fragment had vanished, failing to communicate the circumstances.

    Still, he had left an imprint within said ring, and would become aware of its location within a certain range.

    As for House Larne? Hahrn had every plan to bend its members to his will in his return to glory.

    -

    Tihz soon reappeared before Rein, and the two moved on without a word. Rein assumed that Tihz had disappeared, not wishing to lower his head before the ¡®Corpse Bride Goddess¡¯.

    After some time, Rein successfully delivered most of the human meat soup, surprisingly without much complication.

    Along the way, he had received a number of kicks, not of any threat to his tempered body. He made a good show whining and grunting with all these boots-in-the-face, to avoid raising suspicion.

    Unlike Blood God Hahrn, Rein cared not for pride. He only cared for his goal-- rescuing the imprisoned Suey.

    Unknown to Rein, Hahrn, in the form of Tihz would take advantage of his deliveries to plunder some stores of blood from every individual.

    As they descended, Rein noticed on the map parchment, a pathway that was marked with a red sign to signal that one should avoid this area.

    Curiosity got the better of him, thus he followed the pathway that eventually led to a set of descending steps. He opened a tray and picked up a random bowl of human soup and proceeded downwards. At some point, Tihz flinched and told him to go on alone with a resplendent smile.

    Rein would reach an incredible depth of a thousand feet, finally reaching a cave. He was shocked to discover a spherical portal, supported by many inscriptions on a ground formation surrounded by four stone pillars.

    ¡°You should not have come,¡± a sinister voice crackled in Rein¡¯s ears.

    Rein immediately dropped to the ground as his mind recalled the words of Dujahrn, the Poison Germination Devil. That devil, prior to his careless death, had mentioned that Saenise was sent to some Devil God.

    He offered up the bowl of human soup to the sinister voice.

    ¡°S-senior,¡± he stuttered. This was no act. He was naturally nervous of this unknown devil. ¡°The beauty Saenise¡­ I wish to know if she¡¯s¡­ doing well¡­¡±

    This was the lie that he had come up with on the spot, hoping to gain some information. Saenise, the kidnapper of his younger brother, had been supposedly sent to another realm.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The sinister voice cackled in amusement. ¡°Saenise failed to protect a noble son, and thus ruined the Devil God¡¯s plans. She and all her spoils now belong to the Devil God!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Rein clutched at his head. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that she will marry that young handsome boy?! I¡¯m much better!¡±

    Rein wasn¡¯t sure how to obtain information on his younger brother without appearing overly suspicious. He could only make up such a ridiculous accusation.

    Well-- it was not entirely absurd. There have been female fallen devils that have kidnapped young boys and raised them into their companions. Naturally, male fallen devils did so as well.

    The sinister voice cackled even louder. It was rather astonishing how such a sinister laugh could be also filled with such resounding mirth.

    ¡°That young boy was her spoils, and thus has already been sacrificed to the Devil God as part of her punishment!¡± This was what the sinister voice said after calming himself.

    Rein¡¯s heart sank like a rock. That was the reality.

    Though the fallen devil guarding this spatial portal sensed Rein¡¯s leaking downhearted mood, his interpretation was rather off.

    ¡°Hah!¡± He sneered, his shadowy hand making a chopping motion. ¡°Were you infatuated by her beauty? We abandon the orthodox path, become devils, because we understand the truth of this world.¡±

    ¡°Rules are imposed by the strong on the weak. We fallen devils are borne of desperation, forced to the edge of the cliff by these sanctimonious orthodox swines and their so-called world order!¡±

    ¡°Trust in that devil within your heart, and perhaps if you become a telekinetic devil, you¡¯ll be able to snatch the beauty Saenise!¡±

    He then laughed again, but then he suddenly became silent.

    ¡°Now-- get out!¡± The sinister voice roared.

    Rein grunted as he suddenly felt a force fling him backwards. It wasn¡¯t a particularly strong force relative to his tempered body. That devilish guardian never intended to harm the ¡®mortal¡¯ who had delivered him a bowl of good soup.

    Some assume that fallen advancers would simply kill randomly. That couldn¡¯t be further from the truth.

    One of the primary goals of the devil path was, in fact, to give birth to many more fallen devils. That meant twisting the very minds of others to share in their own belief and perspective of the world.

    The shadowy guardian was attempting to do just that. If this mortal, named Dahsunz, were to struggle desperately¡­ Perhaps in the future, he would no longer be a slave, but become a devil advancer who would bring chaos and further the devil path.

    Rein would soon come to understand this aspect of the fallen devils once he reached the set of caves housing the prisoners of the Harvest Devil Sect. For in one of these caves were a number of kidnapped children, being trained by a fallen devil!

    Though Rein was sickened to his stomach, he had to maintain his cover. Both him and Tihz nonchalantly watched as the devil instructor gestured for Rein to place a bowl of human meat soup before each child kneeling in an orderly fashion.

    ¡°Eat. Eat!¡± the fallen devil ordered with an evil grin. ¡°This meat is the flesh of your fathers. The flesh of your mothers! Once you devour them, your parents will be forever with you in your body! They will become your strength!¡±

    Rein barely controlled his own expression upon witnessing this scene. But he had to move on, powerless.

    In the following prison cave, Rein was shocked to recognize a few faces. These faces belonged to a few members that had joined the Hall of Heroes, the same cohort as Rein. They were all bound in a set of manacles, which Rein suspected to restrict their aurae.

    Rein¡¯s eyes were drawn to a most noticeable figure that was Shizr. This was the aspiring monk who had tested himself against Suey¡¯s seductive arts, completely failing to control his own desires.

    Rein could still clearly recall what the monk had said that day-- at least, his own interpretation of his words. Shizr had stated that human sexual desire simply existed, a trait inserted by the fallen gods, to ensure that humans would procreate and be ¡®sustainable¡¯.

    Shizr had stated that he desired to rise beyond the control of human creation.

    Well¡­ he had failed to resist Suey¡¯s seductive art.  It was quite likely that Shizr was captured by a devil of seductive arts. Perhaps Shizr was precisely aware of his weakness, thus leading to his determination to rise above it.

    Rein thought that his presence-- Dahsunz¡¯s presence, would at least not draw any ire, with his status being that of a lowly slave.

    Not so. He was met with many hateful stares from the faces of various originally listless orthodox advancers.

    ¡°You evil bastards,¡± Shizr weakly but heatedly grumbled. ¡°Do you think us fools? To consume human meat to stave off our hunger just this once?¡±

    ¡°We know once we cross such a line, it may very well lead to the crossing of many other lines until we become fully devils!¡± Another orthodox disciple spat in anger. A closer look and Rein recognized the sigil of this disciple to belong to that of the Uni Sect.

    Indeed, if they resorted to consuming human meat in their current predicament, then it was possible for them to consider doing similar questionable actions in future desperate situations. Then, there would truly be no turning back.

    Rein finally understood how these prisoners were being tortured.

    ¡°They¡¯ll break, sooner or later,¡± a prison guard snickered at the entrance to this cave. ¡°They all do!¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± As Rein was about to leave, that prison guard gestured for him to stop. ¡°Place a few bowls on the ground to entice them.¡±

    Rein did so, knowing that the smell would further humiliate these prisoners.

    At this point, Tihz seemed to have lost interest in their meal delivery task.

    ¡°I will return first.¡±

    Rein did not even have the chance to thank the man before Tihz rushed off in a hurry. Of course, Rein had no idea that Tihz was in fact Blood God Hahrn in the body of Beincen.

    For Hahrn, there was no good blood to steal from the prison area. He had followed along to steal good quality blood from the Harvest Sect disciples deserving of being served daily meals by the chef.

    The normal blood fountains in the open air palm area were the lowest of quality-- Blood God Hahrn had no interest in that crap.

    Rein pushed his wooden tower trolley around a bend in the underground tunnel, and came before a cave with two guards and a magical barrier formed by inscriptions lining the opening of the cave.

    The prisons for the previous prisoners had no such protections, relying thoroughly on the manacles to keep the prisoners suppressed. Clearly, whoever was in this cave was a much more important person.

    These prison guards were all dressed in worn black-hooded robes.

    ¡°You are to enter and force feed the prisoner,¡± a black hooded guard said.

    ¡°The sect master has ordered that you, lowly slave, are free to perform any act, with the exception of taking her virginity,¡± the other black hooded guard stated before warning in a low tone, ¡°The Harvest Devil will take your life if you go past the line.¡±

    Rein was bewildered. His mind spun and he came to an understanding. Dahsunz¡¯s position was a lowly slave. The Harvest Devil must be using a lowly slave to pile further humiliation to whoever was inside this prison cave.

    A black-hooded guard raised a totem and inserted it into a hole on the tunnel wall. The inscriptions on the totem lit up as the magical barrier faded.

    ¡°Tell us when you¡¯re done,¡± a black-hooded guard chortled, ¡°Her piteous pleading and whining  was simply¡­ lovely. Ensure you perform your role!¡±

    Rein¡¯s heart shook. If he, in the guise of a lowly slave, was being used to humiliate this prisoner, then it was obvious that these two black-hooded guards must have been given the opportunity to do so as well. Perhaps they did so whenever they grew bored of their guard duties!

    No wonder, these two black-hooded guards seemed to be in rather content moods.

    He pushed his wooden trolley in and the magical barrier reformed behind him. The two black-hooded guards glanced at one another with twitching grins.  They would certainly be able to take joy in the beauty¡¯s loud wails despite the magical barrier. That, too, provided them with much joy and amusement.

    Rein¡¯s heart would be shaken again as he found a slumped Lyne imprisoned in the center of the cave.

    Two tall pyramidal stone pillars rose high above, and chains from the tippy top of these two pillars were connected to the manacles on Lyne¡¯s two wrists. These chains were pulled taut such that Lyne could barely touch the stone ground with her toes, a torturous position.

    Rein was most saddened by the fact that Lyne no longer carried her usual cool bearing. Her nude body of snow-white porcelain skin was covered by streaks of dirt and¡­ what Rein recognized to be fluids from men.

    Her teats even had large metallic rings attached, and her nipples were red and puffy, no doubt, from the rings being¡­

    Rein¡¯s heart clenched.

    Lyne¡¯s ears picked up Rein¡¯s approach, and when she lifted her head, Rein saw a pair of bleary and lifeless eyes.

    ¡°Please¡­Please!¡± Lyne began to wail. ¡°Don¡¯t force me to eat anymore!¡±

 Ch96: Hidden Blood

    Dried tear tracks lined with dirt covered Lyne¡¯s cheeks-- she had no more tears left.

    The hatred suppressed within Rein¡¯s heart rose. Lyne¡¯s words caused his whole body to tremble in rage. Already, she had been forced to consume bowls of human meat soup as a mindbending torture.

    These damn devils were also partly the cause of the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction.

    Naturally, Lyne¡¯s torment was designed by Harvest Devil Ailehr, to ensure that Lyne would become nothing but a compliant tool under her descendent, the Second Prince.

    After his training under the half-senior Chenhr, a part of Rein¡¯s mind always remained clear. Otherwise, he would have lost control by now and exposed himself. He took deep breaths to control his mind.

    Rein came to rescue Suey. With his current limited abilities, he simply had zero ability to rescue a second captive. He realized that at best, he could only give Lyne a half-chance at escape.

    Some might consider these thoughts of Rein to be self-limiting. The reality, unfortunately, was that though one should never put a limit on their imaginations¡­ a limit certainly existed.

    Take Rein¡¯s desire to rescue his younger brother Jein, for example. Though Rein wished to identify the exact situation of Jein and rescue his younger brother immediately¡­ that was simply impossible as of now. It might become possible in the future, but not now. Even then, it might very well be too late.

    Reality was simply that harsh. Currently, Rein was not even certain he could escape with Suey. He was placing his bet on his origin ability, an echo of a fallen god. He had a feeling that his half-senior Chenhr would criticize him for being so dependent on an attention-drawing ability.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let her enchanting wails soften your heart, slave!¡± A voice of a black-hooded guard hollered in. ¡°We expect to have our ears filled with her wondrous screams! Remember your orders! We can easily replace you with another willing slave!¡±

    These words were to ensure that Rein, as the lowly slave that is Dahsunz, yet to display true devilish qualities, would not have a soft heart.

    If not for Harvest Devil Ailehr¡¯s command, these two guards would have long entered to directly enjoy the show.

    Ailehr had warned the guards of this prison cave that if they were careless, they¡¯d lose their heads. These guards needed to prevent some fearless devilish members within the sect from approaching, as well as potential Xuere spies.

    As for Rein, or rather, Dahsunz¡­ Though Rein now stood at the peak of the inner realm, the inner realm is very much considered to be the mortal realm.

    Most mercenaries and bandits that plagued the secular world are of mid-to-high inner realm. As such, these two guards had a ¡®normal¡¯ feeling of Rein as Dahsunz.

    Rein intentionally deactivated his ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ to reveal his true identity to Lyne.

    To his confusion, it wasn¡¯t just hope that entered Lyne¡¯s pupils. There was a trace of anger and dissatisfaction as well.

    Rein sighed as he carried a bowl of human meat before the suspended Lyne.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± That was all he could say as he dipped a spoon into this bowl of human meat soup. ¡°You¡¯ll need to pretend to be tortured. As for this bowl, it will need to be empty.¡± Those two guards already examined the wooden tower cart, and would most certainly notice if Lyne was not fed. This prison cave itself had no areas to conveniently dispose of the bowl of human meat soup.

    ¡°No. Please!¡± Despite knowing Rein¡¯s true identity, Lyne still wailed like a mother who had lost her son.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Rein once again apologized. ¡°If I do not exit with an empty bowl, I might lose my life.¡± There was nowhere to discard this bow of human meat soup.

    ¡°This is all your fault,¡± Lyne¡¯s voice sank to a whisper. ¡°The Second Prince would not have taken such action if you¡­¡± Ailehr had revealed the coming of the Second Prince during her torment of Lyne.

    ¡°What?¡± Rein also lowered his voice to ensure the two black-hooded guards outside would not hear their conversation.

    ¡°If you had just taken my virginity and placed a child in my womb after that battle against the three-head cobra, none of this would have happened¡­¡± Though Rein had noticed a trace of anger in Lyne¡¯s eyes, her words came out as a broken whine instead.

    Rein was silent. Indeed, after their battle against the three-headed cobra, Lyne did come into his tent and attempt to seduce him into losing control of his faculties. At the time, Suey laughingly hypothesized that Lyne saw Rein as a key to her escape from the politics afflicting the Xuere Clan. It now seems that she wasn¡¯t far off the mark.

    As for the exact reason that Lyne had selected him? Rein couldn¡¯t be sure.

    Rein was sure that many assumed him to be a depraved man due to his acts of perversion with Suey. The truth was that he was simply used to these sorts of displays due to his merchant days. You could say it was a questionable merchant ¡®culture¡¯, to employ seduction to influence business deals, as well as satisfy those with money to surround themselves with women.

    As for Rein? The reality was that he wasn¡¯t sure why Suey had thrown herself at him, and initially wished to scare the minx away using those depraved acts. It was only after that he somewhat accepted Suey. She even expressed her love for their ¡®play¡¯, which she felt helped her mind contend against her experience as a sex slave in those visions of possible future she had foreseen. Thus, the debauchery continued under that twisted cause.

    Regardless, when it came to Lyne, Rein wasn¡¯t going to simply welcome another woman simply because she was some recognized jade beauty throwing herself into his arms, especially since he knew little about the woman¡¯s background and reason.

    Still, Rein now felt some level of guilt. It was true, to an extent, that he could have prevented the current circumstance, twisted as the required action might be.

    He glanced at the bowl of human meat soup in his hands, very much regretting leaving all of his belongings back in the central outpost. If he had brought a spatial pouch¡­ No. He would already have been robbed by the devils in this sect if he brought in a spatial pouch.

    ¡°At least make sure to scream and wail,¡± Rein sighed as he dipped a spoon into the bowl of human meat soup, while Lyne was ashened.

    His next action caused Lyne to close her lips and widen her eyes.

    Instead of force-feeding Lyne the boiled human meat, Rein brought the spoon to his own mouth.

    Rein dared not chew the small lump of human meat, and his facial and neck muscles twitched as he forcefully swallowed.

    Most disturbing was the fact that it did not taste bad at all. There was even a sort of¡­ sickening fragrance on his tongue.

    Lyne began to theatrically wail as he continued to force-feed himself. His tempered body allowed him to control his muscles with precision to prevent the bile from his own stomach from rising.

    After an eternity, there was one final piece of human meat, and Rein took deep breaths to calm and control himself.

    ¡°Give it to me¡­¡± Lyne ceased her wailing and muttered. ¡°You must give it to me.¡±

    Rein gazed into her eyes, and in there, he observed that a flicker of determination had returned.

    As such, he fed the final lump of meat to Lyne, who forcefully swallowed it.

    Rein sighed. He desired for the cool demeanor of Lyne to return. After all, that was a part of her attractiveness. He considered what he could do to give Lyne a bit of a boost.

    As such, he removed the rags that covered his manhood, before kneeling before Lyne.

    ¡°Go ahead. Use your feet,¡± Rein said. This was a sort of play that some within merchant families engaged in. Some men might feel humiliated to partake in such a play, but Rein cared not. In his eyes, it was all just a bit of fun. Currently, he felt that this might be what Lyne needed. He doubted words alone would be of much comfort.

    Lyne was naturally astonished by Rein¡¯s actions, but she recalled how she had used her cold breath to play with Rein¡¯s desires once before, a complete and rather satisfying control over the twitching of Rein¡¯s tempered girth.

    Thus, she found renewed strength to balance herself on her left foot as she lifted her right foot and placed it against Rein¡¯s rising rod.

    ¡°To have a cool heroine who has slayed so many demons and devils in the western wilderness before me is a heavenly blessing,¡± Rein commented in the low voice.

    ¡°Mmmm.¡± Lyne bit her lips as she both saw and felt Rein¡¯s thick member twitching under her foot.

    She regained a degree of poise as she began to move her foot with a bit more force, batting Rein¡¯s manhood to the left and right, up and down, pressing the thick member between her own foot against Rein¡¯s thighs and abdomen.

    Rein¡¯s rasped as he flexed his member to extend Lyne¡¯s playtime. He wished for Lyne to recover her mind. The reaction of his dragon certainly brought a bit of mirth back into Lyne¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Let me tell you a secret, Rein,¡± Lyne whispered after screaming a bit to satisfy the guards outside.

    Rein nodded.

    ¡°My father abandoned my family many years ago in order to avoid the previous internal conflict of the Minhr succession. My clan¡¯s loyalty was doubted and we were sent to guard against the west.¡±

    Her foot increased in tempo as Rein¡¯s eyes ran across her fit and toned long legs, up to her exposed honeypot between her thighs. Unlike the rather discomforting ogling of some of her previous suitors, she instead felt an unexplained deep satisfaction under Rein¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°I was thus forced to carry Xuere Clan¡¯s torch, to display our commitment to defending the western gap into the Western Wilderness.¡±

    ¡°The truth is¡­ after slaying demons and devils for many years since my adolescence, I began to grow weary, imagining what might happen to me if I were to fall.¡±

    ¡°I will never fall to this¡­ damn beast,¡± she hissed with a small smile as she used her foot to pull at the skin over Rein¡¯s dragon.

    ¡°But. It may temporarily tame me. Many times,¡± she slyly added.

    Her words brought Rein to a peak, and his fluids burst out to cover Lyne¡¯s toned legs in a sticky white shower.

    Rein was relieved that Lyne had regained some of her original demeanor. He stood up, feeling no shame at his own release under the beauty¡¯s foot.

    ¡°My turn,¡± he reminded Lyne. ¡°Make sure you wail a bit, or my cover will be blown.¡±

    He positioned himself behind Lyne, and reached around to gently run his hands over the beauty¡¯s welted sensitive skin. Her body was shapely but firm due to her training in the sword.

    Lyne began to wail but also moan in a false show, and squirmed in Rein¡¯s hands, music to the ears of the black-hooded guards outside. Rein could tell it wasn¡¯t all acting-- the woman might occasionally flinch to his touch, but she always shifted her body to gain more skin-to-skin contact against him.

    Rein¡¯s hands finally cupped her ample breasts and drew circles around her red and puffy areolas that were each pierced by a metallic ring.

    ¡°Please¡­ they¡¯re very sensitive,¡± she mumbled. Harvest Devil Ailehr had discovered this weakness of Lyne and used it against her during the tortures.

    ¡°Then taming you will be easy,¡± Rein replied teasingly. He traced fingers over her puffy nipples, before suddenly twisting those rings, causing Lyne to arch in her torturous pose as she squealed.

    Soon, Lyne¡¯s own liquids flowed down her inner thighs. She discovered that her mind desired Rein to continue taking advantage of her vulnerable position. It was a sort of tantalizing erotic feeling that tingled across her skin.

    ¡°Well, that was easy,¡± Rein commented in an indecipherable tone.

    ¡°Even if you¡¯ve broken me today, I will recover!¡± Lyne had now regained a bit of her original glow and continued the play between the two.

    ¡°Mmm. I look forward to it.¡± Rein said as he brought his lips to Lyne¡¯s in a deep kiss. Indeed, a truly broken Lyne was of no attraction. This was much better.

    ¡°That¡¯s cheating¡­¡± Lyne muttered as she melted into a tongue-lashing. Not too long ago, she was appalled by Rein¡¯s debaucherous acts with Suey. Under her current situation, it instead made her feel an odd sense of security.

    Rein then began to examine the two pillars and the manacles. Specifically, the inscriptions upon them.

    ¡°So. How are we getting out?¡± Lyne asked.

    ¡°By yourself.¡± Rein¡¯s reply unsettled Lyne¡¯s heart.

    ¡°You¡­ aren¡¯t you here to rescue me?¡± She said this with a dissatisfied tone, having recovered from the brink of torment.

    ¡°No¡­¡± Rein was honest. Perhaps he should not have been. ¡°I came to rescue Suey. I don¡¯t have the power to rescue more than one. I truly am sorry.¡± Rein¡¯s mind was clear as to his current capabilities.

    Lyne suddenly felt her body had been somewhat taken advantage of as her heart was filled with various conflicting emotions. A tinge of anger, but also disappointment. And yet, she also simultaneously felt joy that Rein had taken advantage of her. He had even consumed a bowl of human meat in her place.That meant a doorway into Rein¡¯s world was open to her.

    Thus, she was filled with an overwhelming desire for more. Much much more.

    ¡°Fill me with your seed,¡± she suddenly demanded.

    Rein did a double take at her words.

    ¡°The plan would fail. I am certain they will examine you on my exit to ensure you remain a virgin for the Second Prince,¡± Rein said as he shook his head.

    Lyne bit her lips as her mind spun.

    After some examination, Rein was relieved to finally find the weak point of this set up that subdued Lyne¡¯s strength. He thanked his half-senior Chenhr for forcing him to study so many inscriptions during his stay with Master Yirn.

    Of course, part of it was the fact that devils found it difficult to access resources. Thus, much of the more costly and less combat-oriented knowledge, such as formations, inscriptions, blacksmithing, alchemy and so on was of an amateur level within the devil sects.

    Rein found a rather weak and overlooked section of the inscription that bound Lyne¡¯s strength. He forced the energy of his orange lightning dragon to the tip of his index finger, and began crazily injecting this aurae in short explosive bursts into that specific point on a pillar.

    A sizzling noise sounded as a hole was burnt in said critical location of the inscription upon the stone pillar.

    The inscription still appeared to be functioning, with the glow of aurae upon the pillars and manacles. However, the truth was that Lyne¡¯s body would no longer be drained of her strength with that outward channeling point severed.

    Rein had also found a few other weak points, such as the manacles around Lyne¡¯s wrists. However, he did not break that inscription, because Lyne needed to still appear chained and secured when those two guards would undoubtedly examine if Dahsunz had accomplished his given task.

    Regardless, Lyne would soon regain her powers and have the capability to free herself. Lyne could already feel a sliver of aurae returning to her body from the very air.

    ¡°If I successfully rescue Suey, our escape will likely cause an uproar. That will be your opportunity,¡± Rein informed Lyne. ¡°Unfortunately, I truly do not have the power to assist you more.¡±

    Rein still had not gotten his hands on any of those ghost-repelling talismans. Though reckless, he decided to simply snatch Suey and run as fast as he could. He had some confidence in using his frog leg imitation art, adding in the quality of lightning to the art, to explode away from this evil place.

    If he could escape the bloodmist over this zone quickly, he would then be able to use his origin ability to teleport away, draining though it may be to carry another body--Suey-- along. As for whether he could escape, that was uncertain. Rein wasn¡¯t sure how much of his aurae reserves dragging Suey along on teleportation would cost.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Rein very much recalled how he had fainted when he was forced to carry that Wolf Syrup Town bandit through the spatial tunnel unique to his origin art.

    ¡°Then promise me that you will give me your seed if we successfully escape,¡± Lyne demanded icily. Though Lyne had recovered some of her demeanor, it was clear that any naivety she might still have had been erased by this experience.

    Increasingly, Rein felt that he seemed to have an affinity with half-mad women.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ ¡° Rein recalled Suey¡¯s conjecture of Lyne wanting to use pregnancy to get rid of the Dingien Clan¡¯s interest in her and the Xuere Clan.

    The Xuere Clan must be one of the stronger clans, capable of protecting against the Western Wilderness. Indeed, the Dingien Clan used marriage to ensure the stronger clans remained tied to them. That was why the currently competing princes all attempted to tie down members of the stronger clans within the Minhr Nation. It was considered a show of loyalty, which was why Lyne could not simply reject the Dingien Clan without potentially destroying the Xuere Clan.

    At least, this was Rein¡¯s understanding of the situation.

    As for Suey, she had stated that she would not mind Rein having other women as long as these others would provide soldiers for defending her home. Still, Rein wasn¡¯t at all fully comfortable with a second woman. Frankly, Suey is already a handful.

    ¡°You could simply leave this realm,¡± Rein suggested.

    ¡°And abandon my clan, its loyalty questioned and demise inevitable? I was left on my grandfather¡¯s doorstep-- I have never even met my pathetic father. I am not the same,¡± Lyne harrumphed.

    ¡°A child should grow with the support of a father and mother.¡± Rein pointed out another one of his considerations. That was what Rein always knew. He himself was raised in such a way. And he could not possibly enter the Xuere Clan. He needed to become a telekinetic advancer, such that he could break into Devil God Hehrn¡¯s realm.

    ¡°The Second Prince will not give in. No other nobles will assist the Xuere Clan. I cannot abandon the clan like my father did. I must provide an heir of unique talents,¡± Lyne stated as she glared at Rein. That certainly explained why she had taken an interest in Rein. Rein was certainly unique, in a sense.

    ¡°And If I end up with the Second Prince¡¯s child in my womb, that child will no doubt suffer under the Second Prince¡¯s hands. His reputation¡­ he only desires to have more political influence through my Xuere Clan. I might even be eventually discarded!¡± Lyne continued.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve taken advantage of me¡­ You must go all the way!¡± Lyne¡¯s final declaration confirmed to Rein that he definitely had an affinity with half-mad women.

    ¡°If Suey acquiesces, then very well.¡± That was Rein¡¯s reply as he was unable to provide other options to Lyne.

    Lyne desired to remain in the Xuere Clan while avoiding being dragged into the Dingien succession competition. She, similar to her father, was seen as pieces to arrange cooperation, support and loyalty through marriage.

    But if she were to return pregnant from a random encounter in the Western Wilderness¡­ she would escape the clutches of the Dingien Clan even if she might be publicly humiliated.

    Plus, Ailehr had mentioned that her actions against Lyne were due to the Second Prince. Once Lyne condenses that memory into a vision egg, the Second Prince would no longer be able to threaten her. As for the other princes-- would they even demonstrate interest in Lyne now that she had lost her purity? Most likely not.

    Regardless, this was why Rein began to feel that he had an affinity with these fierce or rather, daring women. Despite the shared debaucherous play, both Suey and Lyne seemed to not care about ¡®standard¡¯ behavior.

    Lyne would rather take his seed than be forced into the maelstrom of the succession battle, based on an intuitive interest in him. He now understood that another reason that Suey threw herself at him was to accelerate their connection, based on her visions of possible futures.

    Anyhow, when the magical barrier opened under Rein¡¯s request, the two black-hooded guards examined the tray, the empty bowl, and Lyne¡¯s body. They also scanned the mostly empty prison cave. Lyne kept her eyes closed in a slump position, not daring to reveal even a sliver of her hopeful will.

    ¡°Well done. Well done!¡± A black-hooded guard yelled at the leaving Rein. ¡°She might have been broken into silence!¡±

    -------------------

    Suey was singing a tune as she moaned from the pleasure delivered to her mind by a newly-arrived devil. Her two hands hung above her head as her lithe form was bent over a wooden beam.

    ¡°I once had a companion--mm-- by my side~

    Yet one day, that friend became--Unngh-- the soil beneath my feet.

    And so I wondered,

    Did--mmmm-- my friend only exist in my imagination?

    Perhaps it was simply an illusion conjured by my mind

    All is nothing. Nothing is--Ahhn-- real~¡±

    On her womb was engraved a new magical art-- a devilish art.

    She had already been informed by the newly-arrived devil that the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art would soon be broken through the use of creation magics.

    Not even peak existences of the current era dared to claim they could employ creation arts. However, creation energy from the conception of a child could be diverted, and it was one of the  most powerful types of energy.

    The devilish man with red lips and a pale handsome face chortled at Suey¡¯s tune.

    ¡°This is very much real, dear. But soon, your mind will be replaced. Eventually, the child of Devil God Hehrn¡¯s body will finally enter and interfere in this realm directly.¡± Powerful existences could not descend into the Fusion realm easily. That was this devilish man¡¯s mission. To create a body accepted by the Fusion Realm for Devil God Hehrn.

    Once Ailehr takes over Suey¡¯s body, her return to strength would also nourish the child in the womb. Once Ailehr returns to the peak of outer realm and enters the telekinetic realm, then the child will be born, with Devil God Hahrn¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Meat has arrived!¡± A black-hooded guard hollered into this prison cave, his voice muffled by the magical barrier.

    The magical barrier opened, and Rein entered carrying a tray of multiple bowls of human meat soup.

    ¡°Senior,¡± Rein prostrated to the ground as he barely restrained himself. ¡°This slave can feed you as you accomplish your task.¡±

    The devilish man frowned. He would very much prefer if a beauty fed him those succulent human meat while he stabbed the depths of the lithe body before him.

    However, he did desire to be fed as well. He needed to do this a number of times, and direct enough creation energy to shatter the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art of telekinetic level.

    His first step was to activate the new engraving on Suey¡¯s womb. That devilish art would cause Suey¡¯s womb to throb with heat in the devilish man¡¯s presence. A lewd crest. This would make the following ¡®conceptions¡¯ much easier.

    Of course, it also ensured that Ailehr would not betray Devil God Hehrn in the future.

    This was when Rein, or rather, Dahsunz, showed up.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± the devilish man nodded, as his desire for the succulent human meat took hold of his mind.

    Rein kept his head down and moved beside this devilish man of unknown strength. Rein calmed his heart. He had no choice but to act immediately.

    The devilish man continued thrusting his hips as he grunted in the throes of pleasure. Rein raised a large spoon of human meat and fed it into the devilish man¡¯s mouth skillfully.

    The devilish man was surprised that a slave in rags had such ¡®serving¡¯ skill. It needed to be said, Rein¡¯s mother, when alive, had indeed trained him to treat her well.

    By the devilish man¡¯s grunts, Rein could tell that he was about to reach his peak. Obviously, he could not allow the devilish man to deliver his fluids into Suey.

    Rein raised another spoonful of human meat and slipped it into the devilish man¡¯s mouth. Then he suddenly stabbed the spoon into the devil¡¯s gullet as he stepped behind and wrapped his other arm around the devil¡¯s throat in a neck hold.

    This was a somewhat reckless move, but Rein truly had no choice despite not knowing of the devilish man¡¯s abilities. His move dislodged the devilish man from Suey.

    Suey immediately became alert, and as her legs were free, she twisted her lithe body around and with a half-leap to gather strength, she delivered a devastating kick into the devilish man¡¯s groin.

    The devilish man weakened in pain as his tool was struck hard. Rein neck hold prevented the devilish man from notifying the outside black-hooded guards.

    An aurae shell formed around the devilish man and Rein activated his own as well, primarily employing his orange draconic lightning. He knew that devilish arts were usually weak to lightning, and thus his partial incomplete aurae shell should still limit the effect of this devilish man¡¯s aurae shell.

    Toxic bubbles seemed to rise out of the devilish man¡¯s aurae skin, and sizzling sounds could be heard as the sparks from the partial lightning shell form over Rein¡¯s frontal body clashed against its energies.

    To Rein¡¯s shock, dark crescent blades began manifesting themselves in the air around him and Suey.

    However, midway, the form of these dark crescent blades fluctuated in density.

    Another voracious and elegant backward kick from Suey and those dark crescent blades in the air shattered.

    Rein felt cold sweat roll down his back. The devilish man must be at the peak of the shell realm, close to being an outer devil!

    Luckily, the devilish man was missing the final step, and could not fully control outer realm powers to complete a stable aurae projection yet.

    Rein understood what he needed to do, as was taught to him by his half-senior Chenhr. This devilish man is still a shell advancer, and must know some unique body enhancing art.

    Thus, Rein knew he had to quickly take this man¡¯s life. His own aura skin was only partial, and he had yet to begin any training in complete shell arts.

    He released the spoon that he had thrusted into the devilish man¡¯s gullet, and he performed a dragon claw martial ability towards the devilish man¡¯s eyes with his hand covered in lightning.

    The devilish man once again could not scream under the neck-hold as his eyes were destroyed. What advancer would use an aurae shell to close off their perception of the world?

    All of this had happened in just a single breath.

    Suddenly, Rein felt an explosive power rising from the devilish man¡¯s body. The originally toxic bubble aurae shell transformed into a sort of scaly formation.

    The devilish man¡¯s arm suddenly gripped onto Rein¡¯s arm.

    Rein was astonished to feel his neck hold being loosened through brute strength. Despite his own powerful tempered body, advantaged position, alongside the benefit of layered lightning across the front of his body, his hold was loosening!

    The devilish man had transformed into a hardy devilish beast, and the devilish being pushed off its feet. Rein was sent flying and he crashed into a cave wall. Rein¡¯s appearance returned to his true form as the ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ cracked, inadvertently damaged by such force. Luckily, Rein himself was only a bit sore due to his tough body.

    ¡°Quickly!¡± Suey said. ¡°That¡¯s a devil transformation!¡±

    Rein realized that things had gotten out of control. He knew not what devil transformation was, but it could not be anything good. That devilish man had become a sort of hellish scaly demonic form, leaping about on all-fours.

    It was hard to fully see the appearance of the devilish being, as the dark swirling aurae around the body obscured details. Or perhaps, the devil transformation was incomplete. Regardless, Rein could see that behind that dark haze were hints of scaly disfigured monkey form.

    Rein¡¯s only comfort was that this devilish being should be blind as well, since he had taken out the eyes of the devilish man.

    The devilish being twisted about, attempting to use other senses to detect Rein¡¯s position.

    Surprisingly, it pointed itself roughly at Rein¡¯s position and shot towards Rein. Luckily, it was not that accurate, and Rein easily dodged as the devilish being crashed into the cave wall behind him.

    Rein leapt back to Suey¡¯s side and quickly found the weak point of the manacle inscription. He activated his orange draconic lightning and stabbed his finger at that weak point.

    Unfortunately, this allowed the devilish being to somewhat detect his position.

    Suey knew what she had to do as she, relying on her manacles, used her arms to gracefully lift her lithe body high into the air, a move that would put most dancers of show troupes to shame.

    Rein, however, made no effort to dodge, choosing to rely on his ¡®dark mirror¡¯ art again as he poured lightning energy into his index finger to destroy the inscription on the manacle.

    His whole body was wrapped in a complete dark body with the exception of his hands, his soles, and his head, his rags naturally fell onto the ground around his feet, having no flesh to cling onto.

    The crouching four-limbed form of the scaly devilish being crashed through Rein¡¯s position and into the cave wall behind. It was asif Rein¡¯s body did not even exist in that space.

    Rein only dared to use this skill so openly because the devilish being clearly could not see, and wasn¡¯t of the outer realm with the capability to accurately sense the aurae in its surroundings.

    Finally, the manacles seemed to have their aurae supply cut off, and snapped open.

    Suey collapsed onto the ground after her release, and Rein deactivated his near-full body ¡®Dark Mirror¡¯ as he covered his body with the rags again. He quickly picked up Suey¡¯s slippery and aphrodisiac-oiled body in a princess carry. Suey bit her lips coquettishly as she wrapped her arms around Rein¡¯s neck.

    Rein sensed danger as he sidestepped. However, that was actually unnecessary.The devilish being actually crashed through the manacles hanging in the air, before colliding into a cave wall close to the entrance.

    It seems that the devilish being had actually also lost its mind. Clearly, that snapping metallic sound was of the manacles separating, but the devilish being failed to comprehend that and had attacked the position of the manacles in the air.

    ¡°Respected senior!¡± A black-hooded guard outside hollered. ¡°Is anything the matter?¡±

    Rein blinked his eyes repeatedly as the scales on that monkey-like devil seemed to become clearer. That devilish being had initially overcome Rein¡¯s brutish hold. It seemed his devilish transformation was becoming more complete, which Rein suspected meant an even higher degree of strength, speed and defense. They needed to leave immediately.

    ¡°Respected senior!¡± the black-hooded guard shouted. ¡°We¡¯ll be entering to ensure that nothing is of the matter!¡±

    The magical barrier was foolishly dispelled, and Rein executed his ¡®Frog Leg Lightning Release¡¯, a combination of the ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ with the explosiveness of his draconic lightning.

    Rein was fleeing. He had only survived so far because of how mindless this scaly black devil was. He did not understand where that mind of the devilish man might have gone, but that was not something to ponder in his current situation. After all, devils are famed for losing their minds.

    The two black-hooded guards only heard a booming noise and Rein accelerated past them and up the tunnel towards the palm print zone.

    The mindless scaly devil sensed this and followed, pulverizing the unprepared black-hooded guards into two blood mists. Those two had just begun chasing after Rein and were thus in the scaly devil¡¯s path.

    Rein was fast. He had gotten incredibly quick. The ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ was originally already explosive. Now with the element of lightning intertwined as an aurae shell around his legs, it had risen to a new level.

    Once he reached the palm indentation area, he immediately looked skyward for the platforms that led to the exit.

    He gathered strength in both legs. This was the first time he truly looked like a bit of a frog with the skill. He had always only gathered strength in one leg at a time and leapt as a normal human would.

    The ground shattered and sunk by a foot as Rein exploded skyward, landing on a platform.

    He gathered strength again, and kept on climbing rapidly, every single one of his leaps causing a platform to shatter and fall into the screaming Harvest Sect disciples below.

    Those Harvest Sect disciples weren¡¯t screaming because of Rein, though. Rather it was the mindless scaly devilish being that killed any blocking its path.

    When Rein gazed down, he sucked in a cold breath. That devilish being did not need any of the platforms, and had begun climbing  simply by puncturing its long dark claws into the cliff walls.

    Not only that. It was catching up now that no one ¡®blocked¡¯ its path.

    Although mindless, it certainly had its attention fixated on Rein!

    Rein exploded off his feet again and finally reached the top of the cliff that is the surface of the world.

    Suey had wrapped her arms around his neck as she pressed her face against his neck.

    Just when Rein gathered his courage to risk dashing through the ancient battlefield of ghostly figures, Tihz appeared before him!

    The appearance of Tihz dissolved into a bloody liquid to reveal a sneering Beincen.

    Was this man not dead?

    Rein soon had his answer.

    ¡°The price I had to pay to capture this body was to satisfy his final desires,¡± the possessed Beincen said. ¡°Otherwise he would not have accepted his end.¡±

    Complete and proper possession carried certain requirements. This type of possession was a conditional requirement.

    ¡°Out of the way!¡± Rein¡¯s expression was dark. The mindless scaly devil would soon catch up, and Rein knew he could not contend with its physical and rising force. As for his magical arts? He really had none.

    Rein knew not how Blood God Hahrn had known to wait here. The truth was that Rein was simply unlucky. Blood God Hahrn actually decided to leave the Harvest Devil Sect now that he had managed to gain some of its treasured blood.

    When he had reached the exit, that was when the screaming started, and he gazed down to see Rein exploding upward. The sneering Beincen raised a blood-formed blade in his hand.

    ¡°Brace yourself,¡± Rein said as he threw Suey¡¯s light body into the air. Suey could only yelp in surprise as she arced over Blood God Hahrn.

    Hahrn chortled. He assumed that Rein was attempting to bait him into attacking Suey, opening a path for Rein¡¯s own escape. Thus, Hahrn remained in his position to block Rein.

    To Hahrn¡¯s astonishment, Rein dashed towards him with complete disregard for that blood-formed blade.

    Blood God Hahrn suddenly recalled from Beincen¡¯s memories of Rein¡¯s powerful flesh.

    He sneered and sidestepped out of Rein¡¯s collision path as he swung his blood blade.

    The next moment, his face turned incredulous as Rein rushed past him unharmed.

    Hahrn glanced at his blood blade. Any foe struck by his blood blade would be infected by his blood and never escape his gaze. Though he was still a shell realm advancer due to Beincen¡¯s body, his was once a God-level existence in another realm, and as such, his abilities could not be judged based on realm limitations.

    What astonished Hahrn the most was that he felt as if his blade had swung through empty air despite the blade clearly passing through Rein¡¯s body.

    He thought his sensations were off, but the fact that not a single drop of his blood within the blood blade had entered to infect Rein¡¯s body meant that he truly had swung through empty air.

    Rein had, of course, activated the ¡®dark mirror¡¯ to quickly bypass Hahrn¡¯s blockade. That blood blade had simply passed through connected portal space between his front and his back.

    If Hahrn had his past strength, he might be able to gather a few clues as to how Rein had escaped unscathed. Unfortunately, he was currently in the shell realm in Beincen¡¯s body, and simply assumed that Rein had used an odd movement art.

    Suey landed in Rein¡¯s arms with a soft ¡®mmph¡¯, before returning to silence as she pressed herself into his body again.

    Rein wasn¡¯t entirely sure why she continued to maintain mostly silence since his appearance, but that was not important-- his current focus remained on escape.

    Rein bounded into the thick bloody mist as a screech sounded to the high heavens.

    ¡°You think you can leave?!¡± Ailehr¡¯s rage echoed against Harvest Devil Sect¡¯s cliff walls as the ghosts in the ancient battlefield received orders to prevent all from escaping the Harvest Devil Sect.

    By now, Rein was ahead with two figures, Hahrn and that dark scaly devil being in pursuit.

    As Ailehr wasn¡¯t sure who had taken Suey, her ghosts were commanded to attack all ¡®escaping¡¯ lifeforms. Thus, three groups of ghosts surged towards each individual.

    Hahrn¡¯s eyes bulged. He must not get caught by Ailehr. She would very quickly tell who he truly was, before determining his reason to infiltrate the Harvest Devil Sect.

    He gave up his chase of Rein and burst off into another direction. Though to complete the possession, he needed to kill Rein and satisfy Beincen¡¯s possession requirement, that could be done at another time.

    Rein swung his head about in trepidation. Already he and Suey were surrounded by an endless sea of ghosts. Luckily, that scaly devil man behind was also similarly swamped. That scaly devil¡¯s physical strength did not allow it to bash through the entangling and stretching arms of these ghosts.

    Rein considered using ¡®dark mirror¡¯, but realized that it would be totally useless in this situation. If he wrapped most of his body in it, there was the danger of him sinking into the very ground. There was also Suey in his arms, and as she was a foreign live body, his shell would not wrap around her.

    As for teleporting? He was surrounded by millions of ghosts that filled both the ground and the air. There was essentially no escape, not a single foot of area where he could teleport to safety. Not to mention, the red bloody mist that made it impossible for him to teleport to any meaningful distance.

    A number of dwarven and human ghosts suddenly leapt forward and clung onto Rein¡¯s body. Rein was filled with dread as a deathly cold sensation invaded his flesh, causing him to lose strength and drop to a knee. The ghostly forms began sucking out his very life energy as more approached, their eyes filled with rancor.

    Yet Suey, who was in his arms, continued to remain calm as a cucumber.

    ¡°Today won¡¯t be our end,¡± she softly stated.

    Rein¡¯s heart calmed and he believed her words.

    The deathly sensation on multiple areas of his body suddenly disappeared. Rein was shocked to discover that a group of dwarven ghosts that sucked on his energies had regained their intelligence, with eyes bright and shining.

    A dwarven ghost¡¯s size suddenly rose to a hundred feet, and its hands raised a ghostly jewel-layed hammer.

    ¡°For the King!¡± the gigantic dwarven ghost hollered.

    Comprehension returned to all the other dwarven ghosts in the surrounding seas as well.

    ¡°Kill the traitorous humans that failed to answer our call!¡±

    ¡°Kill the traitorous humans who plundered our lands after failing to answer our call!¡±

    The ghostly dwarves roared and began crazily attacking all the other ghosts!

 Ch97: Mad Beauties

    Shortly after Blood God Hahrn executed a unique blood sacrificial art to escape an army of ghosts due to his fear of being discovered by Ailehr, he suddenly realized that he had made a simple but major mistake.

    The mistake? Now, Rein was aware of his presence. The real Beincen would not have infiltrated the Harvest Devil Sect alone. As such, once Rein informed the Hall of Heroes or the noble houses of this fact, of Beincen being possessed by a devil¡­

    He regretted his attempt to block Rein¡¯s path. He had done so because he desired to quickly satisfy the requirements for his complete possession of Beincen¡¯s body. Sometimes, minor mistakes lead to major consequences.

    Since he chose to block Rein¡¯s path, he needed to take Rein¡¯s life. Yet his blood blade had seemingly passed through Rein¡¯s body. Now, he had no choice but to escape from the maddening sea of ghosts. He was reminded that despite his original high position, there remained many unknowns in the world of advancers.

    It was a pity that these ghosts had gone mad. Otherwise, he would be able to repeatedly engage Rein, slowly developing an understanding of that odd movement technique, and perhaps even copy it for himself. At least, that was Blood God Hahrn¡¯s current assumptions.

    He immediately decided that he had to return to House Larne, and his mind was quickly coming up with a plan to counter the revelation that Beincen was possessed by a devil. His mind turned to Rekcen, Beincen¡¯s younger brother. He sinisterly smirked, having come upon a solution. He would take Rekcen¡¯s life and turn House Larne into his own force.

    As for Rein-- this youngling can be dealt with once a better opportunity presents itself.

    ____________________________________________

    Ailehr spat out blood at the very same instance of when she lost control of the dwarven ghosts. These living spirits had been easily subdued before due to their lack of consciousness.

    She was originally in the sky, flying in pursuit of Rein and Suey. The backlash from the dwarven ghosts¡¯ regained consciousness sent her aura into chaos, and she fell like a comet back into the palm indentation.

    As an outer realm devil, Ailehr had originally moved through the ancient battlefield, using her spiritual sense-- her aurae tendrils, to subdue the mindless ghosts of each area. This formed a connection that allowed Ailehr to give simple commands from afar.

    It should have remained so, until somehow, the dwarves¡¯ latent minds reawakened due to an outside and unseen factor.

    She was already on the brink of death due to her injuries from fighting the telekinetic elder, Bienze, of the Uni Sect. Though originally suppressed, those internal injuries now reopened, sending pain and fear through Ailehr¡¯s body.

    The members of the Harvest Devil Sect stared wide-eyed at their struggling sect leader.

    ¡°Go! I will personally reward whoever that can capture that¡­ leaping man! The best of aurae-infused blood! A guaranteed opportunity under Devil God Hehrn!¡± Ailehr ordered as she sent stacks of the ghost-repelling talisman into every individual¡¯s hands, a whirling paper storm.

    Every once in a while, a few talented members would be sent into that hellish realm belonging to Devil God Hehrn. For the members of Harvest Devil Sect, this was a golden opportunity.

    The many devilish fallen advancers immediately dashed up the platforms zigzagging up the cliff walls, combining into a sinister and dark wave that crashed upwards.

    As for Ailehr, she repeatedly tapped her fingers at various points on her chest, infusing aurae at specific locations to suppress her injuries again.

    She cursed the Uni Sect¡¯s Bienze who had injured her to this state. If not for him, she would not have had to limit her powers and thus fail to keep an eye on her Sect and prisoners.

    ___________________________________________

    Once the dwarven ghosts began battling the human ghosts, Rein immediately continued his escape.

    He did not understand why those dwarves had suddenly gained such a clear mind.

    Then, he recalled that supposedly, other humanoid races eventually melded themselves into the human race. The modern human race could not be truly said to be the original human race, but rather, a race with primary human origins combined with at least one or perhaps a mix of other humanoid races.

    He then recalled how his family had been kicked out of their original family while he was a young child. He could not even remember the name of that clan¡­

    It all felt extremely odd yet connected. Originally, Rein assumed that he was simply too young to remember that original family¡¯s name. He began to wonder if perhaps, his memory of said original family may have been tampered with. After all, try as he might, he could not recall any details of his original family-- just the feeling that he and his parents had been unjustly treated.

    When it came to memory tampering arts, generally speaking, they weren''t very effective against grown adults. Adults often have solidified personalities built on many experiences and memories, as well as desire and will in their souls. Thus, any hole in memory would be easily detected and overcome, in most cases.

    As for children, or adults under torture? Memory altering arts were usually effective.

    Regardless, this was neither the time nor space to consider this potential implication. Rein knew he had to focus on escaping with Suey.

    As he leaped repeatedly using his ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯ combination art, he was followed by that monkey-like devil transformation. With the ghosts in chaos, the devil transformation of a man was freed to continue his pursuit of Rein.

    ¡°Rein!¡± Suey whispered urgently with her eyes fixed at the devilish being behind.

    Rein glanced behind him to notice that the devil being had slowed its pace as dark aurae swirls gathered into an energy ball at its mouth.

    He widened his eyes as he swore under his breath. That devilish man, prior to his transformation, was not yet capable of launching aurae skills at a distance from his body-- he was but a shell realmed devil.

    It seems that after this devil transformation, the devilish monkey-like being was now capable of it!

    Rein did not question exactly why this was possible-- there are numerous arts with unique methods to bypass the so-called limitations through trickery.

    That dark aurae concentration energy was shot forth at him, and Rein could only brace himself.

    He knew that he could not use his ¡®dark mirror¡¯ ability. That dark mirror ability, though heavenly, also had its weaknesses as do all magical arts. If he used it on only parts of his body, the blast from the dark energy ball would deliver force to undefended parts of his body, while passing through the dark mirror sections.

    This could lead to a self-shearing of his body. Rein imagined his whole body covered in a dark mirror while his head was exposed. Under this situation, his head would be struck by the blast while her body suffered no force. He would effectively be decapitating himself.

    As for covering himself in a full dark mirror-- that was not possible since he had yet to break into the shell realm. Even if he was in the shell realm, that would be reckless. A full dark mirror over his body would also isolate his own sensing, connection and interaction towards his surroundings. He would drift into the earth.

    Most importantly, he carried Suey in his arms.

    The dark concentrated energy ball expanded as it travelled, and Rein altered his direction as he exploded off a leg, lightning discharge thunderous against the ground.

    The world shook as the dark ball¡¯s energy erupted and created a vacuum of silence that lasted for a few heartbeats.

    Rein felt a force strike his back, sending him tumbling across the ground as Suey also rolled after falling out of his arms, pale in fear.

    A hot burning pain covered Rein¡¯s back, but he had no time to ascertain the state of his injuries as he struggled back onto his feet.

    He picked up Suey again and with another ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯, he was out of the bloody mist that layered the ancient battlefield! As luck would have it, the dark energy blast had actually thrown them closer to the edge of the ancient battlefield.

    Once his surroundings cleared, Rein steadied his heart as he prepared to activate his teleportation skill. His vision was no longer obstructed by the fog.

    He was naturally worried that his origin ability would drain him of his aurae now that he was carrying another body-- Suey. He was drained to the point of losing his consciousness when he accidentally dragged the half-dead mercenary along as he attempted to escape Wolf Syrup Town on that fateful night.

    ¡°Remove your protective aura,¡± Rein urgently said to Suey. All advancers subconsciously wrap their bodies in their own aurae, to prevent another¡¯s infiltration into their bodies. Rein, however, needed to extend his own aurae into Suey¡¯s. The reason for this was that Rein needed to protect Suey from the spatial corruption energies with his origin spatial aurae. That was how that half-dead mercenary dragged through the teleportation actually died, covered in that dark chaotic energy.

    Suey was somewhat confused but did as Rein asked. Rein forcefully extended his spatial aurae into Suey¡¯s body. That did not mean Rein was covering Suey in a dark mirror, which required a specific organization of his spatial aurae. Rein was simply ensuring that Suey was layered with his unstructured spatial energies.

    Forcefully, because Rein had yet to fully step into the shell realm. As such, only with struggle could he extend a part of his aurae shell through touch.

    Suey was breathing deeply, her cheeks flushed as she allowed this invasive aurae to wrap around her body loosely. For a woman, allowing a man¡¯s aurae to enter the body meant an extreme level of intimacy.

    Well, Rein and Suey had certainly engaged in the act of copulation many times already, but this was certainly a new sensation.

    Suey¡¯s eyes were filled with trust as she observed Rein¡¯s concentrated and determined expression.

    ¡°Brace your mind,¡± Rein said as he activated his origin ability, his eyes becoming jet-black while fixed in the horizon. His elbows supported Suey while his hands formed a dark sphere.

    A miniscule bzzt sounded. Rein and Suey vanished.

    The two reappeared far into the distance, entering an area with a few indistinct hills and a small patch of forest. They now stood beside a thick oak tree.

    These sort of patches existed all throughout the Western Wilderness. This area was once a vibrant forest until repeated wars emptied many patches.

    Rein panted heavily. He estimated that his aurae reserves had dropped by a third. Combined with his short struggle against the devilish man prior, he only had fifty percent of his aurae reserves left.

    Suey¡¯s eyes were wide in shock and joy. It was obvious that despite her future seeing abilities, Rein¡¯s origin ability was not something she knew of. Future seeing arts are indeed limited in some shape or form.

    Seeing that Rein seemed somewhat exhausted, she immediately knew what she had to do.

    She lowered herself from Rein¡¯s arms and a pink mist rose to encapsulate her hand. She then slipped her hand under Rein¡¯s rags before he could react.

    His manhood did not take long to rise under the effect of the pink mist combined with the ministrations of Suey¡¯s soft and dainty hand.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Rein was speechless. While he certainly enjoyed their sort of sexual dynamic roleplay, he always saw it as simply a temporary period of fun and play. This was hardly the time to engage in such play.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ well,  my celest,¡± Suey whispered with a coy smile. ¡°With the ¡®Sole Cauldron Art¡¯, you will be able to also employ my aurae as your own. We will be able to teleport out of danger much more rapidly.¡± She had already overcome her initial shock of Rein¡¯s origin ability.

    Inwardly, she also discovered that she quite enjoyed seeing Rein wrestle against his own rising desires at a time when he needed to focus on matters of escape. She was already planning to adopt a similar approach in the future for her own satisfaction¡­

    As Rein¡¯s knotted manhood rose, having been transformed by his draconic tempering arts, Suey could not resist dropping down onto her knees, puckering up her red lips to give it a worshipping kiss.

    It was at this moment that Rein truly realized why he would never be able to resist or abandon this woman. Her hazel eyes displayed a fanatical devotion as her silky raven hair swayed.

    That jagged scar upon her right cheek, though covered by a sparkling blue paint sourced from the Golden Desert tribes, might take away from some of her beauty.

    Still, Rein knew those devoted eyes and her willingness to give her body to him was impossible to ever betray.

    Perhaps Rein began to simply understand himself better. He realized that he was the type of man that desired a sort of extreme devotion, a devotion that compels him to find it worth putting his life on the line for.

    And, of course¡­ Suey¡¯s willingness to perform rather debaucherous acts for him¡­ that represented a part of her devotion to him.

    As for why Suey had chosen him? The woman had employed her fate-related magical arts to identify him through visions of the future.

    Suey¡¯s devoted gaze locked against Rein¡¯s eyes. She could see Rein barely controlling his lewd desires. Yet behind that lewdness also now existed a deep tenderness. It was two forces constantly battling against one another in his mind.

    She restrained a bubbling happiness in her heart as she jumped back onto her feet, wrapping her arms around Rein¡¯s much larger muscle body before sheathing Rein¡¯s sword with her lower lips.

    Rein slid into her wet folds. She had molded herself to him due to her devotion.

    Reni circulated his aurae and activated the teleportation skill again. A single breath and they appeared over a meadow.

    Another breath passed and they reentered a new patch of forest.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you taken advantage of the aurae in my body, my celest?¡± Suey asked. She could sense that her aurae remained full within her body.

    Rein himself was shocked to discover that with the ¡®Sole Cauldron Art¡¯ activated, he had no need.

    ¡°With the ¡®Sole Cauldron Art¡¯ activated, the drain in my aurae has become negligible¡­¡± he muttered as he thought of a possible explanation.

    His eyes soon widened at a possibility that could be considered demeaning.

    ¡°My teleportation ability carry my clothing, weapons and the lot along with no additional aurae usage. With the ¡®Sole Cauldron Art¡¯ activated¡­ perhaps you are now considered an object in my possession¡­ and thus there is no additional aurae needed to bring you along¡­¡± As Rein said this, he stroked Suey¡¯s head gently.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ that¡¯s good, my celest,¡± Suey huskily whispered into his right ear. ¡°Since I am now only your possession¡­ you have to freedom to use me as you please~¡±

    Of course, this was just a bit of extreme roleplay that played to their desires. By now, it was impossible for their enemies to catch up.

    ¡°My younger sister has already been¡­ bred by you, yes?¡± Suey soon asked as they teleported again.

    ¡°I¡­ well¡­¡± Rein sighed but realized there was no avoiding it. ¡°Indeed. She was adamant. Insisted that it was her duty and a ritual behind your origins.¡±

    ¡°There''s no need to feel guilty, my celest,¡± Suey softly said, though her voice wavered ever so slightly. ¡°However, I have the right to your seed as well.¡±

    Rein¡¯s eyes widened again. Indeed, Suey certainly had the right to demand this of him. In fact, he could not deny her request-- after all, he had seeded her younger twin sister first despite Suey having established herself as his partner.

    ¡°This ritualist magic¡­ its purpose is¡­?¡± Rein was becoming increasingly curious of Suey¡¯s origins. From Jory, Rein gained the knowledge that the twin sisters are temple head priestesses. The older would birth warriors for the nation, while the younger would birth a new pair of twin sisters for the next generation of head priestesses .

    ¡°Rein¡­ Me and my sister. We come from a lineage. Our lineage is hunted by the very Goddess of Fate!¡± Suey¡¯s explanation caused Rein to feel chills to the bone.

    ¡°In order to confuse that Goddess of Fate, this practice was devised. Since me and my twin sister are essentially identical in most respects, it makes it difficult for the Goddess of Fate to trace our actions and movements. Her powerful art, if performed at a vast distance, can become somewhat confused by twin existences. Her magical art attempts to alternately lock on to two targets, and thus becomes¡­ confused.¡±

    ¡°It is only through this that we are able to escape her net. Even so¡­my mother and aunt¡­¡± Suey was sorrowful. ¡°It is only effective for a period of time. Eventually, the Goddess of Fate, through other methods, will always successfully track us down, ending a generation¡¯s twin head priestesses. Occasionally, the younger sister may escape, for a time¡­¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°As for our sharing of the same man¡¯s seed-- that, too, is necessary to confuse the Goddess of Fate. Since both twin existences carry the same man¡¯s seed, her magical art once again fails to differentiate our twin existences, resulting in its¡­ befuddled effectiveness.¡±

    Rein nodded as his horizons of advancer arts widened once again.

    ¡°Wait,¡± Suey suddenly pressed her palm across Rein¡¯s muscular back to draw his attention. ¡°Head in that direction, towards that patch of forest.¡±

    ¡°... Is there a reason for us to seek shelter there¡­?¡± Rein frowned. The quicker they returned to the Hall of Heroes, the better.

    ¡°Lyne¡¯s escape path is most likely to pass through that forest patch,¡± Suey simply stated.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Rein narrowed his eyes. Indeed, he was suspicious why Suey had traded herself into Ailehr¡¯s hands. Yes, her trade gave Xeeseir his freedom back. Still, it was somewhat of an odd trade. Now, it has become connected with Lyne!

    ¡°Explain!¡± If not for Suey¡¯s devotion to him, Rein would have already lost his cool at being forcefully drawn into this ploy.

    Suey bit her lips. She knew Rein would be displeased by her actions. Yet from her perspective, she had no choice.

    ¡°I¡­ If I requested you to rescue Lyne¡­ would you have done it?¡± Suey asked.

    When Rein was faced with this question, he immediately realized he would not have done so. His relationship with Lyne wasn¡¯t much. As for Lyne¡¯s approach to him sexually, Rein very much understood it to be a reaction, an escape from the Second Prince of the Dingien Clan.

    Though uncommon, it was not necessarily rare. There is a long history of those being pressured into political marriages to¡­ lash out in some shape or form.

    ¡°And even if you accepted¡­ would you have been able to escape with her?¡± Suey posed a second question.

    Rein sighed. He would not have been able to do so. Suey was connected to him through the ¡®Sole Cauldron Art¡¯, of ancient origins, unique and questionable qualities, easily misused.

    These unique qualities was how Rein pinpointed the Harvest Devil Sect¡¯s location. It was also this unique quality that allowed Suey to be a free passenger of Rein¡¯s origin ability.

    ¡°Now, we have served as a proper distraction. Ailehr¡¯s focus was no doubt on me, thus giving Lyne a proper opportunity for escape,¡± Suey added.

    ¡°And if I explained to you my ploy¡­ it very well may lead to you making a different choice. Such as well¡­¡± she whispered seductively, ¡°kidnapping and imprisoning me underneath your weight to prevent my offer of body possession to Ailehr.¡±

    Rein grunted. Though dissatisfied, he could not deny the truth in Suey¡¯s words. But that only led to another question.

    ¡°Why  do you desire to rescue Lyne?¡± Rein had a feeling that this was a far more important question. One that would reveal certain secrets of this world.

    ¡°When the Gods fell, so came the Age of Darkness. And out of the Age of Darkness rose the demon beasts, with the dragons, previous servants of the fallen gods, believing themselves to be the just inheritor of the realms.¡±

    ¡°The five true humanoid races, born with intelligence and comprehension yet without bloodline power, were severely disadvantaged and thus easily enslaved, treated as sources of intelligence for the demon beasts.¡±

    ¡°But the demon beasts weren¡¯t one single pillar of thought. The leaders of the bird races, the phoenix and the three-legged crow, sought to inject their own bloodline into humanity.¡±

    ¡°The black tortoise, disappointed in the action of the dragons, abandoned the realms, choosing to drift in chaotic space for eternity. His followers are now led by the crystal-conched kraken.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, the other demon beasts would not stand for the actions of the phoenix race. They could not act against such a powerful origin being, and thus targeted the humans underneath their protective wings.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ the Xuere Clan. And Lyne¡­¡± Rein¡¯s eyes became serious.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Suey said. ¡°They are one of those ancient clans that managed to escape cleansing. Their connection is true. They claim to have stolen a fallen ice phoenix blood, and none can prove that to be false. Lyne carries a connection to the phoenix race. She cannot fall.¡±

    ¡°Fall?¡± These words twisted Rein¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Suey shook her head slowly. ¡°In my visions of the future, she does not make any appearance in the upper realms. However, any accomplished existence will sooner or later, make a name for themselves in the upper realms. That can only mean something led to her end.¡±

    Rein¡¯s hands had become somewhat sweaty and clammy through this talk. He finally realized that Suey was making moves on a huge chessboard that included all the realms and races. And had effectively dragged him into this whirlpool.

    No, Rein corrected himself. Perhaps it was wrong for him to think this, for he was already a man connected to Gent and Dragonknight Zelli.

    However, Rein was still nervous. His guts told him that Suey was on the cusp of flipping this chessboard, and he would be the so-called blade!

    Once they reached the patch of forest that Suey had identified, the two hid and waited.

    After half a day, sounds of two bladed crossing grated Rein¡¯s ears. Lyne appeared, draped in a slightly oversized black robe of the Harvest Devil Sect. She had no doubt killed a member and taken his robes to camouflage herself in the crowd before escaping.

    Surprisingly, pursuing her was not a member of the Harvest Devil Sect, but rather, a man wearing the regal servant garb of the Dingien Clan! The regal clothing was of vibrant crimson scales surrounded by a sea of golden-yellow leaves. The Dingien Clan carried stolen dragon blood, rewarded long ago in their participation in vanquishing the Origin Dragon, which gave birth to the Age of Humanity.

    Rein glanced around, and discovered that luckily, this was their only enemy.

    Lyne raised her sword high with both hands as a shadow of an ice phoenix formed behind her back, its icy aurae gathering into her sword. She slashed down at the man with a wide forehead and crooked nose.

    That man¡¯s graying hair fluttered in the air as he raised his sword while a snake-like aurae-formed creature curled around his arm and protected his sword. Unlike Lyne, he only used one arm to wield the sword.

    The two swords clashed, sending air billowing and some of Lyne¡¯s icy energies were scattered, freezing the originally trembling branches of the surrounding trees.

    And yet, as she attempted to withdraw her sword for a second swing, she discovered that the snake-form curling around the man¡¯s sword had reached out two claws to lock her sword firmly in place!

    She injected a far denser icy wave into her sword, and though the claws of that snake-like aurae concentration now had a frosty surface, it also did not break.

    Most shockingly, the man had successfully clashed against her with the power of just a single right arm, and his left hand was already reaching forward for Lyne¡¯s throat!

    Lyne was filled with despair. If she abandoned her weapon, it would not be long before she would be captured by this man, a servant of the Second Prince.

    How unlucky! For an unknown reason, the Second Prince sent a servant early to check on the Harvest Devil Sect. That was how she ended up in combat with this man after sneaking off once Ailehr gave the command for all to pursue the leaping man that is Rein.

    The man¡¯s left hand clawed around Lyne¡¯s delicate neck and Lyne could feel air being squeezed out of her body. Not only that, the contact allowed the man to begin attempting to inject his own aurae to pierce past Lyne¡¯s pure white protection shell defense. After, he would be able to use his aurae to completely subdue her.

    Well. How could Rein and Suey stand by and watch?

    With a soft sizzling noise, Rein-in-rags with the completely nude Suey reappeared right behind this manservant of the Second Prince.

    The man simply could not respond, with his sword locked against Lyne¡¯s and his left hand around Lyne¡¯s throat.

    Suey disconnected herself from Rein and hopped onto the man¡¯s shoulders as she performed a neck lock with her exquisite long and slender legs.

    Meanwhile, Rein reached both his hands forward and grasped onto the man¡¯s elbows as he placed a knee against the man¡¯s spine.

    Lyne was completely flabbergasted, but only part of her astonishment originated from the two¡¯s appearance. Her reaction mainly stemmed from the fact that Suey was completely in the nude while attempting to finish this manservant of the Second Prince.

    The truth is that Suey had given all her belongings to her twin sister prior to dealing with Ailehr. As for Rein? He left his belongings in the Halls¡¯ central outpost, worried that his  spatial pouch might give away his identity.

    They naturally had no time to gather any additional pieces of clothing on their escape. And Rein, obviously did not have the mind to ogle Suey¡¯s attractive bare form during their escape.

    Anyhow, with their combined hold, the man lost grasp of Lyne and fell onto his knees. This allowed Rein to further exert his strength.

    Rein knew that his current advantage, in terms of finishing off enemies, was his unique draconic strength.

    It proved to be true.

    This manservant of the Second Prince was currently wrapped in a crimson-scaled aurae shell around his body, a body enhancing shell that made him the most physically powerful advancer in the shell realm under the Second Prince. Yet, his arms were slowly bent backward despite his best attempts to resist Rein¡¯s force.

    The man grunted in pain as with a final pull, his shoulders were broken by Rein, with his arms having been pulled backward to an inhumane degree.

    This gave Suey a window of opportunity to pick up the man¡¯s dropped sword.

    Meanwhile, Rein coated his fists with the power of his draconic lightning, and began pummeling the man¡¯s body. It did not take long before that crimson-scaled aurae shell cracked then shattered.

    Suey swung the sword, and the man was easily beheaded with his shell protection broken by Rein¡¯s brute force.

    Crimson blood splashed, creating a few dashes of blood from Suey¡¯s narrow waist, down and across her gleaming legs.

    Rein could not help but take a moment to run his eyes up and down Suey¡¯s petite and lithe form. The dash of blood certainly added a degree of eroticism¡­

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he then determinedly said. The body and blood of this man would attract attention. They needed to find another patch of forest to rest and recover. Preferably a water source to clean themselves.

    ¡°Wait,¡± Lyne said. Rein raised an eyebrow as Lyne pulled the Harvest Devil Sect robe over her head and discarded it onto the dead manservant. She, too, was now completely in the nude as well!

    Rein could not help but ogle her more athletic form, a sturdier frame with wider hips and toned body with barely visible lines of her musculature.

    Then, of course, her red and puffy nipples, still with those rings pierced through them.

    Suey¡¯s hand covered her mouth, with eyes filled with mirth.

    As Rein ran his eyes across her body, Lyne was filled with a haughty sort of happiness. She was, of course, feeling a bit competitive against Suey. She began shifting her weight from one side to another while wrapping her arms around her ample breasts.

    She quickly calmed her mind regarding how she was to compete against Suey. Her brief interaction with Rein while imprisoned had given her an idea that very much fitted her own personality.

    Frankly, Lyne was always more of a cold and withdrawn person. However, due to the position of the Xuere Clan, she was forced to restrain her iciness.

    As the only descendent of the main family line of Xuere, and with the Xuere Clan the leading force to defend against the Western Wilderness, Lyne was forced to engage politically and restrain her iciness, which was naturally offputting to other nobles.

    Lyne was also slated to lead the future forces under the Xuere Clan. Once again, she was forced to restrain her iciness such that the soldiers of the Xuere Clan saw her as a benevolent and kind leader.

    It was due to these factors that most carried a manufactured impression of Lyne-- that of a cool demeanor.

    Lyne now no longer cared about these expectations. After all, she had been captured, tortured, abused and nearly politically used by the Second Prince.

    She was reminded of Rein consuming that bowl of disgusting and vomit-inducing human meat, sharing in her pain.

    She suddenly had a feeling that Rein would not demand her to restrain her iciness. In fact, the dragon between his thighs might even appreciate her true nature.

    Lyne went on her tiptoes and swayed her hips, her tits bouncing as she sauntered towards Rein¡¯s left side.

    Suey was meant to be Ailehr¡¯s replacement body, so she had been kept fairly clean. Lyne¡¯s body, however, was layered in dirt and stains. Still, Rein could see that underneath it, her porcelain skin was lovely and combined perfectly with her now snow-white hair in an ethereal aura. Even her eyes now carried a whitish silvery hue to them.

    ¡°You degenerate jerk,¡± she haughtily said. ¡°Do you think my noble body, of the ancient and illustrious Xuere Clan, is for you to examine and judge?¡± Though she said this, she made no attempt to cover herself up.

    Suey rolled her eyes as she pressed herself against Rein¡¯s right arm.

    Rein initially wasn¡¯t sure of what to make of Lyne¡¯s tone and her new approach, but he quickly realized what Lyne¡¯s play was. He was more than happy to cooperate. He was reminded of his promise to seed her, which would allow her to escape her current political situation while remaining in the Xuere Clan.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Rein exaggeratedly grunted as he reached forth with his left hand and gripped Lyne¡¯s delicate neck. Lyne made no attempt to avoid his hand. Unlike the left hand of that previous manservant belonging to the Second Prince, Lyne indulged in her breathlessness under Rein¡¯s grip.

    ¡°Your noble heritage will make no difference once pressed against the ground with your mind addled by pleasure, womb filled with seed. You¡¯d be nothing but a fallen noble, a wench with a child on the way,¡± Rein stated in as serious of a tone as possible.

    ¡°How¡­ how dare you! You have no status and are in no position to do this to me!¡± Lyne sputtered under Rein¡¯s half-grip around her throat. Meanwhile, her dainty hands were stroking Rein¡¯s manhood.

    Suey had rolled her eyes a thousand times by now. From her perspective, Rein was simply the type of man to desire an extreme degree of devotion. It wasn¡¯t necessarily to initiate such exaggerated play.

    ¡°Worry not,¡± Rein added and took on a righteous tone. ¡°Even if your future is nothing but a seeded fallen noble, I will still keep you around. I am a man who takes care of my¡­ broken toys.¡± Saying this, Rein inwardly felt quite embarrassed.

    His words caused a slight haze to momentarily obscure Lynes pupils.

    ¡°Miss fallen noble, we must leave before this dead manservant attracts attention.¡± Suey finally could not take it anymore.

    Rein released his grip and Lyne barely managed to extricate her hands from Rein¡¯s manhood. That knotted beast was going to be her fall. Yet through such a fall, she would also become free from her current political predicament. Is that contradictory?

    Lyne allowed herself to occupy Rein¡¯s left side, and Rein¡¯s left arm wrapped around her waist, dangerously high and close to her sensitive breasts.

    ¡°You asshole.¡± She icily said as she glared up at Rein¡¯s eyes as Rein activated his ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯ and began leaping away in explosive bounds southward. ¡°You must be comparing our bodies! Are you also going to compare our bodies against those goddesses from a higher, upper realm?!¡± Those immortal fairies would be unfair competition.

    Was she haughtily expressing insecurity this quickly? Rein was somewhat surprised.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Rein was honest. ¡°We men indeed reflexively do so.¡±

    Even Suey now glared at him.

    ¡°However¡­wise men know that beauty of a woman is but an illusion to draw men in to kickstart a connection,¡± he seriously said. ¡°If we sail through stormy seas and together vanquish monsters from the deepest and darkest pits¡­ I would be a fool to abandon you for a random ¡®goddess¡¯.¡°

    Suey forcefully restrained a smile while she gazed into Rein¡¯s eyes, while Lyne turned her head downwards to hide her glee, attempting to maintain her icy and haughty bearing.

    A bearing soon broken when Rein¡¯s left hand crushed her sensitive left breast while he activated another ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯.

    ¡°How¡­ how dare you!¡± Lyne barely maintained control of her desires. This weak point of hers had been discovered during her capture. She now almost felt happy that she had a weak point for Rein to take advantage of¡­

    ¡°My noble body isn¡¯t something for the likes of you to¡­ simply take advantage of!¡± she said as she half-heartedly struggled.

    Suey once again rolled her eyes. She could not believe that Lyne had decided to fully dedicate herself to carrying such an air.

    Rein, though happy to play along, decided that it was finally time to well¡­ shut her haughty mouth for a while.

    He bent his neck down and stabbed his tongue into Lyne¡¯s mouth. They began to share a lewd tongue-lashing kiss.

    Lyne melted herself into Rein¡¯s body, moaning and twisting as Rein left hand manhandled the two red and puffy tips upon the peaks of her two mounds.

    When the kiss finally ended, her haughty expression returned. However, she was no longer looking at Rein, but rather, at Suey!

    Suey was open-mouthed and finally, an angry competitiveness was lit within her as well.

    ¡°You¡­ you bitch!¡±

    However, before any fight could break out, Rein had drawn Suey in with his right arm, and gave Suey the same extended sloppy kiss. Suey felt a deep sense of secureness as her petite form was crushed against his body.

    When that kiss finally ended, Rein only had these words.

    ¡°I will treat you two fairly. Don¡¯t get out of hand.¡± Rein¡¯s words were soft but also firm. Perhaps this was the most difficult part of having two women in hand.

    However, Rein knew that he had to, or there would be a volcano waiting to blow up in his face.

    This was not dissimilar to business relations in the merchant world. It is always important to ensure that all parties are fairly treated. Only then could long term cooperation among multiple parties be effective.

    _______________________________________________________

    Ailehr was despondent as she examined the cells. Lyne had escaped as well, while she was occupied with finding Suey.

    That was not all. Lyne also freed the other captured advancers. Those advancers had then killed the few Harvest Devil Sect members remaining within the sect before leaving, camouflaged in their robes.

    This was an absolute disaster.

    After Ailehr ordered the Harvest Sect members to pursue that leaping man, many did so and rushed out southward.

    She had taken some time to stabilize her reopened injuries, and then also flown south.

    What she discovered was that the many ghosts were no longer under her control and quite a number of Harvest Sect members had their lifeforce drained.

    By the time she had reestablished her control over the weakening ghosts, all traces of Rein and Suey had vanished.

    All that remained was a devil transformed being recklessly spitting out dark aurae bombs in random directions.

    Luckily, she had been taught by Devil God Hehrn on how to reverse this out-of-control transformation. After doing so, she discovered that the devilish man had been blinded. Meaning, she would not be able to gain any information as to how Rein and Suey had simply¡­ vanished.

    The most shocking point was that their devilish arts could not identify any clues. Normally, there would be some sort of aurae trail, aurae disturbance that could be identified, caused by the movement arts of the escapee.

    None existed here.

    Thus, Ailehr could only return dejected, and request Devil God Hehrn for assistance once again. Furthermore, she was now forced to possess a significantly less compatible body.

    If there was one positive note, it was that Ailehr had successfully identified the man that had taken away Suey! Though Rein¡¯s ¡®Shifting Mask¡¯ only broke after he blinded the devilish man, Ailehr easily guessed that it was him after some thinking. After all, Rein¡¯s relationship with Suey was no secret!

    Ailehr clenched her teeth. One day, she would return to Rein her humiliation tenfold, once she adapted to a new body and recovered her powers!

    _______________________________________________

    In the Uni Sect.

    Members of House of Origin prepared to move out, having been given a base of operations in the Uni Sect. The House of Origin does not only research origin abilities. They also sometimes captured famed advancers to unearth the secrets of their powers.

    This was because certain geniuses sometimes would chance upon a unique encounter, allowing them to gain and develop a unique powerful advancer art. House of Origin is also prepared to absorb these secrets.

    ¡°Sir Godeyes. The demon beast wave has begun. Now is the best chance for us to capture the carrier of ¡®Retrace and Reflect¡¯, the man known as Xeeseir.¡±

    The man referred to as Sir Godeyes had sharp brows, bright eyes, high cheekbones and long sleek black hair extending below his shoulders. He would be a handsome man if not for his pale skin that made him seem somewhat frail.

    However, his most distinguishing feature was the slit in the center of his forehead.

    Sir Godeyes led another four men. All five of them were dressed in pure white robes with no sigils or patterns upon said robes. The House of Origin wore these robes to represent the vacant and beginning of this very world. Origin.

    As they gazed far into the mist, the slit upon Sir Godeyes opened, revealing a golden eye with shifting patterns dancing across its surface.

    If Rein was here, he would immediately recognize this eye as a type of origin ability-- God¡¯s eye.

    An eye that could see through all illusions, identify weaknesses among many other visual abilities of analyses.

    If there was a weakness to this origin ability, it was that many previous carriers of this origin ability had weak bodies that could not react fast enough to danger despite their God¡¯s eye seeing the approaching life-threatening blade.

    Anyhow. Somehow, God¡¯s eye had become a piece of House of Origins. That meant one thing-- it would be far harder to avoid House of Origin¡¯s curious gaze. Any users of origin ability, if they attempted to use illusions to obscure the truth of their abilities, would be easily identified if Sir Godeyes was present!

    As for the range of his various heavenly observation abilities, only Sir Godeyes was fully aware. As for simply identifying and recognizing physical features¡­ his range was close to ten thousand kilofeet.

    ¡°To attack Xeeseir directly would draw the Halls¡¯ wrath,¡± Sir Godeye slowly said. ¡°However, if we can capture his allies¡­ All carriers of ¡®Retrace¡¯ have always been impulsive. We can lead Xeeseir to an isolated location and thus obtain his body to experiment upon.¡±

    ¡°With the impending demon beast tide, the Halls will not be able to respond. Perhaps they might no longer care given Xeeseir¡¯s supposed failure to break into the shell realm,¡± Sir Godeyes smiled. The House of Origin has quite a few spies within various powers. In his hand was a piece of paper with depictions of Xeeseir¡¯s associates drawn in ink.

    ¡°Hah. I¡¯ve found our target,¡± Sir Godeyes sneered a hundred heartbeats later. ¡°To think that you would have useless allies recklessly cleaning themselves in a small pond in the Western Wilderness¡­If not for the beast tide emptying the lands, you idiots would have long died.¡±

 Ch98: Xunes Legacy

    During the night before the setting out of House of Origin¡¯s Sir Godeyes, Rein, Lyne and Suey travelled through a few forest patches before arriving at one with rocky formations that sunk into the earth. Within these rocky formations was a pond of unique quality.

    Steam rose above this pond. Clearly, its water source came from deep underground, and the heat below caused this water to rise to the surface, forming a hot spring within these rocky formations.

    Its steamy warmth and oddly relieving sulphurous odour caused differing reactions from the two beauties in Rein¡¯s arms. Suey was overjoyed, while Lyne carried a bitter expression.

    The three soon soon entered a notch in the rocky formations that provided cover. They are, of course, planning to perform the agreed deed.

    With Suey, it was a matter of principle and ritual. Rein soon proceeded to pour his essence into her very depths.

    As usual with Suey, she became a limp flexible doll that allowed Rein to thoroughly pummel her folds with reckless abandon. Rein understood that this was what Suey desired.

    Her petite body was stretched around his girth, and her flexible water-based tempered body bent in all sorts of ways.

    Every single of Rein¡¯s thrust would cause her soft flesh to ripple as her slender body magically absorbed the strength of Rein¡¯s body while she squealed to the heavens in delight.

    Eventually, Rein filled her with his seed. As part of the ritual, it was important for the twin head priestesses to appear the same in the eyes of the so-called Goddess of Fate that hunted Suey and Jory.

    Of course, the other factor was that Suey, as the first to devote herself to Rein, desired to have the chance to carry Rein¡¯s firstborn.

    As for this supposed Goddess of Fate, Rein naturally knew not who she was.

    After a short rest, it was Lyne¡¯s turn.

    Due to Rein¡¯s body tempering arts being that of a dragon¡¯s, his vitality and recovery abilities are superb. His affinity to the wooden element also helped.

    Lyne gave a slight push with her palms to indicate for Rein to lie down on the ground, which he promptly did.

    ¡°Do you know?¡± Lyne said as she stroked Rein¡¯s erect manhood with her right foot. ¡°For us female advancers¡­ if we lose our virginity before completing the telekinetic realm, uniting our soul and body thus becoming a deity¡­  it becomes an uphill battle for us?¡±

    Rein¡¯s rod reflexively pulsed and further hardened under Lyne¡¯s foot.

    ¡°How dare you take advantage of my situation,¡± she icily said in mock anger, inwardly beaming as she pressed down on Rein¡¯s member with the sole of her right foot. This was something that Rein had non-verbally communicated to her when they had briefly met during her imprisonment.

    Back then, Rein had engaged in this similar play, hoping that she would regain some of her pride. In fact, he preferred her to carry her usual cool air. Little did he know that that normal cool demeanor was actually Lyne¡¯s restraining her icy nature to create a slightly warmer public view of the Xuere Clan as a whole.

    ¡°If not for my desperation to escape the Second Prince¡¯s grasp¡­ Do you think I would allow you to do as you please to my body?¡± She said as she now lowered onto her knees and used a palm to lightly slap Rein¡¯s manhood, causing it to swing left and right like a pendulum.

    ¡°How dare you take advantage of my weakness to¡­ defile my noble body. You are but nameless scum at the bottom rungs of society!¡± As she said this, Lyne blew her cool breath that erotically tickled the tip of Rein¡¯s tower. Lyne most definitely has some sort of typical fantasy of a nobility falling to a commoner.

    Though Lyne sounded somewhat of a bitch due to her current voice, Rein found himself rather enjoying her tone. As for why? Some men enjoy the idea of having a usually cold and haughty woman writhing under their body. Rein certainly does.

    Still. Although Lyne¡¯s words increased Rein¡¯s hunger, a voice in his head also felt concern.

    ¡°I am only able to take advantage of your circumstance due to your unwillingness to simply leave this realm. To leave behind your clan,¡± Rein sighed as he frowned. ¡°To sacrifice your chances at ascending the world of advancers¡­¡±

    Lyne glared at Rein after she heard his words. Initially, she was acting out a sort of play, but now, she was truly miffed.

    ¡°How can I abandon my clan like my father did? Do you not know their political struggles? The necessity for a strong heir to safeguard various positions? Every single life within the Xuere Clan is at risk. Unlike my father, I take my responsibilities seriously! The various members of each generation of the Dingien Clan have attempted to absorb our Xuere Clan every succession battle for the throne!¡±

    Rein sat up as he realized he really lacked details regarding the succession competition for the throne of the Minhr Nation, and the effect on the surrounding major and minor clans.

    ¡°My Celest,¡± Suey¡¯s weak voice after her battering muttered as her originally limp form rolled onto her side. ¡°The Dingien Clan¡¯s ancestors assisted the Allfather in slaying the Ancestor Dragon, and were rewarded a notable crimson dragon¡¯s body and bloodline. The Xuere Clan, supposedly carrying the stolen bloodline of an Ice Phoenix, is seen as a threat, but also an opportunity.¡±

    Rein finally understood that the waters of the Minhr Nation are far more muddled than he initially thought.

    He stood onto his feet and his form now towered over Lyne¡¯s.

    Lyne was simultaneously intimidated and entranced. She forgot her momentary anger as she bit her delicate lips.

    Still, her slight fear caused her to reflexively back away. Rein advanced with determination. Finally, Lyne discovered that her back was against a sandy rock wall, and there was no longer any space for escape.

    ¡°Are you truly making this sacrifice for your Xuere Clan?¡± Rein seriously questioned. Indeed, he now recalled from some tome he had skimmed while learning under Master Yirn, did indeed mention that female advancers generally needed to maintain their purity until a certain point. The point would appear to be after the telekinetic realm.

    ¡°It is no sacrifice. There are always other paths to walk upon. It may be more difficult, but I will walk down those other paths nonetheless,¡± Lyne whispered.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Rein could see the firmness within Lyne¡¯s silver cloud eyes. ¡°If I ever can be of assistance¡­ I will support you on said unique path.¡±

    Rein now understood Lyne¡¯s determination. Frankly, he felt an even stronger desire to ¡®defile¡¯ Lyne due to this understanding.

    Rein took another step forward and his bulky form now pressed Lyne against the rock wall, his engorged member jabbing threateningly against Lyne¡¯s flat and toned abdomen.

    ¡°H¡­How dare you do this to me!¡± Lyne readopted her initial approach, a mock defiant tone.

    Suey, though weak after accomplishing said deed with Rein, could not believe that even now, Lyne was still attempting to continue her roleplay.

    However, Rein indulged the woman. He leaned his head down and they shared a sloppy kiss. Lyne was now fully initiated, her tongue voluntarily entering Rein¡¯s mouth to communicate that despite her outward resistance, she was in fact very much ready.

    As such, Rein gripped her two arms and pinned them above her head as Lyne acted out a helpless struggle.

    The tip of Rein¡¯s manhood then pressed against Lyne¡¯s lower opening as he adjusted his body to accommodate for his height.

    He was somewhat concerned that Lyne might not be able to accommodate his whole girth, particularly since he had tempered his body. To his knowledge, Lyne had not. Thus, he was careful as he inserted his length into Lyne.

    Lyne winced as she felt her virginity taken, but the more overwhelming sensation was herself being split apart into two at her crotch.

    ¡°Wait¡­¡± she pleaded.

    Rein paused, recognizing the genuine tone in her voice.

    An icy blue mark appeared on Lyne¡¯s forehead and ignited, causing Rein¡¯s eyes to widen.

    ¡°Was that a forbidden art?¡± He questioned.

    ¡°Yes, but not exactly,¡± Lyne replied. ¡°In the Ice Phoenix bloodline, there is a unique tempering art that strengthens the body, a method that prioritizes the user¡¯s ability to employ precise attacks.¡±

    ¡°However, the overwhelming nature of the skill is to allow healing and recovery-- a form of rebirth.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve only dabbled in this tempering art,¡± Lyne lowered her voice, currently feeling regret. Many female advancers avoided tempering arts due to the cost and painful process of mastering said art. ¡°But I can burn my ice phoenix bloodline to push what I¡¯ve dabbled in past its limits for a time. My body should heal faster than any damage you may do to me¡­¡±

    ¡°Worry not,¡± she added. ¡°I will only feel weak for a day. In the future, I will practice the tempering art more seriously!¡±

    After that explanation, Rein slowly increased his pace as he plunged into Lyne¡¯s depth while crushing her with his form against the rocky wall.

    He observed Lyne¡¯s expression to gauge the situation. Although Lyne still winced with every single one of his thrusts, the overactivation of her art also limited this to pleasurable pain for her body.

    Lyne¡¯s face now carried a slovenly expression, mouth open and heavily panting with her cute tongue poking out, repeatedly interrupted by her attempt to regain her haughtiness.

    Despite her lewd appearance, she still occasionally struggled as insults unbefitting a supposed noble flowed out of her mouth, a cold and haughty act that caused Rein to deliver a more forceful thrust, dispelling said momentary iciness.

    Rein also recalled how Lyne had previously appreciated his act of pouring his draconic heat, created from burning the wooden element in his body with his draconic lightning, into her body.

    He did so again and poured this into Lyne¡¯s mouth, and the woman further melted under his form.

    Rein then spun her around, and Lyne placed her hands against the wall as she threw out another insult while grinding her round and firm bottom against Rein¡¯s stiffness.

    Reni reentered and ran his hands down Lyne¡¯s toned curves from her shoulder blades to her waist that widened to her hips.

    His arms then reached around to play with Lyne¡¯s pineapple-sized breasts, a degree larger than Suey¡¯s coconut-sized ones. Most lovely was the fact that Lyne reacted to every flick of her sensitive nipples-- each still pierced with a ring.

    ¡°Why have you kept these?¡± Rein asked.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Lyne did not want to admit the truth. That truth being that some twisted part of her enjoyed the idea of having been ¡®defiled¡¯. And she recalled an excited feeling when Rein¡¯s eyes were drawn to those rings.

    ¡°No matter,¡± Rein inwardly snickered but did not press Lyne. ¡°As a blacksmith, I will create better ones for you. Unique ones with inscriptions of¡­ questionable effects,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°How¡­ how dare you!¡± Lyne replied in mock rage, hiding her inner joy. She was beginning to understand Suey¡¯s devotion.

    After a time, Rein finally poured his seed into Lyne. She nearly collapsed onto the ground, only to be caught by Rein, who carried her and lowered her gently beside Suey¡¯s limp form.

    As he glanced at the two beauties, he couldn¡¯t help but consider the situation.

    For many, sexual interactions are simply just that. However, for Rein, it  was an expression of the mind.

    After interacting with his half-senior Chenhr, he no longer conceitedly thought of himself as some incredibly sharp and intelligent young man.

    However, he was still certain of himself as a rather observant person.

    One thing he had seen and analyzed was the nature of supposed sexual fetishes. Currently, Rein believes there to be three categories.

    The first category contains traits that signalled readiness to mate and provide care. Rein knew his own love of ample breasts, and his love for a well-proportioned body with wide hips to be partially representative of that.

    The second category was trauma. Suey¡¯s excessive peering into the future had caused her to see countless timelines in which she was enslaved, rooting those experiences into her very soul. Her incredible devotion, and her desire for the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art, was very much a result of this.

    Rein¡¯s understanding of this phenomenon was that Suey, in an attempt to overcome said trauma, needed someone to perform similar debaucherous acts upon her with one major difference-- he would need to perform said acts while ensuring she felt¡­ a warm secureness, thus overwriting those memories of horrid experience.

    As such, Rein knew that his sharing of pleasure with Suey was much more than simple desire and pleasure. If anything, he felt a heavy responsibility throughout the process, and could not guarantee his success every time even with his best efforts to ensure Suey felt the necessary care.

    As for the third category, that would be the supposedly ¡®wrongness¡¯ of said act. Lyne, for example, indulged in the ¡®wrong¡¯ sensation of mating with the currently statusless Rein.

    Well¡­ with Lyne, there might also be the trauma of being abandoned by her parents. From what little Rein had heard, Lyne¡¯s parents had left this very realm, leaving her alone in the Xuere Clan. In Rein¡¯s mind, that may be the source of her iciness. Perhaps she both desired yet rejected warmth.

    As such, Rein believed the sexual expressions of both Lyne and Suey to be a reflection of part of the pain within their souls.

    Rein sighed inwardly as he laid down to rest. He never expected all of this to occur. When he first joined the Hall of Heroes, he had no intention to form relationships with women, only desiring to use the Hall of Heroes to track down his lost younger brother.

    Yet, all of this had happened instead. At least, he now knew that his younger brother entered that portal in the Harvest Devil Sect, to a hellish realm belonging to Devil God Hehrn.

    Thus passed the night.

    When the sun rose the next day, Rein and Suey cleaned themselves in the hot spring, but Lyne could not.

    ¡°When I return, I must have the appearance of one tortured and defiled by demons and devils of the Western Wilderness,¡± she explained. ¡°Only then can I escape my political predicament.¡± That was why she was bitter when she saw the hot springs. She very much desired to wash herself, her body having been tainted and tortured under Harvest Devil Ailehr.

    Rein sighed. Frankly, he still felt somewhat guilty after ¡®defiling¡¯ Lyne.

    ¡°Do not feel sorry for my situation,¡± Lyne harrumphed at Rein. ¡°In this world, we cannot control what we are given. We can only do what we can as we face the world.¡±

    Rein could only nod at her words.

    ¡°Smile for me,¡± Lyne suddenly demanded.

    Rein coughed as he submerged himself in the warm and soothing hot spring beside Suey, unsure of why Lyne demanded this.

    ¡°My grandfather, the current patriarch of the Xuere Clan often demanded that I smile and wave at crowds to uplift the Xuere Clan¡¯s reputation!¡± Lyne said.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Rein stuttered but then he rose to his feet, having waded through the shallow hot spring in a crouched form. He beamed with his shining wet muscular body exposed and his manhood glowing in splendour.

    This was of no difficulty for Rein. In fact, he himself had been trained to smile and act welcomely to conduct good business for the Hehr Merchant Group. Even if he inwardly thought the other to be a fool.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s enough.¡± Lyne was somewhat bashful, reminded of her previous night due to the exposure of Rein¡¯s tool. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    She quickly controlled herself and became expressionless again.

    ¡°Thank you. You should feel joy and not pity for me,¡± she continued then declared. ¡°For some women, giving birth and taking care of a child is their end. But for me, this is just the beginning of my freedom!¡±

    ¡°I no longer need to deal with the so-called approach of suitors, especially the members of the Dingien Clan. Though news of my ¡®fate¡¯ may be publicly humiliating, I know this child to be yours. And that is enough,¡± Lyne stated.

    Her words certainly delivered pride into Rein¡¯s mind. Rein was also filled with glee at having somehow gotten revenge against the Dingien Clan. Part of the reason for the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction was linked to the Dingien Clan¡¯s princes, that much Rein knew.

    ¡°This child will be able to ensure the Xuere Clan¡¯s continuation, of that I am certain. You have a unique body, and thus I have accomplished my duty to the Xuere Clan. I will be able to truly completely exit the secular world in the future with no regrets,¡± Lyne explained.

    Rein now understood Lyne¡¯s actions better. However, he frowned after hearing of ¡®the child¡¯. He felt very conflicted. His own father was there for him throughout his childhood. Yet, he could not reveal himself to be this child¡¯s father. If he did so, the Dingien Clan would take his life. He was too weak to resist.

    ¡°A pity that I cannot be there for the child¡­¡± he muttered.

    ¡°Many children have grown into fine adults without their fathers or mothers,¡± Lyne said. She herself had done so, though she was certainly doted upon by her grandfather. ¡°What is more important is for you to make a name for yourself.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Rein asked.

    ¡°I once wondered how I might feel more positively about my missing parents. I eventually determined that if I knew my father or mother was accomplishing something monumental¡­ I might feel better for their absence. You understand?¡± She harrumphed.

    ¡°This child will eventually grow to understand the world and the unfortunate circumstances that we humans all live through. This child will grow to understand our situation. If at least your name can be high in the heavens, a mark I can point to for the child¡­ ¡°

    Rein nodded. He increasingly desired strength. If he was stronger, he could have prevented his younger brother¡¯s kidnapping. If he was stronger, he wouldn¡¯t need to hide from the Dingien Clan, and this future child would have a proper father.

    At this point in time, he suddenly recalled Suey.

    ¡°Our child¡­¡±

    ¡°You are not to return to my home with me,¡± Suey also indicated. ¡°It is not the right moment yet. You will only be slaughtered and eaten alive if you do so now. You must have strength. Strength to upend the heavens.¡±

    Rein found this difficult to accept. Frankly, the whole situation felt ridiculous. Normally, a man would somehow go through all sorts of trials and tribulations, finally winning beauties after proving his worth, before settling down, no?

    At least, that was how many of the heroic tales Rein heard progressed.

    Instead, here he was, not really having proven himself. Suey had acted based on her future sight, while Lyne had acted due to her desperation.

    Rein did not know that Lyne was acting on more than desperation. She was, indeed, at first, desperate to escape from her situation. However, after interacting with Rein, her heart became convinced that there was something unique with Rein. It was hard to explain, but she was inwardly overjoyed that Rein had appeared when the Second Prince pushed for her hand.

    Regardless, Rein found his situation to be comical. Instead of proving his worth to earn a beauty¡¯s hand, he needed to gain strength to safely interact with the children he placed into these two beauties¡¯ wombs.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Rein shook his head. ¡°What a maddening circumstance this is,¡± he expressed. ¡°The children--¡±

    ¡°M¡­Mister bastard,¡± Lyne randomly spat out an insult that came to her head as she momentarily recalled the process of their child¡¯s conception. ¡°You need to understand one thing. The world is no fairytale. There is no such concept as an expected order of¡­ life events.¡±

    ¡°What has happened has happened, and you¡­ Mister bastard who defiled my womb, simply need to walk forward as I do so!¡± Lyne demanded.

    ¡°That is true,¡± Suey softly said as she smiled in contrast to Lyne.

    Rein accepted his circumstances. There was no other way. He simply needed to keep walking forward. And if they all continued onwards, their paths would cross again, if it be fated. That is a belief of advancers.

    As they prepared to leave, Lyne withdrew robes from her recovered spatial ring for herself as well as Rein and Suey. The size was slightly too large for Suey¡¯s petite form, and too small for Rein¡¯s larger frame. At least they are now well covered.

    Suey gestured to Lyne and the two women left Rein by himself, walking behind a rock formation to discuss god-knows-what. When they returned. Lyne had a perturbed expression., but she quickly dispelled the source of her confusion.

    ¡°I can sense from my bloodline that someone of the Xuere Clan is close. I cannot be seen with you. Farewell, bastard,¡± Lyne coolly stated as she left towards the south west direction. The Xuere Clan members searching for Lyne must have gone further west than intended.

    As for Rein and Suey, they headed south east, back towards the central outpost belonging to the Hall of Heroes.

    Rein, of course, no longer employed his spatial blinking skill. That was no longer necessary, and Rein would rather not risk having his unique origin ability discovered.

    Little did he know that carefulness saved him that day. For after leaping with his ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯ Art for some time, Rein found himself and Suey to be suddenly surrounded by a group of figures in unblemished white robes!

    Rein had no idea who these people were.

    A pale and frail man with sharp brows, bright eyes, high cheekbones and long sleek black hair extending below his shoulders walked to the front. His most distinguishing feature was the slit in the center of his forehead that Rein immediately noticed.

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Rein narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°Sir Godeyes of the House of Origins,¡± the man replied.

    Rein widened his eyes in disbelief. How had the Hall of Origins identified him?

    ¡°You simply need to cooperate. You have no need to feel guilty. You are but a tool for us to capture your brother Xeeseir,¡± Sir Godeyes stated.

    Rein now understood that these men weren¡¯t here for him. Rather, he was now a hostage for these men to deal with Xeeseir. Rein knew Xeeesir¡¯s nature. Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability was publicly revealed when he could not stand the sight of an innocent young girl of his travel caravan being attacked by bandits. That was simply the man¡¯s nature. Stubborn, reckless, but noble.

    The unfortunate reality, though, was that Rein could not resist even though he did not want to become the cause of Xeeseir¡¯s capture. He could tell that the five men surrounding them must be of a much higher realm than him.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Sir Godeyes seemed to have suddenly noticed some clue. The slit on his forehead opened and that third eye became fixated on Suey.

    After a breath of time, Sir Godeyes began to laugh uproariously.

    ¡°Truly, the heavens have blessed me, blessed us!¡± Sir Godeyes clutched at his belly. ¡°We might no longer even have to negotiate with the Hall of Heroes!¡±

    ¡°Sir¡­¡± a man who also wore a plain white mask wondered.

    ¡°Take a look!¡± Sir Godeyes declared as a golden beam shot out from his third eye directly at Suey!

    Neither Rein or Suey could react. Luckily, that golden beam did no damage, for Suey appeared unharmed after that golden light faded.

    However, Rein soon noticed that Suey appeared¡­ different.

    ¡°A¡­ demon water fox?!¡± the white-masked man exclaimed.

    Rein was shocked to see that Suey¡¯s hair had now turned into varying tones of blue. It was a mix of snow blue, sky blue, and lapis blue fur. Her normally raven hair was now mostly sky blue with lapis blue highlights. The corner of her ears carried snow blue highlights.

    As for her body, it remained human, except for a sky blue tail that now extended from her tail bone. Naturally, her eyebrows had also transformed into this color.

    ¡°No,¡± Sir Godeyes replied. ¡°Half demon fox. Half human!¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡± the white-masked man cried. ¡°Any human that has bred with demon beasts-- their spawn is always demon! Demon beasts are born with greater strength, thus at birth, their bloodline is thoroughly dominant!¡±

    This was well known. It was why some demon beasts infiltrated human society, more than happy to seduce the men and impregnate the women. The demon beast bloodline is always dominant at birth and thus those children are always born demon beasts.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± A man with flat eyebrows, horizontal eyes and plump cheeks spoke. ¡°The Hall of Heroes, many years ago, announced that they would pay a price to any who could deliver to them these half-breeds. Everyone thought the Allfather to be a fool. So they knew, all along, of their existence!¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Sir Godeyes smiled. ¡°Our capture of Xeeseir will be overlooked. We will research his origin ability while understanding this half-demon water fox¡¯s make-up, before sending her as a gift to the Halls. The Halls might even reward us, haha!¡±

    That plump-cheeked man sighed as he gazed at Rein with a complicated expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, young man. We know little of half-demon beasts, but as demon beasts are, they prey and take advantage of human desires. Demon beasts have an eternal enmity with us humans, so this must be a shock,¡± the man shook his head as he sighed again.

    ¡°Still, we must put chains upon you. I hope you understand. Demons¡­ especially demon foxes, have ensnared human minds in the past. I cannot risk you doing something stupid to betray us humankind. You understand, yes?¡±

    Rein could only nod while the call of another vision arose from his heart., which he temporarily ignored. Frankly, he was still in shock with Suey¡¯s current appearance. That golden beam from Sir Godeyes¡¯ third eye had broken Suey¡¯s human appearance which was, no doubt, an illusion.

    Sir Godeyes tapped a spatial ring on his hand and a metallic caravan made of a sort of dark cold iron appeared.

    Within was a jail cell of thick iron bars, with inscriptions carved to strengthen each bar. These bars were connected to an indentation slotted with power crystal the supplied aurae to the inscriptions of the jail.

    The power crystal was not the infamous cloud jade. It was a lesser type of gem that Rein recognized to be a type of quartz.

    Suey was first placed in a type of cuff that limited her aurae circulation, before being tossed into this jail cell, in the corner of the caravan.

    Rein quietly entered the caravan as he, too, was cuffed. Unlike Suey, he was allowed to sit beside the white-robed men.

    ¡°Geihr,¡± the man with flat eyes and eyebrows with plump cheeks introduced himself.

    ¡°Rein.¡± By now, Rein had overcome his initial shock. His mind was contemplating many things. As for Suey, she kept her gaze upon Rein, inwardly filled with apprehension.

    Her apprehension was due to the fact that Rein wasn¡¯t meant to discover that she was a half-breed this early. That was not the plan, her plan. Rein was meant to experience much of the advancer world before coming to the knowledge of her true identity.

    She felt fear. She had been warned many times not to overly interfere with the so-called fate. All her predecessors only did so carefully. She, instead, had chosen to take action, with the intention to completely flip the board.

    Was the current situation her punishment? She could not see any warmth in Rein¡¯s eyes directed towards her anymore. He still occasionally ran his eyes over her, examining her hair and ears in detail, yet she could not tell what he was thinking.

    ¡°Young man,¡± Geihr sighed. ¡°We will simply ensure that whatever illusion the demon fox has placed upon you is dispelled. It will take some time-- after all, demon foxes usually use an art over an extended time to slowly capture a man¡¯s mind.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ simply struggle to believe it,¡± Rein replied with a frown. ¡°To think that a woman who I considered to be a potential lifelong mate was nothing but one of the hated demons that have long terrorized humanity¡­ how many years have we suffered before we wrested control of the world back from their grasp?!¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± Geihr smiled. ¡°I am relieved to hear these words from your mouth. It can only mean that your mind is still mostly your own. Say¡­ are you interested in joining the House of Origin?¡±

    The white-masked man tilted his head upwards in surprise across from Rein. For Geihr to invite someone into the House of Origins was rare.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Rein wasn¡¯t sure what to say. Inwardly, he, of course, had long developed a low opinion of these research organizations that abused the bodies of their research experiments.

    ¡°We, House of Origin, have dedicated ourselves to understanding origin abilities, abilities said to be the primal expression of advancer abilities. It is through our research that humanity has developed so many varying combinations of abilities, allowing us to overcome the demon beasts.¡±

    ¡°Ah yes,¡± he continued, ¡°Your brother Xeeseir, carrier of ¡®Retrace¡¯. We have, in fact, asked for the cooperation of the previous users of ¡®Retrace¡¯. It is in our records.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, most origin users never cooperate with us. As for the users of ¡®Retrace¡¯, they all share the same opinion. Only if us House of Origins never divulge our research to¡­ well those they deem immoral, will they cooperate.¡±

    ¡°How ridiculous. Those stubborn, righteous fools of ¡®Retrace¡¯. Who can even be certain of what is right or wrong across the ages?! As far as we are concerned, us House of Origins will research, experiment, and the fruits of our labor will benefit humankind. It is the duty of origin users to sacrifice their lives and bodies for our research.¡±

    ¡°Do you not agree?¡± Geihr squinted his eyes at Rein and the atmosphere became tense as the other four white robed men, especially Sir Godeyes, stared at Rein.

    Rein was inwardly alarmed. Was Geihr¡¯s sudden monologue a sort of test? Rein wasn¡¯t sure if he should agree or disagree.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rein eventually chose to not answer at all. ¡°After all¡­I¡¯ve seen little of the world¡­And I¡¯ve already fallen into a demon water fox¡¯s trap.¡±

    ¡°I am relieved to hear your uncertainty,¡± Geihr smiled. ¡°Many men, ensnared by demon foxes across the ages, agree with their captor¡¯s words in an attempt to lower their guard.¡±

    Cold sweat rolled down Rein¡¯s back. They eventually sank into silence.

    The metal caravan was pulled along by a mechanical puppet that seemed to be an imitation of a bull combined with a horse.

    Rein finally had the time and peace to view the vision beckoning from within his heart. He closed his eyes.

    The blank canvas was once again gradually filled with color and Rein found himself in Gent¡¯s body again.

    Gent rushed forward into a cave system, but the darkness did not limit Gent¡¯s vision. His draconic abilities gave him impressive night vision, and Rein, in sharing Gent¡¯s body, easily transversed the darkness of the winding cave system.

    Finally, they reached a well-lit small cavern with a forest of varying sizes of grayish stalactites and stalagmites top and bottom.

    An unkempt man of golden hair dressed in tattered gold and silver robes, with a crazed look, stood up to welcome Gent.

    To Rein¡¯s shock, he recognized this man! He had seen a statue of Xune, the so-called progenitor of humanity¡¯s heroes erected in front of the Halls! This man, though very much dishevelled, is Xune!

    ¡°Xune,¡± Gent¡¯s voice growled in restrained anger. ¡°Why did you call for me, your enemy?!¡±

    ¡°Gent,¡± Xune deliriously smiled. ¡°I have interacted with many of your kind. Though my father detests your existence, I know your reputation to be true. You live up to your name. I need your help! It is for a good cause. A true cause!¡±

    ¡°Xune,¡± Gent spat. ¡°I once trusted you. You say you fell in love with the white snake. Yet instead, you took her life in the Battle of the Chaotic Skies! I even guaranteed you safety in your meetings!¡±

    Rein could feel the roiling rage repressed within Gent¡¯s mind.

    A hint of clarity returned to Xune¡¯s delirious eyes at Gent¡¯s words.

    ¡°I¡­ no I did not! It was not me! My father, the Allfather¡­I¡­¡± Xune¡¯s eyes flashed with a number of different emotions as his pupils dilated then relaxed. He suddenly kneeled down and repeatedly hammered his fists against the ground!

    Gent was bewildered. Rein knew what Gent must be thinking. Xune must have gone mad. Perhaps the Allfather had tampered with his son¡¯s mind?!

    After a few breaths of time, Xune calmed down.

    ¡°Look, Gent! It matters not! The past¡­ we just need to create a new future!¡± Xune said as he gestured with an arm. ¡°Come! Quickly! My father is already searching for this cavern!¡±

    Gent was perturbed, and the dragon-in-human-form followed Xune through a gap into another side cavern.

    Within this cavern was a spherical dark mass, a portal to elsewhere!

    ¡°Follow me!¡± Xune entered and his form swirled into the portal.

    Gent followed and they travelled through a spatial channel for a time, before arriving in another world!

    Gent peered at his surroundings, failing to recognize the place. He had travelled across many realms in his life.

    ¡°Is this... a newborn realm?¡± Gent¡¯s instincts caused him to ask this question. He sensed the environment around him, and he could feel through the surrounding aurae that this place was young. The surrounding forest, mountains and lakes, was all quiet, with only weak forms of existence.

    ¡°Yes, indeed!¡± Xune¡¯s eyes now seemed bright, his delirium somehow forgotten and dispelled.

    Gent followed Xune¡¯s steps, and they reached a grassland with many pitched tents. To Gent¡¯s shock, and also Rein¡¯s who now stood in his steps, there was a rancid odor from the side. Peering over, Gent and Rein saw the corpses of many different demon beasts and humans, piled into a large pit!

    ¡°What have you done?!¡± Gent demanded.

    ¡°Look! Look!¡± Xune pointed as a tent flap opened. A humanoid figure came out, and it was a young boy that looked to be ten, with some snake-scales decorating various parts of his body.

    ¡°I managed to finally identify the curse within human and demon beast bodies! The fallen gods placed a curse deep within our flesh and blood to prevent half-breeds between our people!¡± Xune was ecstatic.

    ¡°So much experimentation¡­ so many lives lost, but finally I was successful! Look!¡± Xune gazed upon that snake-scaled young humanoid half-breed with pride.

    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯ve gone mad,¡± Gent muttered as his eyes remained fixed on the pit of demon beast and human corpses.

    Noticing Gent¡¯s gaze, Xune merely shrugged.

    ¡°Gent, old dragon,¡± he said. ¡°For many years, I thought the demon beasts to be my eternal enemy. So much blood¡­ so many lives lost. And for what?¡±

    ¡°I speak to the humans, and they want to butcher the demon beasts. I speak to the demon beasts, and they simply desire to swallow me!¡±

    ¡°The white snake¡­¡± Xune¡¯s eyes seemed to carry pain but his thoughts turned elsewhere before he could be consumed by his inner demons.

    ¡°I captured some humans and demon beasts and forcefully bred them! I naturally could not allow the demon beasts and humans to pass on their generational culture of hatred, or perhaps even hate the half-breeds that are their children! Thus they were promptly slain.¡±

    ¡°Still. Now¡­ Now there is hope! When two races have irreconcilable differences, is the best method not to simply force the two to create a future generation?! But my father would never allow these half-breeds to exist. Nor will the ancestral beasts tolerate their existence!¡±

    ¡°You are one of three that I can trust!¡± Xune said as his eyes filled with resolve. ¡°The nine-tailed demon fox has been defeated many times by the Goddess of Fate, eternally trapped within her web. As such, she dispelled her very essence and will pass on her fate into this new race!¡±

    ¡°The second¡­ my mother¡­ unfortunately, I do not know where she had vanished.¡±

    ¡°And you, Gent! It is said that your draconic lightning is the fiercest of them all! If you could surround this realm and block potential intruders¡­¡±

    ¡°You truly have gone mad!¡± Gent suddenly reached forth as his arm transformed into an almighty dragon claw the trapped Xune against the ground.

    Xune, however, did not resist. Instead, he laughed out loud.

    ¡°I know you, Gent!¡± Xune was filled with joy and satisfaction. ¡°These half-breeds are a new life, innocent life, and you will ultimately protect them against the Allfather and the forces of the origin beasts! Or other human and beastly factions! You simply can¡¯t help yourself!¡±

    ¡°So kill me! Crush me! It would be far better. As I have said, my father and his followers of unique arts have finally divined this knowledge. He is already coming for me!¡± Xune was filled with a crazed and fearless expression.

    Gent¡¯s claws morphed back into an arm. Rein could sense the rage but also helplessness within Gent¡¯s mind. Indeed, these half-breeds, though created through questionable means, are a new race, its members innocent.

    As for why the fallen gods had cursed demon beasts and humans to prevent their crossbreeding, that was a mystery. That is, if Xune¡¯s words of the curse were true.

    ¡°Xune. You won¡¯t have a good death,¡± Gent could only snarlin response.

    ¡°Indeed. I won¡¯t,¡± Xune agreed with a smile.

    Two muddy wings extended from Gent¡¯s back, and he flew like a sharp arrow towards the limits of this new world¡¯s skies.

    Hovering high above, viewing the spherical form of this new world, lightning sparked from his body and extended in every direction, forming a dense whitish purple lightning web that wrapped around the whole realm.

    Gent would repeat this many more times until the whole world was encased in an impenetrable lightning sphere.

    ¡°It is done,¡± Gent said after his return to the ground. ¡°That is all that I will do, and no more. You have broken far too many taboos, Xune.¡±

    With that he returned to the portal, and Xune followed Gent in leaving the realm.

    They arrived back in that cavern and Rein, in Gent¡¯s body, observed Xune destroy a number of pillars of inscription, as well as ground markers to completely dissipate the spatial tunnel to that mysterious world.

    ¡°Do those half-breeds not need care?¡± Gent grumbled.

    ¡°My father and likely, the many human and demon beast factions are coming,¡± Xune explained. ¡°I have already left my guidance for my children. The nine-tailed fox¡¯s memories will also guide them. My death is near. But I can die satisfied. Silveray, My white snake¡­.¡± He sighed as he sat down with his back against the cavern wall. ¡°We will meet soon enough again. And this world? It will be forced to reckon with the results of our love!¡±

    Rein opened his eyes as the vision ended and he returned to the metallic jail caravan. He finally knew of Suey¡¯s world, her origin! A new light rose within Rein¡¯s eyes.

 Ch99: Xeeseirs Cage

    Rein¡¯s mind was expanding. He once thought that all he desired was to rescue his younger brother, and seek revenge against the forces that had destroyed the Golden Desert Town.

    Yet now, he realized that the world itself is a long string of interconnected events, one event leading another, cause and effect, eventually resulting in himself. The Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction is linked to the succession battle for the throne in Minhr Nation.

    The Minhr Nation¡¯s rulers, the Dingien Clan, and its competing scions, maintain a connection to both the Hall of Heroes, the Fusion Sect to the southern seas and other lesser forces due to various reasons. The Fusion Sect likely belongs to another human faction.

    Even the other clans in the Minhr Nation, such as the Xuere Clan, have ancient historical origins from a previous era of conflict.

    As for the devils? They seem strangely influenced by the demon beasts¡¯ magic yet they also began as humans, and must be linked to an ancient era.

    Rein could not fully piece together the whole picture, but he now sensed a strange connection, a chain of events that eventually led to the Golden Desert Town and his family¡¯s destruction.

    Thus, his heart wished for more than simply finding his younger brother. A will that he never noticed within himself desired a different world. A better world. A fairer world.

    He closed his eyes to obscure the new flame within. Perhaps this will always existed within him, and has always been the source of his internal feeling-- that his parents and himself had been unjustly expelled from their original family house or clan.

    As for Suey? Her change in appearance was certainly a bit of a shock at first. However, knowing what he knew now, he saw her as a victim of circumstances as well.

    Deep down, he felt a tenderness towards her. Is that love¡­ or pity? Or both? Or perhaps, he really had been seduced. Rein dismissed these thoughts. He recognized the will within him. Its source, he knew not. A forgotten or erased memory, perhaps. What he did know was that it was true. And if it was originally a bud, it began to blossom, as if given life by the knowledge of the sun.

    Rein knew. To stand beside Suey would mean to stand against most of the world itself. It meant to stand against the very heavens.

    There must be a reason that the fallen gods had cursed demon beasts and humans to not be capable of creating halfbreeds between them. Xune had broken the curse on Suey¡¯s ancestors, that much must be true.

    As for the current powers in existence, the many human factions and demon beast factions would certainly not allow the half-breeds to exist.

    As for why Rein was certain of this? Simply his observation of the nature of the mind.

    The lands where the Minhr Nation bordered the Zoh Empire to the east had changed hands many times due to the historical conflict between the two. As a result, the inhabitants there often have mixed blood. Rein knows that most of Minhr¡¯s people see these people as untrustworthy. The Zoh Empire also holds discriminatory beliefs towards these ¡®half-bloods¡¯.

    As Rein considered the history of that area, a dangerous thought entered his mind. Would the world not be a better place if these mixed bloods reigned supreme? At least, in his mind¡­ if those half-Minhr half-Zoh population carried strong ties to both nations, in theory, they should have the desire for both nations to thrive. Perhaps Xune thought the same when he created the half-breeds. However, Rein felt this thought to be somewhat extreme.

    Rein opened his left eyelid a hair to take a quick glance at the jailed Suey. He could not ignore the will within him that pushed him forward. Rein finally understood. This is fate-- undeniable from the heart and mind. To overturn the current heavens, to take much of the world as his enemy. After all, he himself could be said to be half-dragon half-man.

    For a single breath, his mind was in turmoil at this realization. However, Rein soon calmed himself. He realized there was no point in feeling apprehensive. If he succeeds, then he would. If he fails, then so be it.

    It was only now that Rein began to understand Master Yirn and his half-senior Chenhr¡¯s teachings. He needed to remain in the shadows, and avoid the eyes of the heavens. Or he would be crushed before he could even grow.

    His will hardened within, and as it did, the remnant will of the draconic metamorphose bead resonated, the lightning draconic energy within his veins inundating with a sizzling excitement.

    All of this was unnoticed by others, with the exception of Sir Godeyes.

    ¡°Hmmm?¡± The man suddenly opened his third eye to bathe Rein in a golden light.

    As he was covered in the golden light, Rein felt the treasure necklace melded into the skin around his neck heat up in resistance.

    Rein held a confused expression at Sir Godeyes, who retracted that golden light with a shake of the head. To his relief, this treasure necklace gifted to him by Master Yirn held up against Sir Godeyes¡¯ probing. If origin abilities are said to be ¡®absolute¡¯, then Sir Godeyes¡¯ failure can only be due to an insurmountable gap between Master Yirn¡¯s abilities and Sir Godeyes.

    The metallic caravan travelled speedily on flat ground southward. They encountered a demon beast group heading towards the Xuere Gap, but the white-cloaked man riding on top of the mechanical puppet pulling the caravan jail simply flicked his sword.

    A solid dense aurae blade slashed through the whole group of demon beasts and completely annihilated them. Rein could not hide his disbelief, having seen this attack through the slits of the caravan walls.

    ¡°Sword intent, young man. A perfect combination of pierce and slash intent,¡± Geihr praised with pride. ¡°A discovered art of our House of Origins.¡±

    Rein recalled learning of pierce, slash and blunt intent under Blacksmith Rahr. Weapon edges are designed to enable advancers to better express these sorts of abilities. It is said these intent carried the strength of an advancer¡¯s will¡­ for it to come from the House of Origins, that can only mean that there exists an origin ability of extreme intent, Rein concluded.

    They soon slowed as they entered the Evergreen Mountains to the south of the Xuere Gap. Rein peered out of a small slit on the side of the caravan jail to see them travelling up a narrow mountain ledge with a steep slope on one side.

    ¡°Has the carrier of ¡®Retrace¡¯ been notified?¡± Sir Godeyes asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the white-masked man replied. ¡°We have utmost belief in your tracking abilities, and thus sent a member to inform the man named Xeeseir of the meeting point prior to our setting out this morning.¡±

    ¡°Good. Good!¡± Sir Godeyes smiled.

    Geihr did not partake in this conversation. Instead, he was now heating a long metallic rod with a stamp on its end. He placed this stamp end into a container that magically carried high heat within, and once he withdrew this metal rod, the stamp on the end had turned white hot.

    ¡°Young man. This is an opportunity to get revenge on this demon fox. This is a stamp to mark all research subjects of the House of Origins. Since this demon water fox will soon be sent to our facilities, I intend to mark her now. You are free to do so in my place,¡± Geihr said as he handed the metal rod into Rein¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Please. I was sincere!¡± Suey¡¯s eyes stared with fear at that red hot end of the metal rod, now in Rein¡¯s hands. Her eyes became wet as a tear rolled down her left cheek.

    ¡°You deserve it, demon slut,¡± Rein uttered as he gripped onto the metal rod, putting on a mask of disgust. He knows that Suey¡¯s mind must now be frail, but he himself cannot flinch in the current unfavorable circumstance.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, young man,¡± Geihr encouraged. ¡°Demon foxes will use tears to draw pity from your heart. Do not succumb to their wiles! Hah¡­. perhaps once we and the Halls are done with her¡­ she will become an exotic pet for some gods for a good price.¡±

    Rein suppressed his own inner turmoil, putting on a determined face. As Rein stabbed towards Suey with the metal rod¡¯s white hot stamp end, a voice suddenly interrupted his actions. How fortunate, Rein sighed internally with relief.

    ¡°You arranged for us to meet elsewhere, but here I am. As you demanded! Now, though I may not have known this brother of mine for long, I can tell that he has a noble soul. As such, he is to be allowed to go free.¡± That was Xeeseir¡¯s voice!

    ¡°Capture him,¡± Sir Godeyes lazily gestured at the white-masked man.

    The white-masked man exitted the caravan, to see Xeeseir standing in front of their path, blocking the narrow mountain path with a steep rocky slope to their right. The other House of Origin member guiding the mechanical puppet was already facing Xeeseir with his sword drawn.

    With the two of them, Xeeseir¡¯s eventual capture was all but guaranteed.  After all, these two white-robed men knew from the research of the House of Origins, the method to deal with Xeeseir. They had prepared themselves. Also, they held two hostages.

    ¡°To confront us here¡­ I thought that you would have taken more time to prepare yourself,¡± the white-masked man sneered. ¡°The same as all of your predecessors-- you are just as brainless, running headlong into our hands simply because of a captured friend.¡±

    ¡°Let me keep it simple,¡± the other House of Origin member continued. ¡°Surrender yourself and your brother can go free. Otherwise, they will lose their lives as you resist.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that it is simply my fate to be threatened in such a manner,¡± Xeeseir smiled in answer. ¡°But you¡¯ve miscalculated. For I am not alone.¡±

    ¡°So, in the end, you failed,¡± a derisive voice sounded in the air, its source from a higher elevation. ¡°But I will at least give you some assistance, half-junior.¡± Rein recognized this insulting and mocking voice! It was his half-senior, Chenhr who he had trained under while residing with Master Yirn in the Bleak Mountains!

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Geihr hollered as a man in leaf-green robes appeared on a higher point up the mountain side to the left of the path.

    The green robed man punched, and a dense aurae cloud shot towards the metallic caravan jailhouse like a bright meteor descending from the sky.

    ¡°Pathetic,¡± Geihr scoffed. ¡°This prisoner transportation caravan has been proven to be--¡± his words were caught in his throat as the unbelievably dense meteoric aurae blast struck the side of the metallic caravan, sending it sliding off the mountain path!

    The caravan then tumbled down the steep mountain side, spinning as it bounced off the rocky slope!

    Within the rotating and bouncing caravan rolling down the mountainside, Rein entered full alert once he recognized the voice of his half-senior brother. Was the time to take action now?

    No. Rein controlled his impulse. Though his physical strength might not be restrained by the cuffs around his wrists limiting his aurae, his opponents seem to be in the outer realm, with unique strengths. He could not be careless, recalling the teachings of his half-senior Chenhr.

    Suey¡¯s eyes filled with a newborn hope. For her, now that the future had changed, she knew less and less of the chain of events that followed.

    When she gazed into Rein¡¯s eyes, she now recognized a will hidden within had awakened, one that existed in many visions of the future Rein that she had seen. Ever since their capture, Rein had expertly hidden his intentions-- a result of his training for business transactions during his mortal days.

    As such, Suey nearly believed that Rein truly abandoned her upon discovering the truth of her identity. She assumed that Rein¡¯s discovery of her as a half-breed was too early in the timeline. She believed that Rein had only cultivated his ¡®future¡¯ will as a result of future experiences.

    Now, she knew that Rein was only acting, obscuring a long held will within himself. She began to sob in relief within her corner.

    As for Rein, his focus was on the remaining three white-robed men within the caravan. While his hands might be cuffed, and his aurae arts subdued, there was one thing that could not be controlled.-- his tempered draconic body of unexpected physical strength. That tempered body might weaken if he was trapped in an aurae-less environment for a long period of time. However, he had only been cuffed recently.

    As the metallic jail caravan continued to tumble down the steep slope, Rein patiently waited for the right moment, which he trusted his half-senior Chenhr to deliver. Currently, the three white-robed men held little-to-no suspicion towards him, only believing him to have been potentially influenced by a supposed demon fox seductive art.

    The three white-robed men used their four limbs to stabilize their floating forms within the rotating internal caravan. As for Rein, he could only rely on his legs.

    As for why Rein felt that he could somewhat influence the current situation? Within the tumbling caravan, space is small and coordination difficult. Even an outer advancer or a telekinetic advancer would find it difficult to fully express their advantage in such tight spaces against a lower-realmed opponent, if surprised. Rein intended to take full advantage of this.

    The tumbling rate of the caravan began to slow as the rocky steep slope evened out onto a more gentle grassy slant. Only to receive another aurae blast from the green-robed man that Rein knew to be Chenhr, accelerating the caravan¡¯s spin once again.

    The inscriptions protecting the caravan and securing Suey¡¯s jail flickered ever so slightly. The power crystal supplying aurae to those inscriptions had been gradually expended by the inscriptions maintaining the caravan¡¯s structure as it tumbled down the steep rocky slope.

    This detail was noticed by Rein, but also by the other three white-robed men within the caravan.

    Another aurae blast from Chenhr struck the caravan once again, causing the inscriptions to flicker once again.

    ¡°I¡­Impossible! This caravan¡¯s durability has been tested extensively by early telekinetic advancers! Wait¡­no! That¡¯s the origin ability named ¡®Endless Well¡¯!¡± Geihr agitatedly analyzed. To create such a dense aurae blast that could overwhelm this metallic caravan¡¯s systems-- it must be that origin ability in the records!

    A previous member of the House of Origin had captured a previous carrier of this origin ability, and from research, discovered many methods to potentially increase the aura concentration within one¡¯s body!

    Many advancers had used those theories to create unique advancer arts pertaining to qualities of endurance!

    ¡°We cannot allow him to destroy the caravan. I will intercept the green-robed man! Protect Sir Godeyes!¡± Geihr moved towards the exit at the back of the caravan.

    This was when Rein took action, placing himself awkwardly in Geihr¡¯s path within the spinning interior.

    As his hands were still cuffed, he simply pushed off with his feet to ram his shoulders into Geihr. He could not use his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ art due to his aurae circulation being suppressed by the cuffs, but his tempered body was still explosive.

    Geihr was not some fool. He saw hints of Rein¡¯s actions, but due to Rein¡¯s sudden action, only had time to wrap himself in a cloud of metallic-based aurae shell. Rein¡¯s shoulder charge sent Geihr crashing against the front of the caravan¡¯s interior as they continued to tumble down the mountains.

    Rein doubted that Geihr was in any way hurt. His own shoulder felt sore after the contact, after all.

    As such, he turned his attention to Sir Godeyes, and with a well-timed kick off the spinning wall, pushed off towards the man.

    Sir Godeyes saw Rein coming, but there was limited space to dodge into, and thus he could only form a wind-based lime-green shell defense as he braced himself. Previous users of  the origin ability, ¡®God¡¯s eyes¡¯ always had frail bodies, and this is well-documented. Rein had seen these records while training under Master Yirn, and thus dared to take such action.

    When Rein¡¯s bulky form crashed into Sir Godeyes, the sounds of bones snapping could be heard as Sir Godeyes screamed in soul-rending pain. Though his aurae shell was strong enough, his interior was too soft and weak to even tolerate the smaller percentage of forces transmitted through his aurae shell.

    ¡°Sir Godeyes!¡± The third white-robed member remaining within the caravan exclaimed in consternation as he quickly held onto Sir Godeyes and positioned himself to protect the man from further injuries.

    Rein¡¯s attack was too sudden, too unexpected. After all, in their eyes, Rein was about to brand the captive half-breed just a moment ago, displaying no resistance to the idea and even seemingly the desire to do so. Had all of that been just an act?! If so, it was too flawless of an act!

    Rein returned his attention to Geihr, who was shaken by the initial shoulder tackle, but very much unharmed. Rein recklessly headbutted Geihr¡¯s aurae-encased head. His goal was to hopefully knock out the man.

    A metallic echo sounded as Rein felt dizzy himself from bashing his own head against Geihr¡¯s metallic-based defense. Still, he could see Geihr¡¯s eyes become unfocused. Rein took this opportunity to reach for the totem key on Geihr¡¯s waist to free himself.

    Geihr, however, was no weakling, or an imbalanced advancer like Sir Godeyes. He recovered immediately. Then, with a slight shift of the body and a single palm sent Rein crashing against a caravan wall.

    Rein felt an invasive aurae pour into his body, sending the draconic lightning in his veins into a rage. This invasive aurae was a formless flow of energy that attempted to climb up his body into his head, and Rein found himself temporarily unable to control his body.

    Luckily, the orange draconic lightning within his veins had a hidden strength, going toe-to-toe with the invasive formless energy. The ancient will within the draconic lightning gradually suppressed the invasive aurae injected by Geihr.

    At the same time, Rein¡¯s timely interference indirectly saved himself, for it allowed his half-senior Chenhr to deliver the final blow to this supposed well-tested caravan jail.

    A flurry of aurae blasts generated by Chenhr¡¯s chain punches caused the inscriptions on the caravan to flicker before dying. Then, a few more aurae blasts struck, and when combined with the contact of the caravan still tumbling over and against the ground, caused the rolling box to deform, further weakening its structure.

    ¡°Protect Sir Godeyes!¡± Geihr commanded the other white-robed man. He no longer cared about Rein or Suey, as his attention turned to the green-robed man that is Chenhr. He began to gather his aurae in preparation to face Chenhr in his peak state.

    Even then, he was shocked to suddenly discover that Rein had regained his movement, with a leg whipping like a dragon¡¯s tail. The reason for his shock stemmed from the fact that his palm was filled with an invasive will that he had tempered over many years. It is a special art named ¡®Subjugating Palm¡¯ that delivers his tempered will into his opponents. The skill erodes the will of his opponents, subjugates his targets through sending their minds into a stupor. It is especially effective against young and inexperienced targets.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Rein had prepared a martial skill named dragonkick while Geihr¡¯s eyes were drawn to Chenhr. This skill belongs to his draconic martial art. This kick was named for it used the leg to imitate the movement of a swinging dragon tail, a wide rounding kick of gathered momentum.

    His leg swung through the air and struck a weakened point on the deformed caravan wall. The metallic caravan finally shattered and all five figures originally within were thrown out as the caravan opened up and pieces of its walls were flung in many directions.

    Rein immediately regained his bearings, and Suey, still somewhat teary, wrapped her cuffed wrists around Rein¡¯s neck, and wrapped her legs around his torso. Rein began to leap away using simply his physical abilities, with the magical cuffs still around his wrists.

    ¡°Foolish youngling--¡± Geihr sneered as he, too, recovered his bearings then waved his arms in the air, sending his aurae tendrils piercing towards Rein, momentarily forgetting Chenhr¡¯s presence in irritation.

    Yet, the very next moment, he retracted his tendrils to block a number of aurae blasts from the Chenhr, and was forced to take a deep breath to calm his agitation as he turned to face the leaf-green-robed man.

    ¡°They say that the carrier of ¡®Endless Well¡¯ has been reborn, and now serves Blasphemer Yirn,¡± Geihr said as he narrowed his eyes at the green-robed man. ¡°Is it truly his intention to interfere in this matter? The creator of our House of Origins was once his follower, and we have never spilled blood against one another.¡±

    ¡°So you know of me,¡± Chenhr replied slowly. ¡°However, do not misunderstand. My actions are not against you specifically, but the Allfather.¡±

    ¡°The Allfather?¡± Geihr frowned, wondering how the Allfather might be connected to the current situation.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Chenhr¡¯s teeth gleamed as he grinned. ¡°As long as you three do not interfere with Xeeseir¡¯s fight against those two, I will not act.¡±

    ¡°You think yourself capable of preventing our involvement?¡± Sir Godeyes spat. He was not at all pleased to have his brittle bones shattered. He had always been self-conscious of his weak body.

    ¡°You can certainly try,¡± Chenhr shrugged nonchalantly.

    Geihr¡¯s was flustered. The so-called¡¯ ¡®Endless Well¡¯ origin ability, was also given other names. All these names communicated one quality-- an endless supply of aurae.

    The only weakness of ¡®Endless Well¡¯ was that its users struggle to climb the advancer realms. The origin ability simply absorbed too much aurae from the carrier, thus making it difficult and slow for the user to gather aurae to transform themselves and climb levels.

    Geihr was naturally weighing options in his mind.

    ¡°Then you will not block me if I recapture those two ants?¡± Geihr tested.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ you seem to be using those two helpless ants as hostages to threaten Xeeseir,¡± Chenhr was bemused. ¡°As such, I will have no choice but to interfere.¡±

    ¡°And if we capture those two without using them as hostages?¡± Geihr continued to push.

    ¡°Hahah!¡± Chenhr chortled in amusement. ¡°Do you think I am a naive child? If Xeeseir considers these two to be his companions, would it matter whether you directly used them to threaten him or not?!¡±

    An impasse. Meanwhile, Rein had already carried Suey a good distance away.

    Chenhr leisurely stood his ground. On the other side, Geihr¡¯s face twitched as he controlled his anger, while Sir Godeyes barely remained on his feet, supported by the other white-robed man.

    Geihr¡¯s hesitation was not only due to Chenhr¡¯s unique strength, but also, the potential presence of Blasphemer Yirn. Geihr understood the source of this title of Yirn¡¯s. It is said that Yirn has a habit of interfering with those who sought true godhood. This is the reason why the Allfather desires to hunt down the man.

    As for Yirn¡¯s relationship with the House of Origins? Neutral. The House of Origins associated origin abilities with gods, and as such, have much respect for the existence that is Master Yirn. After all, legends have it that Ancestor Yirn caused the fall of the ancient gods. Their leader was once a disciple of Ancestor Yirn as well.

    However, the House of Origin also sought to understand origin abilities, hoping to use this knowledge to gain true godhood. And there lay the disagreement between Yirn and his past disciple.

    Sir Godeyes understood all this as well, and could only stare hatefully at Chenhr. After all, the more he contributed to the House of Origin, the more benefits he would receive for strengthening his body. Chenhr effectively stood between him and a stronger physical body.

    Meanwhile, up the mountain slope, Xeeseir faced off against two unnamed white-robed men, one of them wearing a white mask.

    To the two white-robed men¡¯s disquiet, Xeeseir was no longer using a bow as per their investigations. Instead, Xeeseir carried an ancient heavy greatsword on his back.

    Xeeseir¡¯s origin ability is ¡®Retrace¡¯, returning the power of advancer magic through its original pathway to the user in destructive fashion. Its weakness was that Xeeseir remained vulnerable to pure physical attacks.

    Based on their most recent information, Xeeseir should not own any greatsword, a thick and heavy one at that. The two sensed that someone had interfered.

    Xeeseir withdrew the heavy greatsword, marvelling at its durability. He had received this treasure from a green-robed man, and was also given an unique pill of unknown origins, which he now promptly consumed. The green-robed man had informed him that the pill required combat to display its efficacy.

    The two white-robed men nodded at one another and each of them withdrew two devices, a crossbow and a metallic lotus. House of Origins had prepared many physical devices that did not require magic to operate, simply for capturing Xeeseir and bypassing his origin ability.

    The two white-robed men threw their lotuses high into the air, and the metallic petals opened up to reveal a thousand tiny holes. A mechanism rattled as multiple metallic needles shot out of those tiny openings, showering down upon Xeeseir a rain of death!

    Xeeseir planted his heavy greatsword into the ground by the tip,and smacked his palm against its surface. The inscriptions upon the treasure sword lit up, and the heavy greatsword¡¯s size expanded, transforming into a large impenetrable shield pillar against the shower of needles, protecting Xeeseir behind!

    Pinging noises sounded as the needle struck the surface of the heavy greatsword, before falling to the ground harmless. Xeeseir saw that the tips of these needles were dipped in some sort of violet liquid poison, no doubt, to immobilize and capture him alive for future experimentation.

    The twinging sound could then be heard as an arrow pierced towards Xeeseir from a different angle. One of the white-robed men had employed his outer realm powers to fly aside and bypass the block of the oversized greatsword, before firing his crossbow.

    Xeeseir sneered as he gripped onto the heavy greatsword. The inscriptions upon its surface lit up again as the greatsword miniaturized into a one-handed blade, making it easy to swing in Xeeseir¡¯s hand. Then as Xeeseir swung his arm, the heavy greatsword expanded again, easily smacking the crossbow arrow aside!

    The two white-robed me glanced at one another in shock. The greatsword in Xeeseir¡¯s hands must be a unique treasure of ancient times!

    As Xeeseir fought, he discovered that the green-robed man¡¯s words were true. He began to feel increasingly powerful. The past psychedelic substances he had consumed failed in bringing him past the peak of the inner realm. Now, he felt that limit loosening!

    His aurae flowed and wrapped around his body, and began to fully solidify. A detail noticed by the two white-robed men. This sent their hearts into panic.

    ¡°Quickly, Linhz! Once he fully enters the shell realm, his origin ability will definitely transform!¡± one of them yelled.

    Xeeseir was pleasantly surprised by his rising strength. What was that unique pill? He could not tell. Why did the green-robed man give him this treasure greatsword? His heart felt as if he had always wielded a heavy greatsword such as this one.

    __________________________________________________

    Meanwhile, in the heavenly realm of white and gold, where buildings and towers formed a sphere with gods and goddesses walking upon its walls in all sorts of orientation, a beautiful woman sat within a pearl dome.

    Her jet-black robes decorated with pearl white seams and lines were expertly crafted. Her appearance was also immaculate, like a perfect doll with soft lilac eyes and wavy soft hair that glimmered with all colors that exist in the universe.

    Within the pearl dome, her eyes fixated upon an increasingly hazy star in the image of the starfield within the dome-- the fusion star that represented the fusion realm.

    At the same time when Rein¡¯s will solidified, the fusion star¡¯s light suddenly became nearly-concealed under the haze, sending the observing woman into a panic.

    ¡°Nine-tails!¡± She presumed-- Though she had defeated the nine tails in an era long past, the demon beast had dissolved its essence, which occasionally reappeared in a line of descendents to cause her trouble. Her intuition wasn¡¯t completely accurate, but it cannot be denied that a half-demon fox did have influence in awakening Rein¡¯s will.

    ¡°Allfather!¡± Her voice called out through her divine sense.

    She simultaneously lifted her right hand and five red strings of aurae shot forward into the haze that now covered the fusion star in her starfield.

    Then, her eyes widened once again as her heart sensed another unexpected source of foreboding sensation.

    ¡°You think you can free yourself?¡± She yelled at the fusion star. ¡°You stubborn oaf betrayed my love, betrayed the Allfather¡¯s sincere heart! You only deserve to experience your many lives under my watch, until you recognize your obstinate naive righteousness to be foolish!¡±

    Her left hand now lifted into the air as well, and another five red strings shot from her fingers into the haze obscuring the fusion star!

    The Allfather¡¯s figure flickered into existence behind her.

    ¡°Spyn. So it has started,¡± he calmly said.

    ¡°Allfather! It is still under my control! I only fear ¡®his¡¯ interference. He, too, must be here!¡± Spyn replied as she pulled on her ten taut red strings through her fingers.

    ¡°Perhaps. Perhaps not,¡± the Allfather, dressed in his jet-black robe covered in gold and silver lines, said. ¡°Do not blame yourself for failure, or believe yourself infallible. The thousand realms have always cycled between order and chaos. A new cycle is beginning. We have survived many cycles, each cycle an opportunity.¡±

    As he said this, his body began to split into many different versions of himself! Some of these clones are younger, some older, some decrepit, extending to all sorts of states of being. All these figures leapt away in different directions, towards portals into various realms.

    ¡°Allfather¡­ is it truly that time?¡± Spyn wistfully asked.

    ¡°You know this to be true in your heart, Spyn. It has happened many times before, and cannot be avoided. Another era of turmoil, for new geniuses to rise and fall and fall has arrived,¡± the Allfather answered.

    ¡°Even then,¡¯ Spyn pursed her lips as she refocused her sights on the hazy fusion star, ¡°You will not be able to escape my grasp!¡±

    ____________________________________________________________

    At the same time, in the Fusion Sect that existed on a lengthy vast island off the southern coastal tip of Minhr nation, a wizened old man with a long white beard was playing a game of chess against nobody, under a gazebo with a scenic mountain and sea view. That board of checkers is a tool linked with the ¡®waves¡¯ of the world, and the wizened old man often played against his ¡®invisible¡¯ foe to ¡®see¡¯ the world.

    His hand picked up a piece, then froze as he found himself unable to place his next move. That piece slipped through his fingers and clattered as it bounced across the board.

    The old man stood up, and though he appeared ancient, his back was still straight and strong. His hands reached up and tied his long white hair into a bob, which he secured with an ornamental crown. His robes consisted of five colors-- fire, metal, water, wood and earth.

    His body flickered and he reappeared inside the Fusion Palace on the tallest peak of the mountainous island chain.

    A few breaths later, a crier entered and announced, ¡°Ancestor! The lesser heavens have sent envoys, requesting permission to discuss conditions of entering the Fusion Realm.¡±

    ¡°Welcome them,¡± the white-haired Fusion Sect ancestor answered as his eyes narrowed and his forehead wrinkled. The lesser heavens of humanity have been cooperating for some time to avoid being swallowed by the greater heaven. But they are only convenient allies.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Back in the northwestern edge of the Evergreen Mountains.

    The two white-robed men flew around in the air, taking advantage of the outer realm capabilities to fire crossbow shots from a variety of angles. However, they dared not employ any aurae abilities, fearing Xeeseir¡¯s ¡®Retrace¡¯ origin ability. Especially that heavy greatsword, which Xeeseir¡¯s aurae shell extended to wrap around, capable of transmitting Xeeseir¡¯s ¡®Retrace¡¯!

    These two men clearly are not on the level of Ailehr¡¯s peak strength. At least, Xeeseir estimated that these two white-robed men must only be at the early outer realm, and thus had yet to truly develop the overwhelming presence of one reaching close to the telekinetic realm.

    When it comes to advancer realms, power rises exponentially. Thus, a peak inner realm advancer is in fact, closer in power to an early outer realm advancer, in comparison to an early outer realm advancer pitted against a peak outer realm advancer.

    As he fought, Xeeseir¡¯s complete aurae shell further solidified, the aurae cloud surrounding his body becoming ever more dense.

    Yet, just as he was about to successfully enter the shell realm, five red strings suddenly appeared from the void and zigzagged towards Xeeseir!

    These five red strings wrapped themselves around Xeeseir¡¯s body, and he was shocked to discover that upon contact with these red strings, he detected within his body the existence of many similar red webs limiting his strength! Many of these red webs seem partially dissolved by a sort of magical liquid, which Xeeseir recognized to be sludge of the pill that he had consumed.

    Most alarming for Xeeseir was that after coming into contact with these five red strings, he also sensed similar strings wrapped around his own heart!

    Xeeseir suddenly understood. These red strings had always existed within his body, preventing his progress. They must have been placed there a long time ago!

    At the same time, five red strings appeared in the skies above an area at the foot of the mountain slope.

    These five red strings appeared directly above Rein¡¯s and Suey¡¯s heads! At first, these five red strings darted towards Suey like the head of a snake going in for a strike, only to suddenly pause and turn around, gazing in a separate direction.

    The five strings then suddenly darted towards the southwest, only to pause midair and face Rein and Suey once again. Then those five strings came towards Suey before turning to face southwest again!

    Rein blinked his eyes in bewilderment, and he knew these five red strings weren¡¯t good things. He could feel Suey¡¯s body trembling in fear against him.

    Still, he fearlessly took advantage of its ¡®hesitation¡¯. He exploded off his feet with physical strength, and took this opportunity to thread the length of a red string through the cuffs around his wrists.

    To his joy, the cuffs were like butter under a hot knife, effortlessly sliced apart by his movement against the red string.

    He understood that Suey held a deep fear of these red strings, and thus chose to break her cuffs with his now-freed aurae.

    The orange draconic lightning in his veins roiled in fervour as he sent its harsh energy into the cuffs around Suey¡¯s wrists.

    The cuffs lit up in resistance, but such inscriptions require continuous aurae supply. The small power crystals supporting Suey¡¯s cuffs were gradually drained, as the inscriptions on the cuffs dimmed.

    Yet, the aurae within those power crystals was of a much higher volume than Rein expected. Rein recalled the aurae blast that Chenhr used, and this half-senior of his had even given him the manual to practice it.

    Rein carefully controlled the orange draconic lightning energy within his veins, gathered it, compressed it, then imagined a funnel accompanied by a force squeezing water through that narrow funnel.

    He released a concentrated burst of draconic lightning that rushed into Suey¡¯s cuffs, and the inscriptions lost their light, then the cuffs separated into two.

    Rei sighed in relief, but was also filled with a deep sense of weakness and exhaustion after having executed the skill.

    Suey¡¯s eyes continued to be fixed on those five red strings that scuttled towards her then the southwest repeatedly in indecisiveness.

    Eventually, the five red strings split into two and three. The two red strings determinedly rushed towards Suey, while the other three curved into the southwest.

    Those two red strings initially appeared somewhat slow, and Rein easily dodged now that he had regained access to the lightning aurae within, which boosted his explosive acceleration and speed.

    However, he soon discovered that the two red strings moved in a unique pattern. He escaped from them time and again, but the movement of those two red strings kept him trapped within a specific area. Soon, he was surrounded by a web of red strings, made up from the lengths of the two strings!

    Accompanied with a weakened body, Rein knew he would not last long, and was uncertain of the potential effects from being struck by the red string.

    The red strings might slice through their bodies as it did when Rein pressed the cuffs against it. However, that might very well be simply the red string¡¯s innate protection against one that attempted to ¡®attack¡¯ it. The one pulling the red strings may have different intentions!

    At this moment in time, Rein found himself apologizing to Suey.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. For what I said in that caravan,¡± he began.

    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Suey interrupted his words. ¡°I understand. Now is the time to leave me behind. These red strings are searching for me. Not you. You must remain in the shadows. My twin sister will recognize you. She should have already called for assistance.¡±

    But Rein was unfettered. He could not allow Suey to fall alone. Rein laughed at himself. Indeed, his half-senior was right in the end. He will always have a streak of self-destructive recklessness within him.

    Rein formed a circle with his hands. His teleportation origin ability will likely be sensed by the one behind the red strings. Yet, he had no choice but to employ it to save Suey from these red strings.

    Then, he would no longer be in the shadows.

    However, before he could activate his magic, Xeeseir suddenly appeared, pursued by the other two white-robed men!

    Xeeseir was wrapped in a completely aurae shell of his unique qualities, and that shell now extended to cover the heavy greatsword.

    Five other red strings repeatedly attempted to secure Xeeseir¡¯s form, but upon coming into contact with his shell, recoiled in pain. Xeeseir was returning the attack of those red strings back to their source!

    A swing of the heavy greatsword, and the reflective shell encasing the weapon caused the two red strings surrounding Rein and Suey to scatter!

    ¡°Brother. This is my time, my fight. It is not yours yet!¡± Xeeseir rested his thick and heavy greatsword upon his shoulder as he stood tall.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Rein asked, not understanding Xeeseir¡¯s meaning.

    ¡°It is hard to explain,¡± Xeeseir replied as with another swing of his aurae-shelled greatsword, he sent approaching red strings recoiling once again.

    The pursuing white-robed man threw a number of metal lotuses into the air and thousands of needles sprayed out. Xeeseir performed some odd movement that accompanied the size of the heavy greatsword expanding and contracting in a cycle, knocking the attacking needles to the ground.

    ¡°When those red strings clung onto my body, I seemed to recall versions of myself. Were they truly myself?¡± His eyes glimmered as he gazed at the heavens. ¡°Perhaps they weren¡¯t. Perhaps it was simply our similarities that allowed our souls to resonate across time. So a scholar once surmised.¡±

    ¡°However, at the moment, I came to understand a great many things.¡±

    ¡°Take your wonderful lady and leave, Rein! Do not feel sorrow or pity for me, for my soul itself has been trapped by these red strings since time immemorial,¡± Xeeseir stated as he sneered at the heavens. ¡°If I successfully free myself, I only hope that you will find that different version of myself in the future, and let me live long enough to become more than a shell advancer!¡±

    Rein struggled to understand the situation, but he trusted Xeeseir¡¯s words to be true. Time and again, Xeeseir had shown his trustworthiness. Still, he hesitated to leave. How could he?

    ¡°Scurry along, Rein,¡± Master Yirn¡¯s voice now boomed within his head. ¡°You are nothing but a rat scampering about under the feet of giants. You offer little and stand no chance. If you truly wish to upend this world, then hide yourself. Bide your time. Cultivate your strength, without forgetting that light within, without dulling your blade.¡±

    ¡°This is but one of many servants under the Allfather. And the Allfather is only in control of the greater heaven. There are many other lesser heavens across the realms, all standing against your will.¡±

    Rein could only accept his helplessness once again. He felt as helpless as he was during the Golden Desert Town¡¯s destruction. Once again, a rat scurrying away for his own life.

    Thus, he leaped away. Reality was harsh and unkind. He could not do anything against those red strings. He would only be a burden if he stayed. Xeeseir was only able to resist those red strings because of his ¡®Retrace¡¯ origin ability.

    Perhaps some may view Rein¡¯s escape as shameful. But it is completely wishful thinking to believe that he could in any way, contend against monsters that have been around for many eras. He is but a young adult in age, a baby that had barely begun walking in the world of advancers.

    ¡°Go southwest,¡± Suey gently whispered. ¡°If Jory has called for reinforcements, then those three other red strings, projected across the vast void, will be forced into dissipation.¡±

    Rein accelerated southwest-- that was the direction of the other three red strings. He glanced back at Xeeseir¡¯s battlefield.

    One of the white-robed men was pierced clean through by a red string, his face pale as he tumbled limply from the skies down onto the ground with a loud thump.

    The other white-robed man now understood that the Goddess of Fate, controlling these red strings, did not appreciate their involvement, and backed away, abandoning the task of capturing Xeeseir.

    Those two red strings, however, were not so easily blocked from pursuing Suey by Xeeseir, and twisted through to chase their foe.

    That was when upon an uninhabited mountain peak of the Evergreen Mountains, a murky-green-robed man stood up with a finger pointing to the heavens. This was none other than Master Yirn! Master Yirn stabbed upwards with a finger!

    Those two red strings faltered. The sounds of combat faded as Rein, dispirited, escaped with a trembling Suey.

    ___________________________________________________

    In the home realm of the greater heavens controlled by the Allfather.

    Spyn¡¯s eyes suddenly dulled as her mind lost focus, drawn into an illusion. In that illusion, she was still controlling those red strings, when in reality, her red strings had ceased their actions. Three of the red strings extending from her left hand snapped.

    ¡°Yirn,¡± Allfather spat as he stood behind Spyn. ¡°You vanished after the gods fell, only to reappear when the human factions lost sight of their purpose, turning against one another. Nothing but an opportunist!¡±

    He placed his hand onto Spyn head, and his aurae flowed to contend against Master Yirn¡¯s interference.

    Spyn woke up with a start as her eyes cleared. Naturally, she was infuriated. The muscles and veins in her hands and forearms tightened as she regained control of her red strings, only to find her perception still muddled in a fog.

    ¡°The distance is too great. Focus on one single target. The weak descendants of the nine tails can be dealt with in the future,¡± Allfather commanded.

    Spyn focused her perception, and discovered that with one target in mind, the interference from Blasphemer Yirn became less obstructive.

    Though her perception was still somewhat hazy, she could now detect the vague existence that is Xeeseir, again. In her mind, she had another name for this man-- Guan!

 Ch100: Sueys Departure

    As Spyn wrestled for control through her red strings across the void, she recalled the man known as Guan. In her younger years, she was enamored by his relentless upstanding nature, and together, they followed Xane, the Allfather, in overturning the demon beasts¡¯ heavens for humanity.

    Yet, one day, the couple found themselves turning against one another.

    ¡°Guan¡­ what a pity,¡± the Allfather muttered of their history, reminding Spyn of her duty. ¡°I was content to stand aside at the dawn of the Age of Humanity. Yet instead of cooperating with one another to finish the demon beasts, the many human species began to fight against one another¡­¡±

    ¡°A pity that you, Guan, was too stubborn to understand the necessity for my return and establishing my absolute authority,¡± the Allfather spoke, as if the red strings would conduct his words to Xeeseir, tied to the strings on the other end. ¡°The fallen gods are right after all. Humanity and demons-- it must be an eternal controlled conflict. Only then can there be any semblance of stability and order.¡±

    Spyn nodded at the Allfather¡¯s words. She, too, was aghast when the human allies began to fight against one another, after toiling for thousands of years against the rule of the demon beasts. For Guan to not stand on their side-- an absolute betrayal!

    Meanwhile, one of Allfather¡¯s incarnations with the appearance of an elderly beggar in worn coarse robes appeared in the Zoh Empire.

    Another of Allfather¡¯s incarnations, a young man of golden hair with silver highlights, a baby face with soft flesh, round eyebrows and large brown eyes, appeared in the Hall of Heroes branch within the Green Trout City. Overseer Jeahz bowed as that young boy¡¯s body flickered and vanished towards the west.

    _________________________________________________________

    The remaining four men from the House of Origins could only gaze at each other in repressed rage, discontent with how the events were playing out.

    They had lost one to those red strings stretching in from the void. Naturally, they understood this was simply not their stage, and staying around was not going to give them any benefits.

    Geihr gestured with his right arm before turning to leave. The white-masked man, and Sir Godeyes supported by the fourth white-robed man, followed in dismay.

    Meanwhile, Xeeseir struggled to complete his aurae shell in his bid to enter the shell advancer power realm. Whenever he felt close, those red strings would tighten their grip around his heart.

    He finally understood why he always struggled to reach the shell realm. His fate had been controlled from the very start.

    Though the echo of the fallen god that awakened within Xeeseir, long ago in his teenage years, bestowed him the gift that now allowed him to resist and return the power within the red strings¡­  he was simply lacking when it came to truly destroying the red knot around his heart.

    Xeeseir gradually realized that perhaps the power of those red strings that came out of nowhere may be greatly diminished, either from distance or suppressed by the Fusion Realm.

    The red knot, however, must have been tied around his heart long ago.

    As such, he faintly realized that he would not be able to free himself. He sighed as he accepted his fate. Many others, previous versions of him-- or previous existences similar to him, depending on one¡¯s interpretation of the world-- had fallen to this same fate.

    Then, the gruff whisperings of an ancient voice sounded in his mind.

    ¡°Do you not wish to free yourself from those shackles? Do you fear death?¡± If Rein heard this voice, he would instantly recognize it as that of Master Yirn¡¯s. Xeeseir, however, has never directly interacted with Master Yirn.

    Still, when asked this question, for some odd reason, Xeeseir felt a familiarity with it. It was neither positive nor negative tinged association, but he immediately felt a deep reverence.

    ¡°I do not fear death,¡± Xeeseir replied. He had, in fact, long accepted that he was simply unable to break into the shell realm, after repeated failures with the assistance of psychedelics.

    ¡°Then gather your powers. Concentrate your soul. Ignite your soul, implode your mind, and send your origin ¡®Retrace¡¯, through your heart! That red knot binds your heart, your mind, and your soul. Have no fear!¡±

    A chant of ancient language sounded within Xeeseir¡¯s ears, and he reflexively followed the chant. He naturally knew that as an inner advancer, he had barely connected to his own soul-- the soul is a power that comes with the telekinetic realm. This chant must be this mysterious voice¡¯s assistance to do so.

    As he copied the sounds and syllables of the chant, an unknown power rose from within. Xeeseir knew he was effectively combusting his soul, which should mean the end of him as an existence. Yet, he trusted the words of that mysterious being in his head.

    Thus, he fed this new source of strength into his ¡®Retrace¡¯, and sent it coursing through his veins towards his heart! The accumulated power was of such force that his very being began to crack like a glass on the verge of shattering.

    That energy gathered in his heart, then combusted with an almighty roar! The many red strings knotted around his heart made strenuous efforts to maintain the shape of the heart, yet they began to stretch slowly, before suddenly snapping in unison.

    Xeeseir¡¯s body exploded into a thousand pieces, chunks of his flesh, blood, organs, skins and bones flying in all directions!

    ____________________________________________________

    In another realm.

    Spyn screamed in hysteria. It was a mix of anger, frustration, sadness, love and hate, all mixed together.

    ¡°He¡­ he combusted his soul! How could he?! His soul belongs to me! He¡¯s mine! How dare he permanently kill himself?!¡± Spyn¡¯s eyes flashed with a madness collected over eons. It is believed that souls reincarnate. As for the specifics of how¡­ that had become confusing to modern scholars.

    This information did not cause the same reaction in the Allfather. Instead, the Allfather¡¯s closed his eyes, sinking deep into thought, ignoring the now hysterical Spyn.

    After a few breaths, his eyes opened and shone with an understanding.

    ¡°Calm yourself, Spyn,¡± he gently said, as the corners of his lips curled up in a restrained triumphant smile. ¡°Finally, Blasphermor Yirn shows his hand. He has interfered against me from the shadows over so many years. Worry not, Spyn. Guan¡¯s soul is not dead. He will return, though no longer constrained by your strings unless you can identify him once again.¡±

    ¡°Allfather¡­?¡± Spyn calmed somewhat. Though it is said that those who combust their souls for a sudden power would never reincarnate, she also trusted the Allfather¡¯s judgement.

    ¡°As you already know, there is the legend of the Yellow Springs that existed in the Age of Gods, deciphered from ancient texts. Supposedly, during the Age of Gods, all souls released from dead bodies would be carried through the flow of the tree of realms, down to the hellish realms at the roots, finally reaching the Yellow Springs to be judged and given the opportunity to reincarnate by the God of the Underworld, Mendes.¡±

    ¡°However, after the fall of those gods, the original hellish realms were replaced by the fallen realms of those fallen gods. As for the original hellish realms? It is thought that they must have disintegrated back into nothingness, and the Yellow Springs, lost.¡±

    ¡°Yet oddly, we know that reincarnation does still occur sporadically, outside of our understanding. Blasphermor Yirn never stands against me or interferes with the lesser heavens of any race for arbitrary reasons. He always does so with a purpose in mind.¡±

    ¡°You have imprisoned Guan¡¯s soul beneath the shell realm, in hopes that he would finally change his nature over many lives. For him to combust his soul-- that old ghost from the era of the gods must have interfered.¡±

    ¡°Since he has chosen to stick his hands in this matter, then his goal must be to free Guan, not completely destroy Guan¡¯s existence.¡±

    ¡°That can only mean one thing,¡± the Allfather¡¯s triumphant smile widened. ¡°Yirn must have taken the Yellow Springs.¡± He began to chuckle. ¡°Legend says Yirn caused the fall of the gods. He must have captured the Yellow Springs to prevent the gods¡¯ return! Interesting¡­ Interesting!¡± He gazed at the hazy Fusion Star within the star diagram. ¡°For you to show your hand¡­ have you gotten impatient?¡±

    The Allfather''s eyes sparkled in excitement.

    ___________________________________________________

    Chenhr, in his leaf-green robes, examined the bits and pieces of flesh and organs. To most, this would be a gut-wrenching sight, but Chenhr was expressionless , completely unperturbed.

    He finally collected a few of the pieces he was looking for-- bloody parts that belonged to Xeeseir¡¯s heart. He placed these parts together and his hand lit up with his yellowish earthy aurae. Gradually, two drops of heartblood formed, and he placed these each in their individual vials. Normally, there should be enough to form a third drop, but that was lost due to the circumstances.

    ¡°Forgive me,¡± he hooked his fingers as per the common greeting between advancers, and bowed to¡­ the strewn bits and pieces. ¡°Now that you are free, we may meet once again under better circumstances. I am certain you would wish for your heartblood to be passed to those¡­ somewhat more honorable, even if they do not fully meet your stringent standards.¡±

    He then walked away, melding into the trees as his leaf-green robe flickered and shimmered.

    __________________________________________________

    Meanwhile, far to the southwest, Rein continued carrying Suey southwest, bounding off one leg then the other.

    Suey was being carried in his arms. She did not ask to be put down, and instead pressed herself against Rein¡¯s chest, seeking comfort.

    ¡°Do you now¡­ dislike me?¡± she eventually asked, hesitant and worried. ¡°I¡­ I intentionally dragged you into this hectic whirlpool for my own interests and desires¡­¡±

    Rein sighed. Perhaps he might have if his mind was still fixated on disliking and misunderstanding the very nature of ¡®fate¡¯.

    ¡°If it is in my nature to pursue such a purpose¡­ then so be it. I will walk this path,¡± Rein said with determination as his right hand reached up to run through Suey¡¯s now silky royal blue hair. ¡°Additionally, would it matter? Since you identified my existence from all those visions of the future¡­ it must be inevitable, no?¡±

    Suey was overjoyed to hear this, and clutched onto Rein¡¯s bulky form, feeling secure as his heart beated against her ear.

    Rein¡¯s words and awakened will assured her that she was right to throw herself recklessly onto the man. Though her mind and nature might have been somewhat warped by the many horrific visions of the future she had witnessed, Rein was hers. Primarily, at least.

    As she thought this, the aurae within her began to climb in a crescendo, and her body became encased in a cocoon of pink aurae mist that solidified into a complete shell. The pink shell wrapped around Suey did not negatively affect Rein-- rather it gave him a sense of comfort, along with a desire in his loins¡­

    An energy exploded from her body as a light shot high into the sky in a shower of gold, creating a path to heaven.

    Rein observed this phenomenon with interest. Was this the effect of breaking into the shell realm?

    ¡°Thank you, my celest!¡± Suey was jubilant. ¡°In my visions, I needed to consume psychedelics to break through due to an obstacle in my mind! Even then, it was but a silver light with specks of gold, nothing more. This is a heaven-ranked breakthrough! A golden path!¡±

    She raised herself and began kissing Rein in a trance.

    After a few breaths of time, Rein extricated himself.

    ¡°A golden path?¡± Rein curiously asked.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Suey could not contain her excitement.¡±If you break through the obstacles of your mind properly and understand yourself in relation to the laws of the world, the breakthrough of each realm will be a golden heavenly breakthrough. To enter the shell realm, one must understand and regulate their heart and carve a self-defining path to walk upon, representing your very existence.¡±

    Rein nodded in understanding.

    ¡°Do you wish to hear my path, my celest?¡± Suey whispered softly, her breath tickling Rein¡¯s right ear.

    ¡°Best not to¡­¡± Rein replied with a frown. Though Rein¡¯s knowledge is limited, he is aware that explaining one¡¯s path to another fully and accurately could be dangerous-- if one gains a deep understanding of an enemy¡¯s path¡­ then one could use that knowledge against said enemy, and potentially even cause the heart of this enemy to collapse.

    ¡°No,¡± Suey replied as she batted her lashes and her eyes hazed over as if she was drunk. ¡°My path requires me to tell you, my celest.¡±

    Rein raised an eyebrow, not having expected this.

    ¡°My path is of devotion and unbreakable will,¡± Suey whispered into his ear. ¡°No matter what happens in the future, as long as you don¡¯t abandon me, then at the very least, the beginning of my path will remain golden.¡±

    These words rather concerned Rein. That meant¡­

    ¡°Yes,¡± Suey answered as she felt a deep happiness at Rein¡¯s concern, as well as a mixture of vulnerability and¡­ desire as she was held by Rein¡¯s strong arms. ¡°If you desire to break my path¡­ all you need to do will be to abandon me¡­¡±

    Rein sighed in his heart. This woman really is too reckless. If he had a daughter, he would not wish for her to so easily walk upon such a singular, ¡®do or die¡¯ dangerous path.

    At the same time, Rein¡¯s heart turned even ¡®weaker¡¯ as he felt an ever deeper tenderness towards Suey due to this revelation. Perhaps, it was simply his nature to feel such softness towards such a woman.

    He could not help but feel that he needed to watch over Suey and ensure her safety and happiness. She was simply too reckless. He sensed that she was likely going to throw herself into further trouble in the future without a care for herself, for her realm and her people. He will have to take care of her in place of herself¡­

    Rein stroked her hair once again.

    ¡°Your enlightened mind makes this path golden. But that is surely not the only reason¡­¡± Rein wondered.

    ¡°Yes, my celest,¡± Suey explained. ¡°This path is further strengthened by a universal law. I do not yet fully understand its intricacies but¡­ it is the concept behind¡­ mmm. Revealing one weak point to strengthen all other areas¡­? You¡¯re now effectively my anchor. As long as you do not abandon me, I will have an unbreakable will, an unexpected unique strength rising from the core of my being.¡±

    As they continued to travel, Suey bit her lips as she gained the determination to further reveal the truth, perhaps compelled by the path she had stepped onto.

    ¡°I¡­ in truth I hated the version of you that existed in those visions,¡± she said, causing Rein¡¯s eyes to widen in bafflement. ¡°That version of you I met in my visions¡­ he did not have the bright will that you now have.¡±

    ¡°I could not understand it at first,¡± she continued. ¡°I sensed that ¡®will¡¯ locked inside of you in the visions, but it was hidden deep within, behind an impenetrable barrier.¡±

    ¡°I examined those visions again and again, and I determined that it was that woman who infected your mind and restrained your will!¡± Though Suey has a naturally soft voice, Rein could hear the anger. ¡°So be careful not to lose your will¡­¡±

    ¡°Then this woman¡­¡± Rein muttered as he was reminded of something the Suey had said before-- supposedly the Rein in her visions was stuck at the peak of the outer realm. ¡°Is she the cause of my outer realm limit? Who is this woman?¡±

    Suey nodded to confirm his first question. As for the second?

    ¡°She is not an evil soul, nor one with questionable schemes, but perhaps¡­ possessive and limited. Now that I¡¯m your first¡­¡± she paused to gather her thoughts. ¡°I would feel guilty for abusing my future sight to steal a man, so¡­ do not deny a woman desperate for your attention. As long as you do not lose your will. And remember that I¡¯m the first!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    ¡°Of course. Hmm¡­¡± Rein agreed, but also wasn¡¯t sure what to make of Suey¡¯s statement on this mysterious woman. If she is not a malicious being, then perhaps unforeseen circumstances might have caused that ¡®limit¡¯. His mind spun to conjure up such situations. Perhaps¡­ he and this ¡®future¡¯ woman were being threatened or influenced by an unseen force? Perhaps that goddess of fate had somehow stuck her strings in? It was concerning to say the least.

    ¡°I¡­I also fear that my further interference would lead to disastrous results,¡± Suey continued. ¡°The goddess of fate was able to sense my presence because I had caused too many changes in this realm.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, you cannot bypass this future woman, if she truly seeks your heart. If you are meant to ¡®engage¡¯ with this woman in said vision, and you avoid it due to the information I have provided to you¡­ it is possible that it may cause a disastrous chain of events.¡±

    ¡°For example¡­ if you are to commit good deeds, saving valuable lives in cooperation with this woman, then your avoidance of her will lead to many deaths as compensation, causing an unknown disaster,¡± Suey further explained. ¡°At the very least, your reputation as well as hers was¡­ quite positive in the eyes of the general populace within my visions.¡±

    Rein grumbled as he nodded in enlightenment. This explanation certainly opened his eyes to the dangerous game being played by Suey. It also, perhaps, provides an additional reason as to why she permits him to have other women. Rein recalled the phrase she used-- if said woman was ¡®desperate enough¡¯, a footnote he placed in his heart.

    They sank into silence, gradually reaching the destination the Suey had already informed Rein of.

    Meanwhile, Rein could not resist examining Suey¡¯s true form. Her illusion form was silky raven hair extending a bit past her shoulder height. Now, that royal blue hair is just as smooth and silky, with sky blue highlights at its ends. Aside from the color, the other difference is that her hair became much lengthier, extending down all the way to her calves! As she was being carried by Rein, that hair flowed and wrapped around Rein¡¯s side, a flowing sheen of a screen in the air.

    He then began playing with Suey¡¯s fox ears, which twitched under his gentle hands.

    ¡°My celest¡­ they¡¯re¡­ sensitive,¡± Suey whined as she blushed.

    Then there was her bushy tail peeking out from underneath her robes. He adjusted her body against his, and Suey complied, immediately understanding what Rein desired to examine.

    Rein¡¯s hands reached underneath her robes, running across her slender thighs then her round buttocks, before wrapping around the base of her fluffy tail.

    Suey could not control her moans as Rein ran his hands along the length of her bushy blue tail.

    Aside from these differences, Suey is very much human. Such is the nature of half-breeds.

    No. Rein corrected himself as he gazed into Suey¡¯s lusty eyes, eyelids fluttering in pleasure. Her now sapphire eyes now had a narrow pupil.

    Another deep kiss was shared, as they arrived at a small uninteresting hill surrounded by the forest that extended from the western foot of the Evergreen Mountains.

    The two knew that they had to part for now-- Suey¡¯s interference had drawn the eyes of the goddess of fate, and she needed to hide and remain silent to avoid detection. As for Rein, he needed time to grow in the shadows.

    As Suey turned to the rather average uninteresting hill, she hesitated in her steps before losing control of her desires.

    She returned and jumped back into Rein¡¯s arms, her calf-length royal blue flowing, seemingly floating in the air.

    ¡°My celest~ When I said my path won¡¯t break as long as you don¡¯t abandon me¡­¡± she said as she batted her eyelashes with a coy smile, ¡°That means I will still be fine even if you only keep me as an exotic pet slave. After all, that would likely be my fate if I am captured by some of the supposed gods of this era¡­¡±

    By now, Rein fully understood the type of play that Suey was ¡®addicted¡¯ to.

    ¡°Strip!¡± He growled as he roughly shoved Suey onto the soft forest ground.

    Suey cared not for the robes given to her by Lyne, and simply ripped the clothing off, exposing her lithe form and perky coconut-sized breasts for Rein to see.

    She quivered under Rein¡¯s heated gaze as she opened her slender legs wide as she exposed her honeypot for Rein to plunder, undulating her form over the ground.

    ¡°No.¡± Rein, however, shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°Our child is growing in there, no?¡± Suey had tempered her body to be incredibly soft and flexible, to the point where her small body could stretch and take Rein¡¯s draconic and enlarged form. Now, with the child in her womb, it was simply no longer safe even if her body could endure.

    Suey mewled in disappointment, but was also exuberant that Rein displayed such care despite his dominant position.

    ¡°Come, slave kitten,¡± Rein bid Suey to approach.

    Suey crawled towards Rein with her hips swaying seductively, her bushy tail excitedly swishing back and forth. Her long calf-length blue hair had become a bit of a mess but silky as it was, flowing over her lithe form, flowing over her backside like a glimmering water curtain.

    Rein could not resist his wanton desires as he gathered her long royal blue hair in one hand.

    ¡°I will collar you one day, pet. But even then, this will be your leash,¡± he said as he pulled on Suey¡¯s lovely hair, using it as a leash.

    Rein was careful to pull with enough force for Suey to feel his strength, but not to any major painful degree.

    Suey mewled and whined as she crawled while being tugged on by her long hair. Rein led her to a thick and sturdy tree, and pulled Suey into a position where the back of her head was placed against the tree. He gently twisted Suey¡¯s long blue hair into a spiral to keep it together, then wrapped a section of it around Suey¡¯s neck.

    Suey¡¯s devoted eyes remained on his face-- she felt that it was both ¡®right¡¯ and ¡®wrong¡¯ for Rein to do this to her, and chose to indulge herself in that ¡®right¡¯ sensation.

    Rein stripped off his own robes and jammed his rock hard, thick and knotted manhood past Suey¡¯s lovely lips, gradually forcing himself further down her throat. Suey offered no resistance, and began to play with her own honeypot with both of her hands desperately moving between her thighs.

    A ¡®gluking¡¯ sound filled the area as Rein began using her throat as simply flesh for pleasure. The knot on his tempered rod repeatedly caused Suey¡¯s throat to constrict and deliver additional pleasure.

    It was then that a magical door suddenly opened on the side of that average uninteresting hill. Rein turned his head to find Suey¡¯s twin sister, Jory, leading a row of priestesses out from the hill.

    Jory herself was dressed in an incredibly thin silk robe of pure white and vibrant bright red. The top half was mostly pure white with red seams, while the bottom skirt was a flowing vibrant red.

    Behind her was a procession of young maidens, all similarly dressed. They all had fox ears and tails, but were of a different color to Suey and Jory¡¯s royal blue.

    ¡°You can¡¯t simply run out like this, secondary head priestess!¡± A woman¡¯s voice sounded exasperated. From that magical door, five half-women appeared.

    The five were dressed in shining metallic plate armour, but they weren¡¯t weighed down at all, speedily leaping forward to surround Jory.

    Rein shuddered as his heart froze with fear. These five guards all had grey wolf-like ears and tails, matching the metallic armor, with their eyebrows slanted to display a naturally ferocious expression.

    Rein felt a measure of dread primarily because¡­ well¡­ he was, to put it bluntly, battering Suey¡¯s face and throat with his movements.

    As such, he quickly withdrew himself from Suey¡¯s mouth. However, before he could fully extract himself from the situation, Suey¡¯s hands wrapped around his thighs and she slobbered over his manhood in a drunken daze. Rein simply could not resist her devoted eyes.

    Then again, it was too late, for those five human-wolf guardswomen had noticed their presence.

    Rein believed himself to be in big trouble, but his manhood did not obey his mind, and instead responded to Suey and the exposure situation, further hardening and lengthening to Rein¡¯s dismay.

    For reasons unknown to Rein, Jory and the five wolven-humans stood there unmoving with rather calm expressions. The leading wolven-woman even had a look of¡­hunger in her eyes¡­

    More humanoids with animal features came out. This time it was a procession of men, which made Rein feel even more threatened.

    Leading were a few men with tiger features, then those of lion features. Rein could not keep track of them all, but there was a mix of reptilians alongside many other beast-types. Though the leading few tigers were half-men, many half-women existed in the group as well.

    Rein knew he was doomed. He simply could not extract himself from Suey. The minx, after all, was now sucking dutifully on his family jewels, her small hands half-wrapped around his thickness.

    Yet, once again, Rein was surprised to find this other group to stand still. Instead of anger, many belonging to this other group had expressions of pity. That pity was not directed towards Suey, but at Rein himself!

    It was baffling to say the least.

    Once Rein realized he was not going to be butchered and killed, his eyes gazed back down at Suey.

    The little minx stuck out her tongue, and Rein was shocked to discover another difference. Her tongue now appeared to have a roughness to one surface, along with an increased length. For those who had studied demon beasts, they would know this as papillae, clusters of soft spines to help clean furs.

    Suey bit her lips and activated this feature of her fox tongue. Rein initially flinched, but then swore in increased pleasure. Suey was expert with her fox tongue, using those soft spines to deliver a tingling incomparable pleasure to Rein¡¯s rod, having the ability to somewhat curl around his thickness as well.

    ¡°He¡¯s done,¡± the leading half-tiger man commented.

    Suey engulfed his manhood once again, but she struggled to fully push her lips to his base. Her eyes gazed at him for assistance, and Rein once again gathered her long silky blue hair.

    ¡°Indeed. He is finished,¡± a half-lion said behind the half-tiger.

    Under their eyes, Rein felt a desire to express his pride. Perhaps it was the pride hidden within a man.

    He ruthlessly rammed himself down Suey¡¯s throat once again, causing the front of her neck to bulge in front of her supposed people.

    A ¡®gluking¡¯ sound echoed against the surrounding trees once again. The half-breeds observed silently.

    ¡°She¡¯s conquered a man of strong potential,¡± the leading wolven-guardswoman hungrily gazed at Rein. ¡°The next generation will at least be born with incomparable physical strength.¡±

    Rein was relieved that at least a few of the fox-eared followers were perturbed by his actions. That was much more ¡®normal¡¯. However, there were as many that seemed to be¡­ salivating!

    Still, the members belonging to the latter group continued to gaze at him as if pitying his fate!

    It was only now that Rein surmised that these half-breeds understood something that he did not. A thought he did not pursue for he is in the middle of his pleasure.

    After relentlessly ¡®abusing¡¯ Suey¡¯s throat for at least five hundred heartbeats, Rein finally could not contain himself as he released his liquids with Suey¡¯s lips wrapped around the base of his manhood.

    As usual, Suey attempted to swallow his seed, but she failed completely. She choked and could only withdraw herself as a copious volume spilled from her lips, leaving Rein to finish through decorating her face in a shower of white.

    ¡°You¡¯ve now tasted my true form~¡± Suey giggled with happiness as she used her hands to further spread Rein¡¯s liquids down and over her two mounds.

    To Rein¡¯s amazement, Suey gathered her lengthy blue silky hair, which no doubt takes strenuous effort to maintain, and placed it into Rein¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Use it to clean yourself,¡± Suey whispered as she fluttered her eyelids.

    How perverse. Yet Rein could not deny that her hair was rather unique¡­ normal humans would not have such a color of hair, after all¡­

    He was still semi-erect, and felt an incredible softness as he used Suey¡¯s hair to clean the slobber over his manhood¡­

    Suey observed Rein¡¯s actions. She knew that if Rein could survive the initial storm of this new era, they would share a future. Now that Rein was ¡®defiling¡¯ her well-taken-care-of hair, then when that time came¡­ it would be easy for her to act ¡®vulnerable¡¯ and bait ¡®my celest¡¯ into taking responsibility over maintaining her lovely hair.

    She was already imagining every morning, having Rein lovingly comb her hair while she would play with his desires¡­

    Rein finally regained control of his own mind, and felt rather ashamed of himself, but very much satisfied. He suddenly realized that Suey might need her own release as well, and thus pushed the woman back onto the ground.

    He secured her with one hand around her neck against the ground, and his other curled into Suey¡¯s honeypot.

    Rein observed Suey¡¯s twisted expression of pleasure as her body arched and writhed under his fingers. The irresistible minx attempted to close her legs, but was helpless as Rein¡¯s fingers repeatedly brought her to many screaming releases with no break in between.

    Finally, tears of pleasure rolled down her cheeks as her mind became stunned by an unending fountain that watered the ground from her lower mouth, under Rein¡¯s relentless fingers.

    The two shared a final kiss and Suey wobbled to her feet to return to her circle of priestesses.

    After a few steps, her trembling legs failed to keep herself upright and she collapsed back on the ground.

    Then, an idea occurred to her, and she gazed back to make sure that Rein¡¯s eyes were following her.

    She dragged herself towards her circle of priestesses using her hands, legs trembling weakly. As such, her slender body winded like a snake until she finally reached that circle of priestesses, before struggling back onto her feet.

    A priestess stepped forth with a cloth, desiring to clean up Suey¡¯s body, but the seductive minx shook her head.

    Another stepped forth with the standard outfit of their temple, only to be rejected as well by another shake of the head.

    Finally, a third priestess stepped forth, her face red. She held up an outfit that was similar yet different. This different outfit was primarily pure white, but that pure white material was semi-transparent. It also did not have the bright red long skirt. Instead the semi-transparent white material extended just low enough to barely cover the buttocks, and the short robe was secured by a bright red sash.

    Once Suey put this on, it also became blatantly obvious that this outfit has an incredibly deep plunging neckline that exposed Suey¡¯s cleavage.

    Suey turned and met eyes with Rein, beaming with her face caked in his scent, and stretched to display her cleavage for his eyes. Then and there, Rein felt a desire to kidnap and collar this¡­ demon fox.

    Jory threw a pouch at Rein, and Rein recognized this to be his belongings that he had left behind in the central outpost. He thanked the woman.

    The whole entourage then bowed in unison and reentered that magical door into the average typical hill, leaving a single man with fox ears behind. Suey turned and gazed with sorrow at this man before choosing to utter final words to Rein.

    ¡°Remember your will. There are many paths that can lead to the same destination!¡± She shouted from afar.

    Rein felt these words to be¡­ enigmatic. Still he chose to reply.

    ¡°I am ordering you to take care of yourself, and not take unnecessary risks.¡± He said these words because he knew of Suey¡¯s path. If her path was of such extreme devotion, he needed her to know of his desire-- no-- his command for her to live well.

    Suey nodded with a smile and disappeared into that magical door, leaving Rein alone with the fox-eared man. Rein realized he was still in the nude, and sheepishly dressed himself, withdrawing his typical black outfit from his spatial pouch. His Hall of Heroes robes were also within, but he dared not take that out, risking the possibility of this location being detected. Currently, those robes are isolated within the space of the pouch, and thus could not be detected.

    ¡°You are?¡± Rein asked curiously, examining this fox-eared man. He appeared to be a man stepping into his final years. His brown hair and the fur on his fox ears carried many grey hairs, and his skin was wrinkled. His eyes, however, remained sharp.

    ¡°My name is Cory,¡± the fox-man said. ¡°I have been given two final tasks by the head priestess. And one secret task by a previous head priestess, of many generations ago. I am, after all, your...great¡­great-granduncle¡­?¡±

    ¡°Come again?¡± Rein blinked his eyes a number of times.

    Cory laughed. It had been many years, and he had spent a good amount of time in seclusion. He had lost track.

    ¡°Hard to be specific, my apologies. Now¡­I know, I know. Technically, you¡¯re not married to the head priestess Suey. However, you might as well be. Do you still not understand why Foozy-- that tiger-man and the lion-man said you¡¯re ¡®done¡¯?¡±

    Rein¡¯s bewildered expression was enough to push Cory to continue his explanation.

    ¡°They¡¯re called demon foxes for a reason, great¡­great¡­nevermind that, little one. Now, as a male half-fox, I did not inherit their seductive qualities and nature. However, once a demon fox grasps hold of a man¡­ it¡¯s over, you understand?¡±

    ¡°Think, for a moment. Do you believe there¡¯s any other woman that could possibly satisfy your desires as well as¡­ well, little Suey?¡± Cory questioned.

    Rein suddenly realized. That was probably impossible. Though men might have the tendency to jump into tasting different flavors, there is always one primary preferred flavor.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve realized,¡± Cory laughed. ¡°Little Suey was specific in choosing you for a reason. Partly, because she knew she would enjoy playing, indulging and devoting herself to your deepest desires, both the good and the¡­ well¡­ perverted.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to escape her as long as you live. And it will likely be quite difficult for you to gain comparable pleasure from any other women. You will always feel others lacking in comparison to little Suey.¡±

    Rein shuddered. He realized the fox-man¡¯s words to be true. Indeed, though at first glance, it might seem as if he was ¡®in charge¡¯, he now realized that in reality, he had never been able to resist Suey¡¯s feminine wiles. She simply knew how to draw out the so-called ¡®beast¡¯ within him. It was as if she knew exactly what to do, what to say, and what not to do. And yet, at the same time, he is also certain that she at least carried an overwhelming devotion to him.

    As such, his heart calmed.

    ¡°That is the true power of the demon fox. The half-men of our world know this, and only those willing to sacrifice their own lives for momentary pleasure would be willing to engage with the Temple of the Nine-tails,¡± the fox-man sighed as he shook his head.

    Rein shrugged, having already settled his heart. He was of the belief that he would have chosen this path regardless of Suey¡¯s seduction.

    ¡°Regardless. My first task is to inform you of some basic information. We call ourselves Xunians. After all, we are created by the man known as Xune. We are the legacy of Xune.¡±

    ¡°By now, they should have opened a portal to the hidden realm. You should know that our realm floats through a space that cannot be fully conceptualized by our human minds, occasionally bumping into these major realms. Each time, many die to ensure the protection of our people.¡±

    ¡°If you are truly our fated star, then at the time of our greatest need, you will find yourself¡­ drawn to our realm through some¡­ unexpected occurrence¡­?¡± The fox-man clearly does not believe in this, but Rein certainly carries the ¡®Sole Cauldron¡¯ Art that connects him to Suey.

    ¡°Now, I have been told to inform you of my duty. The children of the primary head priestesses of previous generations are always burdened with the duty of protecting critical channels into our hidden realm.¡±

    ¡°As a son of a previous primary head priestess, I am here to defend this area. The spatial channel formed from within this hill to our hidden realm will leave behind a lingering signature that can be used to reform the spatial channel. My duty is to defend this location until the lingering link fully fades. Then this will be my grave.¡±

    Rein couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    ¡°It was Jory who ordered me to inform you of this point,¡± the fox-man declared. ¡°Your child with Suey will have a similar fate, lest you overturn the current heavens!¡±

    Rein felt the weight on his shoulders increasing. He knew what Jory must be doing. Unlike Suey, Jory is much more direct, and one might say, shrewd in her methods. Rein could not deny the effectiveness.

    ¡°As for my secret mission,¡± Cory¡¯s expression was now indecipherable. ¡°An order left to me by my mother before she was played to death by that damnable goddess of fate. My mother once entered a trance before me. She prophesied that I must control a sliver of the lightning protecting our hidden realm, and insert said strain into the man found by little Suey, for there is the possibility of a spy attempting to enter our hidden realm. She also stated that I am not to let anyone know of her words.¡±

    Before Rein could react, the wrinkled right arm of Cory shot forth. Rein felt an invisible energy enter his body. Wondrously, he discovered an invisible lightning energy swirling and dancing in joy alongside the draconic lightning within his veins! Of course! This lightning energy originally belonged to Gent!

    Cory¡¯s eyes brightened as he was filled with indescribable joy. Suddenly, his nose and ears twitched as he sensed the approach of an enemy. Still, his smile then returned, even more radiant than ever.

    ¡°I understand now!¡± He began to laugh as if a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders. He stood straight, his motivation rising to incomparable heights. ¡°That prophecy was not to test you, but to convey to me the importance of my final stand!¡±

    His resolve, desire to succeed against all odds, rose to a height he thought wasn¡¯t possible within himself.

    ¡°Leave, little one. The enemy is approaching. He will not, must not succeed! Though this will be my final moment, its success¡­ its success will definitely pave the start of a different age!¡±

    Rein wasn¡¯t positive of what the old Xunian Cory meant exactly with those words, but he certainly believes that a powerful enemy must be approaching after all the chaos. As such, he hurriedly left northwards, aiming to return to the Xuere Gap, then the Hall of Heroes.

 Ch101: The Xuere Patriarch

    The incarnation of Allfather with a boyish face of chubby cheeks flitted through the air at a breakneck pace. He needed to deal with Blasphemer Yirn, but his current focus lay elsewhere. His divine sense noticed a young man moving towards the north at a snail¡¯s pace-- in his eyes-- through the forest beneath his feet.

    He disregarded this man as nothing but an ant, having reached such an age without having achieved the shell advancer realm of power. He had long identified his target, and soon reached the location.

    A man with fox features soon blocked his path.

    ¡°Nothing but an incarnation. Yet even if your true form came, in this middling realm, you would be limited by the laws of the universe,¡± Cory grimly said, with his eyes filled with a deathly drive.

    The boyish chubby-cheeked incarnation frowned as a disc-shaped aurae-formed plate coalesced on his back. Nine aurae-formed weapons of differing elemental colors and nature shot out from the plate, casting an aura of divine light.

    ________________________________________________________________

    As Rein attempted to return to the Xuere Gap, he soon heard sounds of battle behind him. The roar of thunder and flashing of lightning clashed against sounds of bludgeoning, slashing and a variety of noises of various elemental explosions.

    Strangely, despite having only met the Xunian Cory for a short period of time, Rein was fully confident that the Xunian would successfully prevent the passage to Suey¡¯s world from being reopened before the vestiges of the spatial tunnel faded away.

    After half a day, he had returned to the Xuere Gap. However, the defensive fortress controlled by the Xuere Clan was still far off, and now, in between him and this place of safety was a dark sea of demon beasts. This was where nearly all of the demon beasts in the wilderness had gathered.

    Rein felt a sudden tap on his left shoulder, and he spun around while simultaneously backing away as he grunted in alarm.

    He discovered that Master Yirn, with his mysterious sparkling eyes of ancient knowledge, surrounded by a murky-green hood, had appeared behind him.

    ¡°Here,¡± Master Yirn grunted and tossed a vial towards Rein.

    Rein received the vial and widened his eyes as his sight came upon a drop of thick blood.

    ¡°Xeeseir¡¯s heartblood. It contains a hint of his ¡®Retrace¡¯.¡± Master Yirn simply informed Rein with his grumbly voice. ¡°He¡¯ll be reborn soon enough, this time free of ¡®her¡¯ limits. That is all you need to know.¡±

    Rein understood and knew that there was nothing he could say. He felt sorrow, but he also understood those red strings weren¡¯t anything good. To be free of those red strings must be a boon. That must be what Master Yirn meant by ¡®free¡¯.

    He hesitated for a few breaths, then decisively tilted his head back to drink the vial of Xeeseir¡¯s heartblood. He needed strength. In his heart, he swore that if Xeeseir¡¯s being was being reborn, he would gain and use the limits of his powers to prevent the infection of the red strings next time.

    As he drank the heartblood, he suddenly felt a sort of understanding, a reflex growing in his mind. This odd power integrated into his draconic body.

    ¡°If ever you learn a magical art that involves returning the power of an enemy¡¯s magical attacks, you will find your comprehension bolstered,¡± Master Yirn explained.

    Rein nodded in understanding. Indeed, with Xeeseir reflexively comprehending his origin magic, his heartblood would hold some of his innate understanding of the ¡®Retrace¡¯ function.

    ¡°For what purpose did you send me to the Hall of Heroes?¡± After recent revelations, Rein was very much confused by this.

    ¡°Did you not discover where your younger brother was taken? Did you not affirm your will?¡± Master Yirn sighed.

    ¡°Yet your goals?¡± Rein was certain the Master Yirn also had his own goals.

    ¡°Did I not receive the opportunity to free Xeeseir¡¯s soul? He is an old friend of mine, if you are so curious,¡± Master Yirn replied.

    Rein closed his mouth. He inwardly sensed that there was much that Master Yirn kept to himself, but it was not his place to probe too deeply.

    ¡°WIll you not provide assistance to that half-fox Xunian?¡± In Rein¡¯s mind, surely, Master Yirn knew of the Xunians.

    ¡°No,¡± Master Yirn slowly shook his head. ¡°If I make a move, I will bring even more eyes into the area. Many forces are fully prepared to target me should I reveal myself.¡±

    Master Yirn placed his left hand on Rein¡¯s right shoulder.

    ¡°You still have work to do. I will lend you a hand and send you into the Zyne fortress,¡± Yirn said.

    Rein blinked, and the next moment he found himself within the fortress guarding the Xuere Gap. He turned and Master Yirn was already gone, not even a hint of his shadow remaining behind.

    He sighed and strode towards the Hall of Heroes building that contained the portal that would send him back to the Halls in the Green Trout City.

    He could already hear whispers of Lyne being ravaged by a devil in the wilderness, coming from the mouths of the soldiers defending the city. He was confident that Lyne¡¯s mental fortitude would withstand this-- after all, she was the one who had chosen to walk this path.  Still, he felt worry in his heart.

    Yet, there was nothing he could do regarding this matter as of right now. He was simply too weak and inconsequential.

    He soon found himself back in the Hall of Heroes, and frowned as he felt¡­ a sense of loneliness. He chuckled at himself. He did indeed feel the same sensation when the Golden Desert Town and his old family was destroyed, and he thought he had developed tolerance towards it.

    He never expressed too much towards Xeeseir, but now realized he rather missed the man¡¯s straightforward brotherly approach. And Suey¡­ though their relationship was initiated through a rather debaucherous process, he was now certain that there was much more, an inexplicable link within his heart.

    He was broken out of his reverie by Wilo and¡­ Chirh?! He wasn¡¯t surprised that Wilo had successfully returned, but Chirh¡­ that wimp, should have struggled to return safely. However, when Rein looked his body over, the man carried not even a single scratch.

    ¡°The order has been given,¡± Wilo informed Rein, her voice the gentle rustling of leaves through her wooden mask. ¡°In a week¡¯s time, that demon beast wave will crash against the fortress of the Xuere Gap. You¡¯d best prepare yourself. The Halls will gather then.¡±

    After saying this, she strode off for her own preparations.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you alive,¡± Rein commented with a raised eyebrow at Chirh.

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound impressed,¡± Chirh nonchalantly replied.

    ¡°Perhaps my assessment of you is inaccurate,¡± Rein said. Chirh had no injuries, returning completely unscathed. Naturally, Rein felt suspicion.

    ¡°You have no idea how I scurried like a rat amongst the demon beasts!¡± Chirh whined. ¡°Luckily, I ran quickly!¡±

    Rein simply patted the man on the shoulder and travelled out of the underground labyrinth, towards alchemist instructor Vahrk¡¯s misty valley.

    Along the way, just outside the tunnel to the mountains northwest of the Green Trout City, he bumped into a man of an even bulkier frame than himself! That was, of course, Malak.

    Rein greeted that man with hooked fingers as he bowed in apology.

    ¡°Unexpected circumstances prevented me from travelling to the northern outpost,¡± Rein sighed to Malak. He had long realized that this man was no true enemy of his.

    ¡°I accomplished the task. A pity I cannot remain Guihnes¡¯ underling,¡± Malak grumbled as he pulled Rein further to the side for some privacy. ¡°This is going to be troublesome¡­¡±

    ¡°How so?¡± Rein felt curious. Was this related to Malak¡¯s request for a meeting at the northern outpost in the western wilderness?

    ¡°As you can tell, my origins are from the Golden Desert,¡± Malak explained. ¡°Me and my band of brothers, a few years ago that is, discovered a legacy in the sands. Strangely, only those of sufficiently tempered bodies can enter, and those above the magical shell realm are rejected from the legacy grounds.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, somehow, the powers of the Golden Desert caught word of the discovery, and as such, I sought protection. Supreme Guihnes provided that for my services.¡±

    ¡°Now, I will have to scuttle around like a rat as I push, tempering my body to its physical limits while remaining in the shell realm to maximize my chances. I thought that you would increase the chances of my band of brothers, you understand? I originally wished to give you this offer alongside my band of brothers in the northern outpost, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Simply survive and if you ever come to the Golden Desert within the next ten years¡­¡± Malak frowned in thought. ¡°At least, I believe it is likely that by the end of the next ten years, me and my band of brothers will make an attempt.¡±

    Rein nodded, but he inwardly frowned, very much unsure of his own future.

    ¡°Dahk!¡± Malak suddenly broke into a smile as he jovially greeted an approaching spearman.

    Rein widened his eyes. When had these two gotten acquainted?

    Dahk was a man of minimal words, as he answered the question upon Rein¡¯s face.

    ¡°A Golden Desert group once sought better lands down south, but was rejected by the Minhr Nation. They traveled further south and settled onto the islands of the Southern Starry Seas.¡± Dahk¡¯s explanation was to the point.

    Rein lightly smiled as he nodded in understanding.

    ¡°Your woman?¡± Dahk then questioned with a raised eyebrow.

    Rein shook his head as he sighed. He couldn¡¯t reveal Suey¡¯s secrets.

    ¡°We men overcome deaths and schemes,¡± Dahk staunchly replied, interpreting Rein¡¯s reaction to imply the twin ladies¡¯ deaths. ¡°So, too, will I return to the Southern Starry Seas triumphant and return the pain to my enemies.¡±

    Rein felt strange hearing this, but he certainly recalled Dahk having explained that he and his brother had been sabotaged during some sort of competition in the Southern Starry Seas.

    He hooked the fingers of his two hands to greet the two again before continuing to the alchemist instructor Vahrk¡¯s valley. He was, of course, returning to deliver the herbs and plants he had gathered as thanks to Vahrk for providing him with various types of antidotes.

    When Alchemist Vahrk saw the bounty that Rein withdrew from the spatial pouch, he was overjoyed. He simply handed Rein a bag full of limpite coins, as well as a vision egg containing the introductory knowledge of an alchemist!

    Rein naturally felt overjoyed. He had always desired to further his understanding of alchemy, especially poisons, knowing that his younger brother had been delivered into the hands of a devil ¡®god¡¯.

    He then travelled to the lava-filled volcanic landscape of Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s forge.Though he had discarded much, his spatial pouch still carried many ores and ingots that once belonged to the Molten Stone Clan of the discovered ancient ruins.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Once again, he received a good amount of limpite coins, along with a vision egg carrying some of Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s knowledge. Rein felt ecstatic. Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s knowledge will allow him to cross reference modern techniques with the many ancient dwarven books he had gathered.

    Having a week before the gathering of the Halls¡¯ forces, Rein first spent it forging¡­ well¡­ a set of nipple jewelry rings for Lyne, as well as a collar design that he eventually planned to gift to Suey. As for whether they would wear these¡­ that would be their choice. Rein justified his lewd guilt by recalling that Lyne herself had expressed her newfound sensitivity to her twin peaks¡­

    Luckily, Rein  barely had the ability to crudely complete such an item. Having received some training under Blacksmith Tiehr, Rein was already capable of some basic forging and inscription techniques.

    As such, he spent quite a number of days crafting a unique set of ¡®basic¡¯ rings, inscribing the mark of his own draconic lightning into the set of rings. A simple rod-like piercing, upon which the large and heavy ring could be attached.

    Inscribing personal magics was something common in the advancer world. Advancers who have some basic understanding of inscriptions, and a degree of mastery over their own magical arts, usually have the capability to inscribe and gift a limited usage of their powers if they so desire.

    As for Rein, his draconic lightning was most unique. After quite a few failures, he was finally able to inject a sliver of it into the set of rings.

    He did need Blacksmith Rahr¡¯s assistance with infusing limpite into the metal brass rings. Blacksmith Rahr did not ask any questions, shrugging off his curiosity. He had heard enough rumors. Rein observed and soon understood the process of slowly infusing and distributing limpite using the folding technique alongside an aurae injection skill to sense and spread the limpite distribution pattern.

    With that done, Rein wandered out into the Green Trout City to the hidden store belonging to the Fusion Sect Elder¡¯s Baejenh.

    To his shock, instead of communicating through the parrot like the previous time, Baejenh sat across the table with a furious glare.

    ¡°Do you know what you have done?! I had hoped to eventually draw Lyne from the grasps of Minhr¡¯s power struggle and take her as a disciple!¡± A silvery aurae light cascaded out from Baejenh¡¯s form, and Rein felt this magical force compressing around his body in a crushing manner, pressing him downwards. In Rein¡¯s eyes, the secret meeting room turned black and white under the intense pressure.

    Though Rein now had an inkling of the consequences of his tryst with Lyne, and he felt a degree of guilt, he also felt he understood Lyne enough to reject Baejenh¡¯s words. As such, he forcefully resisted Baejenh¡¯s pressure and lifted his head creakily.

    ¡°Her loyalty to the Xuere Clan¡¯s future¡­ she would not have selfishly abandoned their struggle in imitation of her father!¡± He breathed through his clenched teeth under the spiritual pressure. ¡°If you, with your imperious capability, truly wished to protect her, you should have stood against the Dingien Clan!¡±

    These words, perhaps unwise to utter, were partially said in anger. Rein simply felt it unfair for this woman to¡­well... In his eyes, dump her frustrations, whatever that source may be, upon him.

    The silvery light glowed blindingly as waves crashed towards Rein, flattening his head against the meeting table. Soon, the stone table along with Rein¡¯s seat cracked before Rein found himself crushed against the ground. Then, to Rein¡¯s relief, the silvery light softened then ceased.

    When he stood back up and brushed off fragments and dust of stone from his black jacket and pants, he found Baejenh still glaring at him. He did not question how Baejenh had realized that it was him who had taken Lyne¡¯s virginity and placed his seed in her womb.

    ¡°The Fusion Sect forbids its members from interfering in any conflict between clans or nations, in desire of their talent-- unless too great of a conflict destroys one too many talented roots,¡± she coldly replied. A sudden loss of control caused her to spit at the shattered stone fragments of the table.

    Rein understood her frustrations without the need for an explanation. Such was the nature of belonging to factions. Rein knew enough from his merchant days in the mortal world.

    ¡°So¡­¡± he eventually said after an awkward silence. ¡°Now, you should be able to take her as your disciple, yes?¡± From his view, Lyne would have the best chance to overcome any future barrier with Baejenh¡¯s assistance.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Baejenh pointed a shaking finger at Rein before finally containing herself once again.

    ¡°The Fusion Sect does not recklessly accept disciples! I need approval from¡­If she was whole, with her talent, it would be easy! But¡­¡± She exhaled then provided further explanation. She knew that Rein¡¯s knowledge was limited. The young man had yet to even enter the shell realm.

    ¡°When it comes to female advancers, copulation greatly affects the woman more than the man. As the man, your essence remains mostly your own. As for Lyne, her body now carries your seed, and as such, her aurae has an impurity that increases the difficulty of her path by an incomparable margin!¡±

    ¡°Nature¡­ ¡° Baejenh muttered frustratingly.

    ¡°Nature isn¡¯t always fair,¡± Rein finished her sentence for her. He himself was born with no affinity with elements after all.

    Another awkward silence.

    ¡°Surely, you have a method? I¡¯ve heard that there are many paths,¡± Rein asked hopefully. He then  opened then closed his lips again, unsure if his next words might be¡­ overly arrogant. Still, he eventually chose to say it.

    ¡°I know not if my favor is worth anything, but if you, the great Mistress Baejenh, can accept her as a disciple and guide her upon an adjacent path¡­¡± As he said this, Rein really wasn¡¯t certain if his favor was worth anything.

    ¡°You think your favor is worth gold?¡± Baejenh spat once again. ¡°And you think I need your favor to take her as my disciple?! She will be my disciple regardless, and she will walk a harsher path, to seek and master the yang in the yin, to temper her ice in fire. Hmph. Those old codgers can fuck off if they block my way.¡±

    Rein smartly kept his mouth shut, but was inwardly delighted at having drawn Baejenh to such a decision.

    ¡°Youngling,¡± Baejenh glared at Rein. ¡°You must know that she will have to remain in the shell realm until she gains a natural icy spirit to infuse into and form her core. Else, it is impossible to be the unbreakable ice within the firestorm. Now, get out!¡± She flicked the sleeves of her silvery white robes, and Rein obeyed with a bow.

    Rein breathed a sigh of relief, having survived a life-threatening situation.

    Yet, he only strode a few blocks before a cloaked form reached out from an alleyway and dragged him onto an empty and narrow path.

    He soon recognized this form to be Lyne and his pounding heart calmed. She began patting his body down.

    ¡°I¡¯m uninjured,¡± Rein simply stated, realizing that Baejenh must have pressured Lyne into revealing who had ¡®assaulted¡¯ her folds.

    ¡°This will unleash a stinging power against those who dare to place their hand onto your¡­tips,¡± Rein said as he withdrew from his spatial pouch, the boxed set of nipple rings he had crafted with his crude blacksmithing knowledge. He would eventually improve his skill overtime, and no longer require assistance from Blacksmith Rahr.

    Lyne quickly opened the box before closing them, blushing as she delivered a playful slap onto Rein¡¯s left cheek. She felt a combination of protection alongside lewdness that strangely warmed her heart.

    ¡°I¡¯m meant to be grounded in the Xuere Estate within the city,¡± she informed Rein. ¡°And I¡¯ll have you know that I wasn¡¯t worried at all.¡± She then dashed off, leaving Rein scratching his head.

    Rein strode down a few more blocks, and his complicated day met another obstacle-- a elderly man blocking his path. This man might have combed-back silvery hair that extended to his lower neck, but he still carried the form and strength of a bear. His face had many intimidating scars, his eyes exuding a frosty flame below his sharp eyebrows.

    Rein glanced at his robes, decorated with the symbol of an icy phoenix.

    Rein swore to himself. The crowd surrounding the two seemed to not notice the presence of this man, simply avoiding the spot upon which he was standing as if there was a large stone pillar there.

    This intimidating man looked upon Rein. He, Zyne, as the grandfather of Lyne, desired to judge this young man who had ¡®ruined¡¯ his granddaughter.

    Inwardly, he was in a struggle.

    He had already investigated Rein, and discovered this young man to have certain oddities.

    Initially, Zyne felt enraged, having discovered Rein¡¯s exhibitionist play with a woman known as Suxeire. He thought that Rein was nothing but a playboy.

    Yet, he soon discovered that Rein only performed such acts with this woman-- there was no record of Rein ever pleasuring himself with any brothel or tavern wenches. Nor did Rein ever attempt or make advances to gain the good graces of any other women.

    Zyne wasn¡¯t some knobhead. After all, he is the one the fortress protecting the Xuere Gap was named after.

    Then there was the hand of the Second Prince that led to Lyne being captured and tortured by the Harvest Devil Ailehr, to be eventually taken by the Second Prince, which filled him with the desire to rampage through the Minhr capital city, Heavens Peak City.

    As such, Zyne, after forcing Lyne to make a confession, felt both gratitude and fury at Rein. His granddaughter had even threatened to simply leave just as his son did if he injured Rein! He naturally found all of this difficult to accept. Not to mention, Lyne would not be Rein¡¯s first, even if it was socially acceptable in the advancer world for powerful advancers, whether they be man or woman, to have multiple partners. Though¡­ a woman with multiple partners was much more likely to be regarded as automatically devilish, regardless of whether one might view that as fair or unfair.

    ¡°Come.¡± With a wave of his hand, Zyne lifted Rein into the skies with his telekinetic powers, and they flew westwards and landed onto an uninhabited area west of the Green Gilded River that ran south, west of the Green Trout City.

    ¡°You believe I would accept your perverse nature?¡± Zyne was very much displeased that Lyne had chosen this man, shown to be capable of such debauchery.

    ¡°Only if it satiates those involved,¡± Rein honestly replied. Frankly, he felt a degree of guilt at having indulged in such perverse acts. Still, he wasn¡¯t one to force debaucherous acts upon another-- if there was one thing he loved the most, it was when a partner, one way or another, ¡®baited¡¯ him into committing such acts¡­

    Of course, this was an understanding that he had slowly become aware of.

    ¡°I truly only desired to enter and focus upon the advancer world when I joined the Hall of Heroes,¡± Rein honestly replied to Zyne.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Zyne glared at the young man. He was no fool. He knew that Lyne had inherited certain traits, forceful traits from her father, his son. His son had been so frustrated with the prospect of being forced into a political marriage in the previous fight for the throne that he had simply vanished from the realm.

    Back then, Zyne had been enraged, believing that his son should have placed the burden of the Xuere Clan on his shoulders. Zyne had an inkling that his son had left Lyne behind just to spite the man.

    If so, it was working. In some twisted way, deep in Zyne¡¯s heart, he was relieved that Lyne had given the Second Prince the so-called middle finger through her actions. A feeling that he constantly suppressed to be ¡®loyal¡¯ to the rulers of the Minhr Nation, so he told himself.

    ¡°So, you claim that my granddaughter¡­ threw herself into your arms like a wanton slut? After a brief interaction?¡± Zyne accused Rein, intentionally misinterpreting Rein¡¯s words.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Rein stumbled slightly but recovered. ¡°It may be brief, but often, bonds are best and easily forged over a thorny path. Consider me a blade if you will-- no,¡± he corrected himself. ¡°A bludgeoning tool.¡±

    Zyne gazed upon the young man before him and a small smile lifted the corner of his lips. So, this young man is capable of speaking vaguely with implication.

    ¡°My granddaughter believes that it is time for the Xuere Clan to move. To join the Seventh Prince. Specifically to offer her hand in marriage,¡± Zyne informed Rein.

    Rein raised an eyebrow. He suddenly recalled that Suey and Lyne had shared a private conversation before they parted. His intuition was that this was Suey¡¯s hand. As for the Seventh Prince, Rein recalled some information about the man. Supposedly similar in age to himself, having barely come of age. The Seventh Prince should only be a figurehead propped up by a number of questionable supporters¡­

    ¡°An interesting idea,¡± Rein nodded in understanding. ¡°Will your offer reach the Seventh Prince himself?¡±

    ¡°Hah! I  personally delivered the offer,¡± Zyne scoffed. ¡°He did not reject it. Despite knowing the seed within my granddaughter¡¯s womb to not be his.¡±

    Rein widened his eyes as his mind spun. Did Suey know? No. But perhaps she had some understanding of the Seventh Prince¡¯s nature.

    ¡°You seem to not care regarding this¡­ marriage,¡± Zyne was somewhat displeased by Rein¡¯s non-reaction. In the end, he at least wished for his granddaughter to be loved.

    ¡°Marriage¡­¡± Rein shook his head. In his merchant days, he had seen many clients disloyal to their partners despite the so-called contract. As such, he regarded it with disdain.

    ¡°As far as I  am concerned¡­ as long as she does not betray my interests, and perhaps even stand at my side¡­ I, too, see no reason to block her path, no matter her methods of choice.¡± That was Rein¡¯s answer. Plus¡­ that child within her womb is his. He wasn¡¯t sure what the Seventh Prince might be thinking, but¡­

    ¡°You say you will be a bludgeoning tool,¡± Zyne now returned to the primary goal of his ¡®kidnapping¡¯ of Rein. ¡°Allow me to judge your ability.¡± Zyne grinned. He would now be able to release at least a measure of his inner rage.

    ____________________________________________________________

    In the capital of Minhr, the Heavens Peak City.

    An incredibly handsome man was in his royal chambers, a quill furiously scrawling across a parchment. His every move was both graceful yet powerful, his form a twisting dance over the parchment upon the maloewood desk.

    When he was complete with his writings, he lifted his head to reveal a diamond jaw that was in between a square and pointed jaw. He had a roman nose with keen bright eyes, and perfectly arched brows. His layered dark hair curved around his face in a wavy pattern down to his shoulders.

    ¡°Announce my declaration in all corners of the capital and nation,¡± he ordered a kneeling woman beside him.

    When that woman read the words upon the parchment, she couldn¡¯t help but exclaim.

    ¡°Noble Seventh Prince. You cannot play such a hand.¡±

    ¡°Why not? I am sick of being but a puppet. It¡¯s time I made a move. The Xuere Patriarch has offered full cooperation.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you not know? It was my doppelganger that remained behind as I went to the western wilderness to take what my older half-brother desired,¡± the Seventh Prince grinned.

    ¡°I¡­ ¡° the woman still kneeling before the Seventh Prince, struggling to resist his demands. She knew herself to be the only one truly loyal to him. ¡°Even then¡­ you will simply become a puppet of the Xuere Clan!¡±

    ¡°Hardly. With the Xuere Clan in a bit of a pinch, they will back my vision. Of that, I am confident. The Xuere Patriarch is well-regarded as well,¡± the Seventh Prince calmly replied.

    ¡°But¡­ if rumors are true¡­ that child of hers¡­¡± the woman stuttered. ¡°Once that child is tested for dragon blood, your deception will be laid bare.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. But children are not tested for bloodlines until the age of ten, when the onset of puberty activates the bloodline. We only need to rid ourselves of our opponents prior to such a time.¡±

    The woman could only agree and accept the Seventh Prince¡¯s decision.

    An announcement would soon send the Minhr Nation into shock and frenzy. As for the Second Prince? He could only offer a limited retort. To prove the Seventh Prince¡¯s claims false, he would need to reveal his connections to the devils in the western wilderness, dooming his path. He could only stay silent!

 Ch102: Beaten Black and Blue

    Zyne¡¯s aura rose as an icy cloud of aurae exuded from the pores of his skin, wrapping his body in a protective layer. That layer then swirled, reforming to create a magical flowing formation that augmented his body with unique capabilities.

    As for the specifics of how the aurae flowed within this layer to augment Zyne¡¯s body? This was not something that Rein could discern. Every single advancer art has its own unique flow of energy, which needs to be shifted in tandem with body movement to create the intended effect.

    This is why it is near impossible to imitate another¡¯s art. Even if an art is passed down, often the inheritor needs to make adjustments for their own unique body.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard¡­ tales of your¡­ sexual endeavors,¡± Zyne narrowed his eyes as he prepared to strike.

    Rein coughed in slight embarrassment. He was quite aware that it all had¡­ gotten a little out of hand. Part of him blamed it on Suey¡¯s ability to draw out that inner ¡®monster¡¯. At least, he believed himself to be far more restrained when Lyne made her intentions known to him.

    ¡°In truth, I never intended to seek out any companionship when I first joined the Halls,¡± he explained as he steadied his stance. ¡°However, the other woman named Suxeire sought my favor out of nothing. Suspicious as I was, I thought introducing an excessive degree of debauchery would allow me to shake her off my back, and allow the truth to reveal itself, so to speak.¡±

    ¡°And instead, you only ended up indulging in your deepest desires,¡± Zyne frowned and then said coldly. ¡°If not for my granddaughter¡¯s demand, I would have chosen to strike you down with my full strength.¡±

    Zyne¡¯s aura rose further, and though the aurae layer around his body remained compact, Rein felt an invisible pressure locking down his body, like a thick snake slowly constricting prey.

    Rein exhaled slightly as he willed his own aurae to cover most of his body. Though he was no shell advancer yet, the wooden aspect of his aurae provided him with a measure of vitality. Of course, that was nothing compared to the young draconic lightning, carrying the necessary explosive power for him to somewhat resist the invisible pressure surrounding his body.

    Rein glared in return. He knew why Zyne felt displeasure towards him, but Rein also believed that it simply wasn¡¯t fair to put the full weight of responsibility upon him. Though Rein no longer minded the idea of fate, he was of the belief that he had been doing the best he could with his limited capabilities.

    A certain chain of events had led to him obtaining that draconic metamorphosis bead that happened to belong to the ancient dragon named Gent. And before that, somehow, his empty vessel had attracted the echo of a fallen god.

    As for Lyne¡­ it was not his fault that she had felt cornered politically to the point of pursuing a reckless and dangerous path of escape. He was just the right man at the right time, one could say. At least, Rein suspected he was ¡®good enough¡¯ in her eyes. He did not believe he was all that special in Lyne¡¯s eyes. She was simply desperate, that he suspected.

    ¡°Well¡­ old man,¡± Rein gritted his teeth under the invisible aura pressure. ¡°Perhaps if you had the capability to reject the Dingien Clan¡¯s approach, Lyne would not have chosen this path.¡± He did not pull back his punches. ¡°If you had the capability, your son would still be around, and your granddaughter might have had two loving parents.¡±

    His words naturally did not go down well. In the blink of an eye, Zyne was already before him, his right arm extending out like the legendary wing of a phoenix.  Zyne¡¯s lariat move struck Rein in the neck, clipping him down onto his back clutching at his throat. His head struck the ground first, stunning him.

    ¡°Be careful with your words, youngling,¡± Zyne grunted, surprisingly sounding not quite as enraged as Rein thought he would be. If anything, Zyne sounded almost¡­ calm.  ¡°If I am of the Dingien Clan, you would have already lost your life there and then. If not for my granddaughter, I would not even be limiting myself to this level of strength.¡±

    Zyne had been around for centuries. Tolerated the Dingien Clan¡¯s overwhelming pressure throughout his lifetime. In truth, he felt shame for failing his son. Otherwise, he would not be even entertaining his granddaughter¡¯s current actions.

    Rein focused his mind. He had sparred himself black and blue against his half-senior Chenhr during his intensive training regimen. At least, that was key to his growth. However, this was the first time he was facing off against an advancer from a proper clan, backed with an enduring legacy as well as bountiful resources.

    When Zyne made his move again, Rein focused his mind and eyes, raising a leading fist as he angled his body sideways towards Zyne¡¯s approach. Zyne¡¯s movements were incredibly difficult to predict. At times, Zyne appeared slow and floaty, like a bird hovering in the skies. Yet that would then be followed by a speedy flash, like a hawk diving at prey.

    Rein barely reacted in time to Zyne¡¯s abrupt acceleration, twisting his body to avoid Zyne¡¯s elbow strike crushing his liver. Still, that attack clipped his ribs, causing a sharp pain radiating from the point of contact.

    Rein knew that in the advancer world, the body tempering path had early benefits but was costly, with increasingly less significant boons further down the road relative to effort. The pain his mind resisted demonstrated that.

    Throughout his current journey, this was the first time he was experiencing combat against a truly well-trained advancer of this level.

    Indeed, he had a ¡®slight¡¯ scuffle against House Larne, but House Larne weren¡¯t even recognized as a proper advancer clan.

    His conflict against the Convergence Sect? That was only part of a long history of conflict between the Halls and the Sects of the Evergreen Mountains. As such, Rein¡¯s secret draconic beastly tempered body was a sufficient early advantage against his rather inexperienced opponents in the shell realm.

    For these reasons, Rein saw this as an unexpected opportunity to gain valuable experience.

    Again, Zyne approached, with exquisite and precise control over every single joint and limb. It was not only his movement that shifted between fast and slow at unexpected moments, Rein soon discovered.

    Zyne¡¯s right arm jabbed towards Rein¡¯s left neck as a stabbing beak. Rein thought he had finally gotten used to Zyne¡¯s pace, yet as he attempted to block the man¡¯s jabbing right arm, Zyne¡¯s movement slowed as if floating in some ethereal plane, before accelerating again, bypassing Rein¡¯s defense.

    Zyne precisely struck a pressure point on Rein¡¯s left neck, and a radiating burning pain inundated Rein¡¯s left shoulder, causing his whole left arm to slump in numbness.

    Rein¡¯s attempt at retaliation with his right fist hit thin air as Zyne¡¯s body effortlessly floated backwards just out of reach accompanied by an icy breeze, his aurae skin flickering in a cold light.

    ¡°So it is true. You do have a rather unique tempered body,¡± Zyne muttered to himself. ¡°How curious¡­¡±

    Perhaps one might simply accept defeat, or make an escape being so apparently outmatched. Rein, however, rolled his left shoulder to dispel the numbness as a glint entered his eyes.

    This is certainly an unexpected learning opportunity, he thought.

    The way Rein saw it, Zyne must be a man of poise, composed and coolheaded at all times. Zyne¡¯s control over his own body¡¯s movement and rhythm demonstrated that. His ability to remain even-tempered in the face of Rein¡¯s provocative words displayed his nature.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Rein was confident in his assessment, especially since Zyne must have swallowed his many displeasures at the Dingien Clan¡¯s actions over uncountable years.

    Rein himself also realized that though Zyne appeared collected, the man must feel chagrin at his role in Lyne¡¯s circumstances. Thus, it was best for Zyne to express his underlying irritation, lest it stew over the years like a sleeping volcano.

    Better to get beaten badly, gain some experience, and set up the potential for a positive future, so Rein assessed.

    He calmed his mind as he had been trained to do so by his half-senior Chenhr. Though only a single breath passed in the world, his mind replayed Zyne¡¯s movements a hundred times. Rein understood his weakness stemmed from not having reached the shell realm yet, but he also lacked the ability to compete against Zyne in the arena of small, quick and precise movement.

    The explosiveness of his ¡®Lightning Frog Legs¡¯ required too much time to gather and store the necessary aurae into his legs. An epiphany struck his mind-- what if he could gather that explosive force into a single ankle, or even simply his toes? What if he could ignite that explosive energy at unexpected moments during his movements or strikes?

    Rein was, of course, imitating Zyne, attempting to create his own unexpected shifting body and limbs with his own abilities.

    There is, however, a rather brain wracking problem-- his ¡®Frog Leg Release¡¯ is based on observing and imitating a jumping tree frog. To create these small explosive movements in specific joints-- Rein wasn¡¯t sure how dangerous it might be for his body, or if he could even channel the proper flow to perform such a movement safely to achieve the desired effect.

    Still, if there was one thing he had developed trust in, it was the draconic body.

    Zyne raised an arm and beckoned for Rein to take action. He wasn¡¯t the type of man to return to the Green Trout City to simply kill a youngling. He came with a curiosity.

    Rein no longer exploded forth with his ¡®Lightning Frog Leg Release¡¯ art. Such a sudden blistering approach might intimidate lesser foes, especially those lacking quick reactions, but is clearly ineffective against one such as Zyne.

    Instead, Rein remained light on his toes, fist and arm raised, ready to intercept Zyne. As he approached, he gathered lightning aurae into mainly his ankle and toes, as well as his shoulders and arms. His partial aurae shell was enough to obscure the flow of aurae in his limbs.

    Rein twisted his body and threw a direct punch with his right fist, releasing the explosive lightning energy in his shoulder and elbow joint mid-punch. Zyne easily avoided it with a precise sidestep.

    Rein then adjusted his body, and followed with his left fist. This time, he left it until the very end before releasing the stored draconic lightning power.

    The odd timing accelerated his fist at the tailend of his motion, and though Zyne had timed another sidestep appropriately, he was forced to tilt his head to avoid having his cheek glanced by Rein¡¯s left fist.

    At the same time, Rein felt a soreness in his left elbow and shoulder after releasing the explosive aurae so late into his strike. The odd release of explosive force proved to be incredibly stressful for his joints even with his tempered body. He realized that he cannot perform such odd and unexpected moves too often, unless he discovers a proper channeling of aurae flow in the future.

    Zyne responded, once again utilizing his precise and unexpected shifts in movement and pace. Unlike Rein, he experienced no drawback due to his magic being a complete advancer art.

    With his aurae gathered mostly at his ankle and toes, Rein could now respond quicker to Zyne¡¯s sudden change in pace. He released the stored lightning aurae in his right toes, enough to rapidly shift him sideways a foot, allowing him to barely avoid one of Zyne¡¯s sudden palm strikes. His right toes felt sore from the concentrated release of aurae in the area, and Rein could only accept the reality that he definitely needed to at least somewhat find a half-decent flow to reliably execute this method of aurae release.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zyne revealed none of his thoughts as an icy light shone from his body. The temperature around Rein dropped as ice crystals formed on the grass beneath Rein¡¯s feet.

    Again, Zyne approached, but this time, Rein felt his movements slowed. Of course, Rein knew that Zyne had activated a measure of his outer realm powers, allowing him to influence the surrounding environment with his aurae tendrils. He did not complain-- he understood that it was better for Zyne to expel any ill will towards him today. He simply needed to do his best to gain what little he could for himself.

    Zyne only exerted minimal influence on the surroundings, but that minor influence turned night into day. Rein discovered that the slight slowing of his own movements completely disrupted his rhythm, and he was completely drawn into Zyne¡¯s pace.

    Rein struggled to respond to Zyne¡¯s attacks. At first, Rein attempted to adapt to the slowed effect, proactively shifting himself in preparation. However, as soon as he adapted,  Zyne adjusted the effect of the chill disrupting Rein¡¯s reactions. The chill ever so slightly decreased, and its effect began to oscillate, weaker to stronger, and back again. Rein simply could not adapt his body on the fly so rapidly.

    As such, Rein soon ceased trying to dodge or block Zyne¡¯s strikes, and instead shifted to attacking Zyne with no care for his own defense, attempting to trade blow for blow. Zyne was simply too powerful and experienced, and was in full control of the battlefield. His understanding of battle was clearly levels above what Chenhr had taught Rein.

    Such a method was partly successful. Rein managed a few glancing blows that clipped Zyne¡¯s body, his right shoulder, then the left side of his waist. Unfortunately, these partial blows came at the cost of every single one of Zyne¡¯s attacks striking various pressure points over Rein¡¯s body.

    Zyne further raised his level. He stabbed forth with his hand as a blade, and a compact hand-shaped icy aurae projection shot forward, striking a pressure point right below Rein¡¯s right pectorals. A sharp and numbing pain radiated from the pressure point, but far worse. This time, the icy aurae projected palm also sent a sort of¡­ frostbitten sensation through Rein¡¯s right chest.

    By now, Rein could barely remain on his feet, having been struck many times. His body was bruised black and blue, with residue throbbing pain pulsing from the many pressure points he had been struck.

    As a last attempt, he gathered the wood energy in his body and ignited it with his draconic lightning energies. The pressure rose within his belly, and Rein suddenly spat a fire with orange lightning dancing amongst its flames towards Zyne.

    Zyne did not bother dodging the flame. His eyes brightened as he allowed himself to be wrapped in that flame. His icy aurae skin sizzled as it easily overpowered Rein¡¯s flame.

    ¡°How curious¡­so this is what she meant,¡± he muttered to himself once again.

    Exhausted and spent, Rein collapsed onto his back, panting, beaten like a dog. His vision momentarily turned white as he gazed up at the burning sun.

    ¡°A dubious bludgeoning tool you are, but perhaps I will be proven wrong.¡± Zyne¡¯s form flew up into the sky, blocking out the blinding sun. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I am relieved that you are truly who my granddaughter says you are, and not some¡­¡± Zyne spat with disgust, ¡°disguised immortal god.¡±

    ¡°Come again?¡± Rein groaned as his mind struggled through the aching sensations of his body. He was naturally baffled by Zyne¡¯s words. If he was some kind of immortal god, he would have long laid low his foes.

    Seeing the beaten body of Rein resting below him, Zyne sighed. This youngling is still too naive of the advancer world, he thought.

    ¡°Surely you know of the laws of the realms, the universe, underlying all advancer arts as well as worldly phenomena,¡± Zyne began. ¡°One such observed rule-- you may find this odd-- is the very fact that longer-lived species, those of stronger bloodlines, seem to struggle to conceive children.¡±

    ¡°We advancers-- our bodies transform as we rise, edging us to immortality. As such, it becomes ever more difficult for us to conceive children-- an inescapable truth.¡±

    ¡°And the so-called Gods? Some attempt to bypass this law by¡­ descending to these middling realms, seeking women who have yet to shake off their mortality, simply to conceive a child. Naturally, their methods are¡­¡± Zyne paused, and decided not to elaborate. ¡°It is twisted. To bypass such a natural law through a mortal¡­ wombs.¡±

    Rein now understood Zyne¡¯s actions carried another objective. No immortal god would be able to retain their disguise and accept the humiliation of being beaten black and blue all over.

    Additionally, Rein came to understand another twisted aspect of the advancer world. He suddenly recalled tales of husbands and children vanishing from wives back in the Golden Desert Town. It wasn¡¯t something that happened too often, but such tales did pop up regularly enough, perhaps once or twice a year¡­

    ¡°Ah yes. Purchase a mantis shrimp from the markets. Perhaps you may gain some insights,¡± Zyne recommended to the young man lying on the ground.

    Rein was still trying to catch his breath as Zyne¡¯s form vanished northwest.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± Rein swore as he rested on his backside for a while. He eventually stumbled back onto his feet. He would have to drag his beaten body back to the Green Trout City. Due to his exhaustion, it took him half a day, and his bruised body drew no small amount of attention through the city.

    However, Rein did not develop any negative feelings towards Zyne. He had gained much, and he did not sustain any serious injuries from Zyne¡¯s precisely controlled strikes.

    As for his pride? Rein had known for long that Zyne must be a telekinetic advancer, worthy of a clan tasked with defending against the Western Wilderness.. Zyne could stomp on him like a foot on an ant any time of day. Rein would be a fool to have any pride in front of the Xuere Clan patriarch.

 Ch103: Invading the Evergreen Mountains

    Rein spent the next few days nursing his sore body while preparing to defend against the demon beast wave, as ordered by the Hall of Heroes¡¯ leadership.

    The hustle and bustle in the labyrinth was accompanied by the shocking news of what had befallen Lyne of the Xuere Clan in the Western Wilderness. She had returned and was determined to be pregnant with a child!

    Many saw it to be a loss, for such a talented advancer to have her future path likely cut off, a dead end of an originally golden path. All who had spent enough time in the advancer world would, sooner or later, come across the knowledge that it was best for women to maintain their purity if they desired the chance to climb above the telekinetic realm.

    Many of the male nobles in the Green Trout City who had pursued Lyne prior to the Second Prince making his intentions known, felt all sorts of emotions. Some pity, others disgust, mixed with envy or jealousy.

    They soon received another shock to their minds, news that could be said to have flipped their earlier emotions a hundred eighty degrees. After another few days, news arrived from the capital. The Seventh Prince declared that it was him who had secretly approached Lyne in the Western Wilderness, to bypass others¡¯ detection in order to snatch a bride.

    Many sensed that the succession battle for the Minhr Nation¡¯s throne could now be said to have truly begun! Most automatically believed the news from the capital to be true-- in their minds, it simply would not make sense for the Seventh Prince to marry a woman who carried another man¡¯s child in their womb.

    Rein initially raised an eyebrow upon hearing of this, feeling somewhat baffled even though Zyne had already informed him of the deal. Once he spent some time thinking about it, he could only acknowledge that this Seventh Prince had made a bold move. In fact, he was almost impressed that the Seventh Prince dared to make such a move.

    He felt mixed feelings regarding the fact that his child was to be a son of Dingien Clan. He was not at all concerned with the child¡¯s safety-- the child, too, is a descendant of the Xuere Clan. Rein was certain Lyne and her grandfather, Zyne, would not allow the supposed said-to-be of ¡®weak¡¯ influence, the Seventh Prince, to harm the child.

    This was not the only astonishing news that reverberated through the Halls.

    Less mind-shaking but still rather bewildering news was announced by a servant of House Larne. Apparently, House Larne discovered that Beincen, the scion of the family, had returned from the Western Wilderness possessed by a devil!

    Upon discovery, House Larne waged a battle against the devil within their estate. The battle destroyed sections of House Larne¡¯s extensive property, and finally, the devil-possessed Beincen was struck down.

    As Beincen¡¯s soul had already been lost, House Larne¡¯s Patriarch used a secret art to transfer the remaining vitality of Beincen¡¯s body to heal Rekcen¡¯s right arm. As the two are brothers and share a high compatibility, Rekcen would soon fully recover with two functional arms. At least, that was the announcement that came out of the servant¡¯s mouth.

    When this piece of news passed into Rein¡¯s ears, his instincts felt something to be off. In fact, Rein himself originally intended to inform the Halls of Beincen being possessed, after he settled his own affairs.

    Yet before he had the opportunity, the possessed Beincen was already dead. Rein was no fool. That devil-possessed Beincen seemed rather unique and powerful-- surely he would not fall so easily.

    Rein, of course, also recalled that he had very nearly been possessed in that chasm under the ancient dwarven ruins. Putting two-and-two together, Rein was certain that Hahrn, with the moniker of the Blood Devil, must have taken over Beincen¡¯s body.

    Would anyone believe this conclusion of his now that Beincen had passed? Probably not. House Larne has much influence in the Green Trout City. They might not be considered an advancer clan, but they are still of nobility, to be treated with respect in the eyes of the mostly mortal citizens in Green Trout City.

    Perhaps Baejenh, an elder of Fusion Sect, could act. Yet, contacting her so soon wasn¡¯t a good idea. After all, Rein had leaked information to Baejenh regarding the ongoing events within the Halls. Moreover, the Fusion Sect supposedly avoided sticking their noses into the internal affairs of the Minhr Nation¡­

    Rein suspected that the Blood Devil Hahrn must have hidden himself in House Larne. It was possible that the Hahrn had taken over the Larne Patriarch¡¯s body.

    The very next day, House Larne announced their intention to leave Green Trout City within the next week. Supposedly, someone in the Dingien Clan had reallocated their position elsewhere!

    Thus, Rein came to believe that there was no point to him communicating his suspicions any longer. He might even be seen as a lunatic, since he held no evidence.

    As he meditated within his assigned cave within the Halls¡¯ labyrinth, he suddenly recalled that he had obtained a ring belonging to this devil.

    He was filled with curiosity as he withdrew this ring from his spatial pouch. The bronze ring was of an indistinct appearance-- worn and scratched with a carved spatial pocket inscription. If one saw this ring on the side of the road, the only reason they might pick it up would be to examine the contents inside.

    Rein traced the spatial inscription over the ring with the fingertip of his index. The ring is, of course, a spatial ring, and Rein soon identified the opening of the inscription that allowed him to withdraw the contents within. Spatial pouches are much simpler-- the inscription on a spatial pouch is designed such that the opening of the pouch is the opening of the spatial enchantment.

    The contents within were sparse-- Rein only withdrew two scrolls. He unfurled the two scrolls and began to examine their contents.

    Rein was amazed by the contents of the two scrolls. One contained details on various methods to awaken one¡¯s bloodline powers. It described how some tribes and races, in ancient times, were gifted unique powers by the fallen gods. This power melded into their blood, and can be awakened under certain conditions.

    Of course, many do not descend from these beings favored by those fallen gods, and no bloodline power would awaken in such descendents. Rein couldn¡¯t help but wonder if such bloodline might be hidden within his veins-- after all, he could not even recall his origins. After entering the advancer world, he began to suspect that his father and mother¡¯s exile had more to it than he initially thought.

    The second scroll was an advancer art named ¡®Eternal Blood¡¯ that described a method to further enrich one¡¯s vitality, one¡¯s life force through blood. The peak of this advancer art allows an advancer to split their blood into a hundred concentrated drops, each infused with the soul and mind of the advancer.

    As long as one drop out of these hundred drops can find a source of power to reconstruct a body, or possess a target, one would survive then revive.

    Rein continued to examine this ¡®Eternal Blood¡¯ art, and his face became increasingly ugly. What an incredibly devilish art! It requires the consumption of fresh blood. The volume of blood consumption wasn¡¯t measured in stones, or boulders, but in cities, nations, and a whole realm.

    This ¡®Eternal Blood¡¯ art was further complicated by the concept of ¡®willing¡¯ and ¡®unwilling¡¯ blood. The writings explained it as thus: All advancers have an instinctual control over their own aurae, to protect their own bodies and expel invaders. The aurae within the blood is the same, and as such, blood consumed from a willing victim who actively disabled this protective mechanism allows the practitioner of this art to better absorb and progress the art. The writings estimated the effectiveness to be five times.

    Rein rolled his eyes at this information. To complete the art required one to basically annihilate a whole realm. Even if it was five times the efficacy, that might require probably a few nation¡¯s worth of willing participants. Unless one was willing to be a devil, this art could only be partially completed, only functioning as supplementary power-- a slight increase in life force, and perhaps, a single drop of eternal blood after thousands of years if one performed duties such as hunting demon beasts or devil bounties.

    There was a section on using the strengthened blood as a type of blood weapon, or to invade another¡¯s body. However, that carries the risk of potentially losing control of said blood, and the risk of allowing others with certain powers to infect the advancer¡¯s own blood.

    Once Rein finished examining this scroll, he understood that Blood Devil Hahrn must have practiced this art, and had likely successfully created at least a few drops of concentrated blood. It also explained why the possessed Beincen had sneaked into the Harvest Devil Sect that controlled the supply of blood energy from the surrounding ghostly ancient battlefield.

    He then began to meticulously examine the internal pocket of the spatial ring. He recalled that the draconic might of his absorbed metamorphose bead had stamped out a piece of Hahrn¡¯s soul. Based on Rein¡¯s understanding of Blood Devil Hahrn¡¯s survival method, that meant a concentrated drop of blood must be in this ring!

    As Rein was no outer or telekinetic advancer, he could not easily examine the space within the spatial ring, and could only repeatedly probe the inside with his finger jabbing through the opening of spatial inscription.

    When he couldn¡¯t find anything after a few breaths, he began to feel frustrated, and thus decided to shake the worn bronze ring back and forth as if he was mixing a cocktail at a tavern.

    With a plop, a droplet of concentrated blood slipped out of the space within the ring! Some magic at work kept the blood in one concentrated drop, as it rolled across the cave floor like a soft spherical jelly.

    Rein picked up this concentrated drop of vibrant blood that was no larger than his fingertip. When the droplet of blood touched his finger, he sensed the roiling and dense energy within.

    He glanced at the scroll denoting the ¡®Eternal Blood¡¯ art once again as he considered his options.

    Rein knew that he would never be capable of the mindless slaughter necessary for practicing this art to its completion, and he was determined to keep it that way. He recalled how he had lost control of himself in the Wolf Syrup Town. He preferred not to cross over said line ever again.

    Not that it meant he would never take a life if it was determined to be necessary-- he had long stepped across that line. However, he wished to avoid indulging in the bloodlust sensation, as he did when he massacred those mortals in Wolf Syrup Town.

    Beyond that, Rein had also come to realize that many mortals and advancers are just pawns of higher powers. No matter how many pawns he slayed, little would change.

    He now also knew much more of the advancer world, having seen Gent¡¯s visions, and encountered much within the Western Wilderness. And of course, the origin of the Xunians, Suey¡¯s people.

    Rein¡¯s resolve and will hardened. He needed strength. Would practicing the ¡®Eternal Blood¡¯ Art raise his powers? The answer was yes. Yet if he became overdependent on this art, seeking power through its completion, a devil he will become.

    A fine line he would be treading upon, but a path he must walk upon. Unknown to him, he now shared a common belief that many rogue advancers-- those who weren¡¯t aligned to any faction-- had. A weapon is but a tool-- it is the wielder who decides whether the weapon does good or evil. He recalled the devour ability that was innate to many ancient demon beasts. As his body had been transformed by the draconic metamorphose bead, he, too, was capable of it. This ability raised the rate and efficiency with which he could consume aurae rich ¡®food¡¯.

    Rein had yet to employ this ability, for he feared revealing the secret of his unique body. His tempered body should be able to absorb the dense energy within a single drop of eternal blood from a weakened outer realm ranked devil, he reasoned.

    As for the Halls? He honestly was not sure why Master Yirn had returned him to the Halls. After gaining knowledge of the Xunians¡¯ origins, Rein suspected that much of the world would not welcome the Xunians, including the Allfather. As a result, he felt increasingly disillusioned with the state of the current world, especially with what had happened to himself. His will now stood only for his own vision. A blurry, uncertain path, but one that he was determined to walk upon.

    Rein took a deep breath. The Halls and its higher ups, including the watcher, should be preoccupied. An ant like him should not be under observation under the current circumstances.

    He jabbed the finger carrying the drop of Blood Devil Hahrn¡¯s eternal blood into his mouth and swallowed it. For the first time, he activated the devour ability innate to ancient demon beast lineages.

    A heat began to spread through his veins. At first, it was manageable. Yet that energy continued to rise, and Rein shockingly gained a few fleeting memories as he revolved the flow of aurae in his body as per that ¡®Eternal Blood Art¡¯.

    Those memories contained images of a magical realm! These are the memories of the partial soul of Hahrn within the blood that had been crushed by the remnant will of Gent from the draconic metamorphose bead!

    The memories were only flashes of images, but Rein was certain that it came from an upper realm. After all, one image was a city where all advancers flew to and fro like a locust swarm in harvest season! Such cities do not exist in the Fusion Realm!

    Rein suspected that he had bitten off more than he could chew. These memories revealed that the so-called Blood Devil Hahrn must have originally been even more powerful! Somehow he had fallen to the Fusion Realm, weakened, only to be struck down once again by the existence known as the Endflower at the dwarven ancient ruin¡¯s entrance.

    These thoughts were dispelled when the storm of energy continued to rise within Rein¡¯s veins. As much as he tried, he could not suppress the vast volume of aurae entering his body! The orange-hued draconic lightning in his veins desperately surrounded this external energy, yet Rein¡¯s body could only absorb parts of the vigorous blood.

    Rein accelerated the flow of aurae circulation as per the instructions on the ¡®Eternal Blood Art¡¯ scroll. The activated devour ability, a whirlpool in his belly, accelerated its spin in an attempt to further assist him in rapidly and effectively absorbing the aurae.

    Yet it was not enough. The concentration of aurae rose exponentially and Rein felt his veins beginning to crack. His body became a full container, on the verge of exploding! For a split moment, Rein was prepared to beseech the Halls¡¯ watcher for assistance, even should it reveal his hidden draconic body!

    As luck would have it, the spatial aurae of his origin ability suddenly activated. The spatial aurae wrapped itself around the remaining half-drop of eternal blood, and the energy was completely severed from the devouring cyclone within Rein¡¯s belly.

    Beads of sweat rolled down Rein¡¯s temples. Once again, his half-senior¡¯s words were proven correct. He was far too reckless.

    Once again, he had been saved by luck. Unknown to him, his spatial origin ability could isolate space around a singular object within his body. With his life on the line, that origin ability had sprung into action as a reflex, isolating the remaining half-drop of eternal blood in¡­ Rein examined himself and could not sense where that half-drop of eternal blood had disappeared off to.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    An idea occurred to him-- perhaps he could use his spatial origin ability to trace the location of that half-drop of eternal blood.

    He formed a circle with his two hands and activated his spatial ability with a sizzle. By relying on the matching aurae, he discovered a sort of invisible channel within his body, positioned right below his lungs, centerline of his body.

    When his mind probed that invisible channel, Rein was shocked to find his senses wrapped in a concentration of aurae, its composition emitting an aura that was his own! Far within this invisible channel, he could sense the half-drop was isolated in a sort of spatial pocket, a dark cocoon. However, he could not enter this invisible channel.

    Rein¡¯s mind spun as he withdrew his internal examination. He soon concluded that he must have accidentally proved his astral space, occasionally spoken of in text, but never explained in any detail.

    The astral space is a sort of personal ¡®container¡¯ of aurae that every being had, existing in a different dimension that overlayed one¡¯s body. Supposedly, one is only able to sense it upon reaching the outer realm.

    Naturally, Rein understood little of it. Frankly, the whole advancer world lacked any detailed understanding of it. Somehow, the connection of Rein¡¯s spatial origin ability had allowed Rein to indirectly detect the channel to his astral space, as a result of that half-drop of eternal blood being sent to the astral space while wrapped in Rein¡¯s spatial aurae.

    As for why so little is understood regarding this astral space that carries one¡¯s aurae? Well as it carries one¡¯s aurae, it is determined to be the primary source of one¡¯s magical abilities. Beyond that? The astral space of an advancer would automatically vanish upon death. As for attempting to invade another¡¯s astral space? The advancer being invaded would simply¡­ explode with destructive power.

    If one attempted to enter one¡¯s own astral space, they would initially feel their senses surrounded by their own aura. If one delved too deeply, one¡¯s mind would enter a state of mindless euphoria.

    An advancer once attempted to explore his own astral space, only to enter a state of hibernation for centuries. Many thought he had passed, only to discover the advancer¡¯s body in between life and death. Centuries later, his consciousness somehow reawakened. Many were excited, thinking that the secrets of the astral space would finally be revealed.

    The next words of said advancer nearly scared all present to death. He thought that only a day had passed, and reported only feeling a sense of heavenly joy. His smile that day was rumored to have raised goosebumps even on the rotting skin of corpses within graves.

    As such, scholars soon concluded that the astral space must be a personal dimension of magical aurae that cannot be consciously understood by the limits of the mind. That astral space is generated by the physical body, and also ¡®dies¡¯ when one¡¯s lifeforce is spent.

    However, that did not mean advancers avoided making use of what little understanding they had. After all, the orthodox path of an advancer is precisely designed to generate more power using connecting channels to one¡¯s astral space.

    Take the outer realm. Their elevated abilities are generated from creating a revolving power core around invisible channels to the astral space.

    As Rein finished recalling the extent of his knowledge, he felt confused, curious, but also relieved that his body was still in one piece. Rein returned his attention to stabilizing the volcanic aurae that still resided in his body. Rein still felt as if his body could explode at any time. He would need to slowly absorb the blood aurae as per the scroll, and steady his body state overtime.

    As for his actual physical or magical strength? Rein currently felt no difference. He examined the scroll again. It seems the ¡®Eternal Blood Art¡¯ would only show its benefits if he reached a point of exhaustion. A genuine ¡®second wind¡¯, one might say. Rein discarded any ideas of using his blood as a weapon. He needed to be less reckless, as his half-senior Chenhr had admonished him countless times before.

    Rein washed the grime from his body. Once his mind calmed from his nearly disastrous actions, he examined the bloodline awakening scroll in more detail.

    Again, there were many devilish methods, such as collecting the blood of your closest family and relatives to concentrate the bloodline within one¡¯s body, to activate any hidden bloodline.

    At least, this time, there were less distasteful methods recorded. The least revolting method was to collect a variety of clashing poisons, and when combined with a collection of conflicting elementally-aspected demon beast bloodlines, would force the body into a state of chaos. Through dancing between life and death in this infused bloodline tug-o-war, one would forcefully ignite the bloodline within the body as a protection mechanism. Not something Rein could afford to test anytime soon.

    Rein meditated for the rest of the night, and somehow managed to stabilize his body. He still felt rather full, but he was no longer on the cusp of an aurae explosion.

    The watcher¡¯s voice suddenly sounded through the walls of the labyrinth, in the early morning. Exactly how early? Rein would not know until he exited the labyrinth.

    ¡°Heroes of the Halls. It is time to gather in the tavern.¡±

    __________________________________________________________

    In House Larne estate¡¯s main hall.

    The main hall was where the Larne Patriarch would welcome guests, as well as hold meetings with his underlings. If one had a birdeye¡¯s view of the whole estate, they would see many servants hurrying about, arranging House Larne¡¯s migration.

    Yet two figures remained within the main hall leisurely, one sipping a cup of wine while another kneeled.

    The interior of the main hall had a red carpet that led to the patriarch¡¯s seat, with three thick pillars lining each side of this red carpet.

    The six pillars are made of lignum vitae wood, carved with depictions of man versus demon beast, as is common across the many human realms.

    Upon the ebony patriarch seat sat Rekcen. He was the figure that sipped wine, while the Larne Patriarch was the one who kneeled before him!

    ¡°As promised, I will bring House Larne to a new age of prosperity,¡± Rekcen said to the man kneeling in front of him. ¡°Your blood carries an ancient bloodline forgotten in these middling realms.¡±

    ¡°The price will be your extended family. Their deaths will allow both me and you to fully awaken the ancient Larne bloodline, and we will rise to become a major power in the Fusion Realm. Perhaps even higher.¡± Rekcen nonchalantly took another sip of his wine.

    ¡°Great¡­ immortal god. I¡­¡± the Larne Patriarch raised his head then gathered his courage. ¡°I do not mean to doubt your intentions, but will you truly¡­¡±

    His words only made Rekcen chortle, bemused.

    ¡°Do you truly think I am interested in standing as Patriarch? My time is far better spent elsewhere. You will, of course, be my executioner. And should you betray my trust¡­ well, that would be incredibly foolish. After all, if the world comes to know of your actions towards your extended family¡­ Remember-- we¡¯re in this together.¡±

    The Larne Patriarch took a deep breath. It was always his dream to turn House Larne into a proper advancer clan. He had bet on his two sons, but that did not turn out all that well. He was determined to grab hold of this opportunity.

    To the Larne Patriarch¡¯s shock, out of the blue, the possessed Rekcen hollered in pain! The cup of wine slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the ground.

    The Larne Patriarch instantly sprang into action, using the sleeves of his own robes to clean the spilled wine.

    ¡°O Blood God!¡± he stammered, assuming the worst. ¡°It was not I who poisoned the wine!¡± His heart was pounding with fear. After all, it was him who had taken this precious wine out of House Larne¡¯s private storage.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Rekcen swung his arm, striking the Larne Patriarch''s cheek, sending the man sprawling away.

    Rekcen was internally fuming. That sudden pain was him losing a small part of himself. When he possessed Beincen¡¯s body, he had regathered all of the eternal blood drops, but was missing a single drop.

    The remnant will of Gent had destroyed Blood Devil Hahrn¡¯s piece of soul within that drop of blood. As such, the devil, now in Rekcen¡¯s body, was never fully certain where that drop had vanished off to.

    He partly feared that it was Bienze of the Uni Sect, or that dark dragon who had taken that drop of eternal blood. Yet, what if it was the young man named Rein? From Beincen¡¯s memory, Hahrn knew of Rein¡¯s presence within the chasm.

    The possessed Rekcen grinded his teeth. If he was as powerful as he was originally, he would have been able to easily sense the events in that sunless chasm in full. In theory, the parts of the soul should be able to communicate information to one another. However, his connection to that piece of his soul had been severed before it could communicate any information.

    As for Rekcen? His soul, though pressured under Hahrn, also similarly demanded that to achieve full and complete possession, Hahrn must take the life of Rein.

    Hahrn, as Rekcen, had chosen to put this off for a future time. Rein resides in the Halls¡¯ labyrinth, which Hahrn determined to be impossible to breach with his current powers.

    Still, Hahrn was beginning to develop concrete resentment towards the youngster named Rein. He rolled his right shoulder to test Beincen¡¯s arm, which had been severed from its original body then connected to Rekcen¡¯s right shoulder. It still didn¡¯t feel right. And for some crazy reason, both Beincen and Rekcen demanded Rein¡¯s death as the price for complete possession.

    ¡°You had best lose your life against the demon beast wave, child,¡± Hahrn muttered as if Rein was standing in front of him. In the past, many of his foes would die in random disasters. That would certainly make his life easier.

    Hahrn was in no hurry to complete the possession of Rekcen¡¯s body. He only needed to do so before his re-ascension. He had much that needed to be done first. After all, his primary goal was to seek revenge against the one who had crippled his original powers, forcing him to hide in the Fusion Realm!

    ____________________________________________________

    Back in the Halls¡¯ labyrinth.

    Rein arrived in the tavern. The space within the tavern had magically expanded to accommodate most of the Halls¡¯ members.

    Rein took his place beside his depleting number of companions-- Wilo, Dahk, and Chirh. Wilo simply greeted him with a silent nod. Dahk grunted with his hand clenched around his spear. Chirh shivered with fear.

    ¡°Oi you!¡±

    Rein widened his eyes as he turned to find a grey-robed man chucking a holster towards him. Rein caught the holster and examined its contents-- three Spears of Heaven.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Rein looked up again and barely caught a bottle that carried a few pills. These pills would allow him the ability to temporarily guide these three Spears of Heaven from a distance.

    A fluctuating wave of spiritual pressure soon vibrated Rein¡¯s flesh and bones, causing his teeth to chatter as if it was freezing cold. A figure dressed in regal purple robes decorated with zigzagging jet-black lines appeared. These robes caused the Halls¡¯ members to split apart, creating space for the man. Rein recognized this man as Supreme Huhrz, who had easily dealt with the outer realm advancer that was on his heels when he escaped the ancient dwarven ruins.

    ¡°Many of you came here today, believing the fight to be against the demon beast wave. It is time that you be informed we aim to deal a blow on the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains instead!¡± Supreme Huhrz¡¯s words shocked the crowd into silence.

    ¡°Worry not,¡± Supreme Huhrz added. ¡°The Dingien Clan will arrange forces to defend the Xuere Gap. You only need to fight for your lives until the sun rises twenty degrees above the horizon. A signal for retreat will sound.¡±

    ¡°Supreme,¡± a man stepped forth, doubt upon his face. ¡°How are we to reach--¡±

    A snap of Huhrz¡¯s fingers and this man discovered that though his mouth moved, no voice came out.

    The labyrinth then rumbled, as its many walls and tunnels shifted under the hidden controller¡¯s hands. Once the rumbling settled, the door of the tavern was now attached to a never-seen-before tunnel of black marble stone.

    ¡°Go. The order is simple. Defend the dark dome. Those ranked top hundred in contributions will be given the necessary assistance, however many resources are necessary, to raise a minor realm in power. The ten with greatest contributions will be given assistance to raise one major realm in power! Others will still be rewarded as per the normal distribution system.¡±

    These words set the crowd¡¯s eyes aflame. For many of the inner advancers present, already close to the shell realm, performing well during this mission guarantees their advancement! As for the longstanding Halls¡¯ members, such a guarantee of resources was rare!

    However, none could enter the portal yet, for a procession of silver-plated and white-robed guards was to lead the way. Rein recalled that these are advancers who had reached the limit of their talents, and thus chose to have their powers forcibly raised, the price being that they would make no further advancement in the future.

    Rein was perplexed to find these guards carrying the ancient relic chest that the Halls had retrieved from the west, towards the portal. He could clearly remember that when he had first joined the Halls, a member of the Halls that controlled an army of puppets had retrieved this chest from the Western Wilderness. It was also because of this ancient relic that Rein had discovered Gent¡¯s knowledge of ancient language within his own mind.

    The procession of the Halls¡¯ members followed into the black marble stone tunnel, and at the end of this short tunnel was a spherical spatial portal. A grey-robed woman stood beside this portal, and as each Halls¡¯ member approached, she handed out two small dark beads.

    All advancers knew what these were for-- to protect the body against the chaotic energy of a spatial tunnel.

    Rein similarly crushed one of his two dark beads, and his body was wrapped in a protective purplish-black layer.

    He entered the portal, and for a breath of time, his surroundings transformed into a ring of blinding light. Then, he found his feet on warmly-lit dirt ground dotted with jade gemstones!

    Rein was naturally astonished.

    ¡°Quickly! Or you¡¯ll be squashed by the others!¡± These words of a grey-robed Halls member on this side of the portal awakened Rein from his stupor. He hurried forward, just in time to avoid a figure spinning out of the portal, landing on his previous spot.

    Rein continued moving forwards and held the Soak Staff in his hands, with the three Spears of Heaven strapped to his back. Every Halls member had already unsheathed their preferred weapons.

    As he did so, he examined his surroundings. They were in a tunnel of a jade mine! Metallic orbs, submerged in the walls of the wide, well-excavated tunnel, emitted a warm glow, illuminating the orange-brown dirt that hid glimpses of jade specks within.

    Rein himself was baffled. He wasn¡¯t sure as to the exact position of this jade mine, but seeing as this was an attack on the Great Sects, it should be somewhere in the Evergreen Mountains. It simply felt like a bad idea to jump into something of an underground trap. However, the Halls soon demonstrated that they had thought this through.

    A number of bulky grey-robed Halls members soon spun out of the portal, and they carried uncountable spatial pouches at their waist.

    They began to withdraw many stone beams and blocks with detailed powerful inscriptions from these spatial pouches, taking deep breaths as they began to set up stone arches to support this tunnel. These inscriptions were unrecognizable to Rein, proof of their high-realmed power.

    Rein followed the others. They ignored quite a few other pathways to reach a large open underground zone that had many minecarts and tracks. Many paths connecting to this area descended steeply into the darkness.

    A number of corpses in rags with pools of blood decorated the ground. These miners, probably here to excavate jade as punishment under the Great Sects, had already been slain immediately by the earliest-to-arrive Halls¡¯ members, to prevent news being leaked.

    Meanwhile, behind Rein, the bulky grey-robed figures continued to construct their archways to reinforce the tunnel from the large underground base to the portal. Their movements were smooth, precise and quick.

    The chest that is the ancient relic was placed in the center of the underground base. The five Supremes of the Halls stood in a circle around it, and they each stabbed a heavily inscribed pillar into the ground, forming a star around the ancient relic.

    The five began to chant as they repeatedly slammed their palms against those inscribed pillars, then the ancient relic.

    At the same time, the silver-clad white-robed guards placed various stakes and blocks of stones, as well as various magical items that Rein could not recognize over the ground. These magical items surrounded those five pillars in a distinct pattern.

    Though Rein failed to recognize many of these magical items, he could tell that a defensive formation was being set up.

    Some of those guards also now flew about, assisting the bulky grey-robed figures to reinforce the wide underground area that functioned as a mining base for the Great Sects. This was to ensure that the cavern would not collapse onto the centered ancient relic and defensive formation.

    An ancient shrieking filled Rein¡¯s ears as the ancient relic chest lid opened, dark wisps spilling out. These dark wisps were attracted by the five pillars like bees to honey, and followed the five pillars to swirl downwards, poison injecting into the underground.

    Soon, the formation was complete as a dome of concentrated dark aurae cloud obscured the ancient relic and the five pillars from external sight.

    A sudden boom resounded through the underground mining cavern.

    ¡°By Xune¡¯s spear,¡± Supreme Jensure muttered. ¡°How did they detect us so quickly?¡± It needed to be said that their extensive preparations were lightning quick, only taking the time of a hungry pig consuming a meal.

    ¡°Do not look down on the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains,¡± Supreme Huhrz monotonously replied, causing Jensure to snort in dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Members of the Halls,¡± Huhrz floated above the dark cloudy defensive formation. ¡°Hear my words. The Great Sects will attempt to drill tunnels to reach us. They will attempt to collapse tunnels to kill us. Worry not for the escape route, for it is reinforced with upper realm inscriptions, and the great Overseer Jeahz guards that path.¡±

    ¡°That should be enough information for you to battle our foes appropriately. If you fail to heed and make use of such information to your own advantage, then that can only mean your path is at an end!¡±

    A female initiate who stuck her head into some random tunnel quickly retracted her neck and backed away. She was just in time as another resounding boom caused that tunnel to collapse.

    ¡°Remember. Your contribution today may very well determine your future!¡±

    All present understood the task before them. As long as they lasted long enough for the magic of that ancient relic to take hold, and they killed enough foes, then their futures in the advancer world would be guaranteed!

 Ch104: The Allfathers Baby-faced Clone

    Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed above. The battle had caused dark spinning clouds to form, obscuring the originally clear blue sky that precipitated their conflict.

    Cory fell onto one knee, panting, blood spurting out of his left shoulder. The Xunian¡¯s left arm had been dissected from his body, and now lay limp on the scorched earth. Lightning aurae continued to arc over the surface of his body-- he had acquired this skill through harmonizing his body with the lightning energies that protects the Xunian¡¯s hidden realm. A sliver of its unique power.

    Around him was a completely leveled forest, trunks blackened to crisp, sprayed outward in a fallen formation around Cory¡¯s position, extending for many kilofeet in all directions.

    The baby-faced clone dispatched by the Allfather floated above Cory. Half of the baby-faced clone¡¯s body had been burnt to crisp as well. However, the baby-faced clone displayed no sign of pain or struggle. It was soon apparent as to why.

    A sort of magical film wrapped around the baby-faced clone¡¯s blackened half, and strangely, this magical film flickered and the baby-face clone of the Allfather regained full vigour and health in a flash! The skin of the ¡®reformed¡¯ body appeared as healthy as can be!

    Cory¡¯s fox ears twitched. For a whole week, he had battled this baby-faced existence day and night. No matter how he injured the baby-faced clone of the Allfather, it always only took a single instant for the baby-faced clone to recover.

    Cory, on the other hand, gradually weakened until one of the baby-faced nine martial weapons severed his left arm from his body.

    He felt no anguish, nor bitterness despite his dire straits. For he had accomplished his task. Their battle had shaken the firmament, razed hills, uprooted a zone of thousands of kilofeet. Their battle sent the aurae over the entire area into a chaotic frenzy. The remnant trace of that passageway into the Xunian¡¯s hidden realm? Under such conditions, it was surely untraceable!

    Still, Cory continued to battle to his last breath. He feared the Allfather¡¯s methods. The tricks that existed up the Allfather¡¯s sleeves.

    Cory knew that in truth, he was no opponent to the Allfather. The Allfather is the most powerful entity in existence. All knew this to be so.

    Luckily, the Fusion Realm is a middle realm, and the aurae within this realm is simply too sparse. That sparseness of aurae made it impossible for those above the telekinetic realm to employ their abilities-- if anything, those existences would feel suffocated in the Fusion Realm.

    As Cory is a peak telekinetic advancer, he was able to stand toe-to-toe against the Allfather¡¯s suppressed baby-faced clone for some time. Clearly, he had reached his limits. His eyes temporarily glazed over as he very nearly lost consciousness.

    The baby-faced clone sighed, gazing down at the fox-eared Xunian impassively. The Allfather understood Cory¡¯s goal early on. It mattered little to him that the fox-eared Xunian was hellbent on sacrificing his own life simply to extend the battle and send the surrounding aurae into a chaotic storm.

    The baby-faced clone suddenly looked upwards and his nine gold and silver weapons circled around his body.  His aura rose as he gathered his strength into the nine weapons orbiting his body.

    The nine weapons rotated in an increasing pace and rose above the baby-faced clone¡¯s head, and shockingling combined into a singular weapon. Its appearance flickered between the nine different forms, but was as one when the baby-faced clone grasped the weapon in hand.

    The combined ethereal form of the weapon suddenly enlarged by thousands of times, its tip breaking through the swirling dark clouds that had gathered due to Cory¡¯s abilities.

    The baby-faced clone flicked his wrist, and the slight movement of the colossal ethereal weapon in his hand dispersed the dark clouds in a single breath, reexposing the clear sky.

    The baby-faced clone then tilted his head specifically in one direction, and spoke at thin air.

    ¡°My children. When I stood in the background, you warred against one another, driven by your infantile urges and bottomless greed. Here I am, yet you all stand together behind a veil.¡±

    ¡°None of you chose to act,¡± the baby-faced clone snorted. ¡°For you fear losing ground against those that stand next to you. If I had not returned, you would still be at each other¡¯s throats. If I were to vanish, you would return to being at each other''s throats. Go home. You are all unworthy.¡±

    He then angled the colossal weapon and stabbed forth into empty space. A high-pitched cracking noise echoed through the region as the sky shattered like glass!

    ________________________________________________

    Far to the south in a long chain of islands off the coast, its form the shape of a gargantuan dragon¡¯s back, stood the Fusion Sect.

    On the highest peak of one of the dragonback mountainous tops stood a pavilion that welcomed many guests today.

    The pavilion was decorated with carvings of five figures on its pillars and walls. These figures are, of course, the five ancestors that created the Fusion Sect, combining their mastery of their individual element.

    Within the pavilion sat representatives from the lesser heavens of humanity, their seats spread apart but all surrounding a mirror in the center of the hall. All present figures gazed intently into this magical item.

    ¡°....are all unworthy.¡± After these words sounded through, a crack appeared on the mirror. That crack quickly spread and the mirror shattered into a thousand pieces.

    The faces of all present figures darkened at the Allfather¡¯s clone¡¯s words. It was obvious to all that the baby-faced existence was a clone sent forth to this realm, an extension of the Allfather.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± a man with sharp eyes, round nose, high cheeks and square beard growled. ¡°There are so many bloodlines that have existed since the ancient gods. To call us his children¡­¡±

    ¡°Now now¡­¡± a man wearing a metallic mask of an intimidating demonic face inlaid with rubies stepped in. ¡°Thousand Fist of hmmm¡­ whatever. Last I heard, your ancestor fell for one of the Allfather¡¯s daughters. So you are indeed a child of his.¡± His voice was snide and scornful.

    ¡°And last I checked,¡± the Thousand Fists of Heavens scoffed, ¡°Your ancestor was raped by one of the Allfather¡¯s sons, and back in those days, her father was instead overjoyed by the incident. Say¡­ is my fist¡¯s imprint still upon your face beneath that metal mask?¡±

    The demonic face on the metal mask lit up in fury accompanied by an explosive aura filled with bloodthirst.

    Those who advance to become influential existences usually abandon their name and adopt certain titles. These titles represent an advancer¡¯s prestige, and their capabilities.

    Before their ¡®little¡¯ meeting descended into chaos due to these two, a soothing melody of a zither sounded through the pavilion.

    ¡°Calm yourselves, fools,¡± a soft and gentle voice eased the souls of all present, temporarily dispelling all negative emotions.  ¡°The Allfather is not wrong. Your two heavens would certainly be most interested in destroying one another if the opportunity presented itself.¡±

    All heads turned to gaze at a veiled beauty whose every movement was filled with grace, a slender body that seemed to float and dance in motion. The lady¡¯s glossy dark brown hair was elegantly arranged atop of her head in a wondrous nest. The Songstress of the Moon, so most called her.

    ¡°And you,¡± the metallic masked man spat as his will overcame the effect of the zither. ¡°Moon turtle. Your spineless ancestor simply ran off like a dog with its tail between its legs, secluding herself in some far-flung realm to sing in emptiness¡­¡±

    At this point, the metallic masked man noticed quite a number of eyes belonging to some men glaring at his outburst.

    ¡°Hmph. The lot of you only think with your cock. Pathetic,¡± he spat as he sat back down on his seat.

    An old man sighed as he stood up. Though he appeared ancient, his back was still straight and strong. His long white hair was tied into a bob, secured with an ornamental crown. His robes consisted of five colors-- fire, metal, water, wood and earth.

    This is the Fusion Sect ancestor. He obviously was not at the level of these representatives from humanity¡¯s lesser heavens. Out of the thirty-six heavens in existence, sixteen of them belong to humanity in this day and age. The remaining twenty are split between the demon beasts, the spectres, plant demons, insect demons, and the ¡®God race¡¯--supposed questionable descendents of the fallen gods.

    The Fusion Sect ancestor¡¯s thoughts lingered briefly on the existence of the ¡®God race¡¯.  Though they call themselves descendents of the fallen gods, they clearly lacked power. If they truly carried the strength of the fallen gods, there would not have been an Age of Demons after the fall of the ancient gods.

    ¡°Forgive this lowly one for his words, but as host of this humble place, I must bid you all take your negotiations elsewhere,¡± the Fusion Sect ancestor bowed deep after saying these words to the fifteen lesser heavens¡¯ representatives. The so-called sixteenth human-controlled heaven is, of course, the Allfather¡¯s greater heaven.

    ¡°For the Allfather to make an appearance, a storm must be brewing,¡± the Fusion Sect ancestor continued, cold sweat running down his temples and back. ¡°My Fusion Sect naturally serves the Grand Uni Heavens. Nonetheless, my pitiful survival will rely on our combined cooperation in the coming storm.¡±

    The Fusion Sect ancestor knew that it was not his place to speak in this gathering of sorts, but he could sense the tension rising. Even with the limitation imposed by the Fusion Realm¡¯s lack of aurae density, these figures would flatten the Fusion Sect in a heartbeat if a conflict broke out amongst them.

    As such, the Fusion Sect ancestor even considered employing the Fusion Realm Heart that had long fallen into the Fusion Sect¡¯s hands. The Fusion Realm Heart carries the semi-sentient will of the realm. It is by no means conscious, but the so-called Realm Hearts have limited but unique qualities.

    One such ability? It would automatically react to block the potential entry of threatening elements, such as devilish beings from the twelve hells.

    If these representatives of the fifteen lesser heavens fail to restrain themselves, the Realm Heart should at least be able to expel them before any large-scale damage was delivered to the lands. The Fusion Sect ancestor¡¯s heart clenched as he considered communing with the realm heart to communicate this potential danger.

    There was an awkward silence for a few breaths, as dagger eyes stabbed into the Fusion Sect ancestor¡¯s body. Luckily, the representative from the Grand Uni Heaven chose to interfere and  back his words.

    ¡°Little Pitsh speaks true.¡±

    All heads turned to look at a gorgeous woman with an almost exaggerated voluptuous body. Her straight black hair was secured in a swirl behind her head with a long needle. She wore a robe of glossy black with white and crimson seams. She brought a pipe to her luscious red lips, her bright eyes wrapped by thick curled lashes confidently meeting the eyes of every single man and woman in the Pavilion.

    ¡®Little Pitsh¡¯ inwardly groaned. He might have the appearance of a wizened old man, but that was due to his failed attempts to rise above the telekinetic realm. He is, in fact, much younger than this woman, who he had called Madam Dancing Dust as a child. As for the nickname? When he was a child, he had a bad habit of eating pistachios no matter where he went. Eventually, he became fully known as Pitsh.

    Madam Dancing Dust exhaled through her smoking pipe, sending mostly translucent multi-colored particle clouds swirling into the air.

    ¡°It is a waste of time for us to attempt any form of negotiation here. Some of us have lifetime grudges.¡± She pursed her lips as she paused to pointedly glance at the man known as the Thousand Fists of Heaven and the metallic masked man. ¡°Hmm. How about each of us individually come to an agreement with those that we get along with? As long as a loose chain of cooperation is formed, that may be enough.¡±

    Silence filled the pavilion as the representatives of the lesser heavens glanced at one another. Eventually, each of them hooked their two hands and bowed. They each cracked a totem that created a protective dark aurae cloud around their body, before vanishing with a body flicker.

    As they left one by one, Pitsh breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Thank you, Madam Dancing Dust,¡± he said as he bowed.

    ¡°Am I not your grand aunt?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ yes, grand aunt.¡± Pitsh recalled that this ¡®grand aunt¡¯ of his always enjoyed tormenting him, creating situations where he would feel a combination of awkwardness, distress and embarrassment.

    ¡°Well, ¡®Little Pitsh¡¯,¡± Madam Dancing Dust stood as she, too, intended to leave this suffocating realm. ¡°Be careful. You still have a chance with those few hundred years left to you. Your predecessor failed to prevent the Halls from overtaking the Zoh Empire. You have already allowed the Halls to form a branch in the Minhr Nation. It was only through luck that the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains now operate mostly under our control. Do not allow the Halls or the other lesser heavens to establish or further increase their influence here.¡±

    ¡°Remember. Overuse of force and interference will breed resentment. That resentment can be taken advantage of by other heavens. Your hand has, however, been too loose. Tighten your grip, little nephew. And if you can contribute a few good seeds in this era, you will be rewarded.¡±

    Her swaying voluptuous body was wrapped in a dark aurae cloud before her form flickered as she, too, vanished.

    _______________________________________________________

    With the observing mirror shattered, the Allfather¡¯s baby-faced clone turned his eyes back down towards Cory, who had keeled over onto his side, face pale . The fox-eared Xunian was completely spent, his aurae drained. He was at death¡¯s door.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    As a telekinetic advancer, Cory could, of course, attempt to repossess another body. Yet to him, that was pointless. Even if he somehow successfully slips through the baby-faced clone¡¯s hands, any new body he possesses will be much weaker. And the Allfather was certain to track him down in no time.

    He made peace with himself as a glint shone in his eyes. He quickly suppressed the determination in his eyes back into the depths of his soul.

    ¡°Do you truly believe the chaos of your limited skills enough to destroy all traces? Laughable!¡± The baby-faced clone sneered. He crossed his legs midair and brought his palms together. His nine weapons positioned themselves behind him in a fan, as a third eye opened on his forehead.

    The third eye poured a golden light into his surroundings, gathering to form a thick ring behind his back. The golden ring was originally slowly spinning clockwise. The baby-faced clone smacked his two palms together, and the golden ring¡¯s rotation slowed to a stop, before accelerating in the anti-clockwise direction.

    ¡°All aurae traces are a result of cause and effect. If there is an action, then it can be traced in reverse.¡±

    Cory¡¯s eyes widened in dismay as the world around him was filled with a shadowy ghostly aurae effect. This effect encompassed many kilofeet around. His battle against the baby-faced clone was repeated in reverse. This past form of his was displayed by a man-shaped clumped collection of aurae, and when ¡®he¡¯ collided with a tree-shaped aurae clump, there was a light shower and transference of aurae.

    This reverse image played out before Cory¡¯s eyes. Cory was naturally filled with fear. How far back can the baby-faced Allfather clone see by connecting cause and effect, following the transference of aurae?

    Their battle that lasted seven days and seven nights was rapidly played in reverse. Cory soon noticed that the density of aurae waned overtime, and the image gradually decreased in clarity. Yet that fall in clarity was slow, and Cory knew that the Allfather would soon see the location of the spatial tunnel, and the procession that received Suey and Rein.

    A corner of the baby-faced clone¡¯s lips curled up. He could see that Cory¡¯s nervousness had risen to a peak.

    Yet before his moment of triumph, a new unexpected clump of man-shaped aurae formed before his eyes. Its appearance was a semi-translucent man in greenish robes.

    ¡°And all races of the thousand realms have consciousness. If an action arose from a mind, then that action can be shattered by cognition.¡±

    This figure pressed his palms together and the clump of aurae that formed his shadowy form transformed into a whirling torrent that swarmed towards the baby-faced clone¡¯s head!

    ¡°Blasphemer Yirn!¡± The baby-faced clone was enraged as his body exuded a gold and silvery aurae cloud in defense. His eyes became crazed as the torrent of aurae struck forehead. His physical defenses were completely ineffective against the attack.

    The baby-faced clone grunted as blood leaked from his nose, ears and lips. The golden ring behind his back shattered, and the surrounding environment returned to normal, the shadowy reversing image of the past dispelled. All that remained was the originally blackened ground and destroyed forest.

    He then screamed as the torrent of aurae that attacked him transformed into many symbols and formed a seal that sunk into his forehead.

    Despite his mind having suffered an injury, and his third eye sealed, the baby-faced clone was not discouraged. Instead, a deranged expression appeared on his visage. With blood pouring from his orifices, the baby-faced clone flew to the slumped Cory, and he raised two fingers and stabbed it into the Xunian¡¯s forehead!

    Vexation filled the Allfather¡¯s clone¡¯s mind as he attacked Cory¡¯s mind-- if his true body could come here, he would not have suffered so!

    Cory¡¯s eyes filled with despair as a foreign will surged into his mind, searching for answers.

    To the baby-faced clone¡¯s perception, Cory¡¯s mind was like a maze. Every single thought was a tunnel that led to a revelation. Blood began to flow from Cory¡¯s eyes as he struggled despite being near-death. He focused his thoughts in a bid to force the baby-faced clone onto a wrong path.

    The baby-faced clone gathered all of his strength as he began to shatter the walls of the mind maze. An increasing volume of blood now flowed from Cory¡¯s orifices as a soul-burning pain filled his head.

    Finally, the baby-faced clone found an incredibly robust door in Cory¡¯s mind, and he grinned as he gathered the might of his soul to will it open.

    Cory was simply too weak to resist, and that robust door creaked then swung open.

    The baby-faced clone¡¯s initial smile was wiped off his face as his eyes widened. It was Cory¡¯s turn to adopt the deranged expression of a madman.

    ¡°A gift for your ¡®divine¡¯ self, Allfather.¡±

    Cory¡¯s head exploded as many black lightning bolts that seemed to swallow the very brightness in the world shot into the baby-faced clone¡¯s orifices. The process occurred in a blink of an eye, and the baby-faced clone simply had no time to avoid the attack, close as he was.

    ¡°GENT!¡± A hateful scream echoed in the vast wilderness as the baby-faced clone¡¯s whole body was burnt to crisp. A magical film wrapped around the body, and repeatedly flickered against the endless arcing black lightning.

    The baby-faced clone would regain some semblance of a man before being cauterized again. The process repeated itself a thousand times in a few breaths. Finally, the baby-faced clone crumbled into dust that was casted into the Western Wilderness by the breeze.

    _______________________________________________________

    The mining base overtaken by the Halls shook again as another booming force from the outside, above, struck down once again. Some loose soil fell upon Rein¡¯s head, but the reinforcing pillars and arches rapidly constructed stood strong, their inscriptions a soothing silver glow in the dimly-lit zone.

    ¡°Twelves hells!¡± A trembling Chirh suddenly exclaimed in fear. ¡°I forgot my defensive robes!¡±

    Rein spun his head to look next to him. Indeed, Chirh was not wearing the Halls¡¯ robes! Rein¡¯s attention had been drawn by the rapid flow of events, and as such, he did not notice that Chirh had foolishly succumbed to nerves and forgotten such an important survival item. At least, that was Rein¡¯s understanding of Chirh. He could only inwardly groan.

    Wilo simply shook her head a few times in disbelief as the mining base quaked and more loose soil fell from above.

    ¡°How are you still alive¡­?¡± Dahk only said these words to Chirh as he gripped his spear, eyes locked at the trembling ceiling.

    ¡°Ahhh! We¡¯re getting buried!¡± Supreme Huhrz hollered in a somewhat bored voice, a deadpan expression on his face. ¡°Help. Someone save us.¡±

    Many of the Halls¡¯ members were initially open-mouthed at a supposed Supreme delivering such a line at such a moment, while some felt bemused. However, a few with brains understood the task.

    ¡°Please, Shizr! Hang in there! We¡¯ll save you! Don¡¯t give up yet!¡± So exclaimed an unknown man on the other side of their circular defensive formation.

    ¡°Sister! Help me!¡± A lady squealed theatrically as the mining base shuddered once again, a thunderous bang reverberating down from above.

    Soon, the rest of the Halls¡¯ members understood the task and felt like idiots for not being the earliest to respond. They all began to scream and squeal as if suffering the wrath of the heavens.

    But, of course, the mining base was nowhere close to collapse. The erected supporting pillars and arches maintained a healthy inscribed glow despite the efforts of those outside to bury them.

    Meanwhile, outside stood a group of advancers dressed in the robes of the Uni Sect. The Uni Sect¡¯s sigil is a depiction of a whirlpool, with many lines spinning into a singular point. It illustrates their belief that all came from one, and one can become all.

    As for the man leading these advancers? It was none other than Bienze. His shoulder length hair that was a mix of every single shade from blonde to dark brown fluttered in the wind as he hovered in the sky, eyes narrowed downwards.

    He observed as a man under his command, with a gigantic hammer, swung repeatedly at the ground. Booming noise echoed against the tall mountain ranges repeatedly.

    ¡°Elder! I can hear their screams!¡± that muscular man joyously hollered.

    ¡°Continue.¡±

    As such, the enlarged shining brass-hued hammer with carved beastly forms continued to smite down against the ground, every strike sending soil and dust into the air. As for the vegetation-- those had long been cleared by the initial phase of their mining of the underground jade at this location many years ago.

    The hammering of the land continued for many breaths, many heartbeats, yet faint yells and screams could still be heard. Bienze frowned, feeling something to be off.

    He extended his divine sense into the soil in an attempt to surveil the situation. However, his divine sense soon met a barrier that seemed to devour wisps of his soul, and as such, he immediately withdrew his divine sense. The divine sense is effectively using the soul to telekinetically detect, spy and communicate. There are specific dangers related to its use.

    Bienze was sullen, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder why the Halls had employed such a powerful formation-- formations that can confuse the divine sense are usually considered to be of deity level, extremely costly to use in a middling realm such as the Fusion Realm. He could only rely on his other senses to assess the situation.

    Overtime, the faint yells began to decrease until no more noise returned despite the continued hammering.

    ¡°Elder. They must be buried!¡± the muscular man grinned as the gleaming hammer in his hand returned to its natural size. He stumbled slightly, his body glistening with sweat.

    ¡°Silence, Smuhz.¡± Bienze channeled his aurae into his ears. His mind attuned to the sound of nature, seeking any ¡®unnatural¡¯ beats.

    He heard nothing for a few heartbeats. Then a faint roaring sound rose. Bienze sighed-- he knew of the source of this roaring sound. He gazed into the distance, and his eyes tracked an airship speeding towards him.

    Frankly, Bienze was filled with gloom. It was almost guaranteed that he would rise beyond the telekinetic realm given his mastery of the transformative abilities of gods. As such, he was given access to much more knowledge and history. A deeper understanding of the Hall of Heroes and the Allfather, for example.

    If there was one thing Bienze knew, it was that the Halls rarely made mistakes. Bienze wondered why he even bothered relying on his senses to scout out the situation. His gut knew that It was certain that the Halls would not be simply buried.

    His eyes tracked the new arriving airships. The Pill Ignition Sect loves creating pills with explosive uses. Normally, alchemy is meant to enhance the body for a limited time, provide assistance in raising one¡¯s advancer powers, healing and poison. The Pill Ignition Sect, instead, was one that pursued a niche path-- to use pills as direct weapons.

    Well, Bienze could not deny their achievements-- out of all the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains, the Pill Ignition Sect was the second fastest to arrive, likely having burned an uncountable number of pills to accelerate here.

    ¡°They¡¯ve come?¡± A short and bald wrinkled old man with a round belly asked from atop the slowing airship. Beside him were many disciples with alchemical cauldrons and furnaces, furiously crafting the necessities for their craft.

    ¡°Grand Alchemist Meehr,¡± Bienze politely greeted the man. Talented alchemists always command respect. The Uni Sect may be seen as the leader, but that did not mean the Pill Ignition Sect could be ignored. The Pill Ignition Sect does continue to create ¡®normal¡¯ alchemical products. It was their immediate combat might that was lacking. Given time, their ignition-classed pills can be prepared to a devastating conclusion.

    ¡°They¡¯ve holed themselves in the first mining base,¡± Bienze gestured down at the flatten ground. ¡°We¡¯ve attempted to bury the lot but¡­ the Halls cannot be underestimated.¡±

    ¡°Have you¡­¡± Meehr asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Go ahead and try,¡± Bienze glared at the short and bald man, somewhat dissatisfied to be asked such a question.

    ¡°Hah! I apologize.¡± Meehr smacked his lips as he closed his eyes. Similar to Bienze, he came upon that barrier which absorbed slight traces of his divine sense.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Meehr racked his brains. ¡°Let¡¯s flush them out.¡± He, too, doubted the Halls could have been simply buried.

    He opened a pouch at his waist, and many sickly-yellow pills flew out. Bienze¡¯s underlings scurried out of the way in fear as Meehr clapped his hands, causing the many pills to shatter into powder before raining down into the soil.

    Underground, Rein himself began to feel lightheaded despite his strong constitution relative to his advancer realm. A man suddenly collapsed, bile spilling out of his mouth. Seeing this,  Supreme Yirmane withdrew dozens of glass bottles from her spatial ring rapidly. Each bottle was filled with some unique liquid and contraption, and Supreme Yirmane seemed to be observing each one closely.

    Eventually, she picked one and waved her arm. The sleeves of her robes sent a breeze within the mining base. The breeze had a faint and odd taste, but it was also soothing to the body. Rein felt his focus returned, and the man who was first to collapse struggled back to his feet, panting.

    ¡°Guihnes. Take command,¡± Huhrz said. He brought his palms together as a hundred dense aurae javelins began to form right below the ceiling of the base. A moon lit up in one eye, and the sun in the other. Huhrz swung his arm, and a black cape wrapped around his body. His form then faded into nothingness, but his aurae javelins remained, pointed upwards in preparation.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Supreme Guihnes grinned. His heart palpitated, excited for a show. Those heart palpitations were once of fear. He felt glad that they now stood on the same side.

    ¡°Ladies. No screams please.¡± Guihnes said in mock politeness as he held a formation disc in his hand. The two female Supremes, Yirmane and one that Rein did not recognize, snorted in derision at Guihnes words.

    Guihnes manipulated the formation disc, and wind aurae began to gather. The air began to spin in motion, lifting the robes of the many Halls¡¯ members'' robes. Most women pressed down their robes to protect their decency, though there were some that cared not, eyes fully focused upwards.

    Some men were distracted by the ¡®sights¡¯. Rein himself simply shrugged. Seeing undergarments meant little to him. Funnily enough, some women took the opportunity to peek under some of the mens¡¯ advancer robes.

    The rotating wind aurae created a weak suction force that drove a persistent air flow upwards. Though soil existed in the way, the poison that had leaked downwards was slowly carried upwards by the air formation!

    Back above, Bienze was growing frustrated. Finally, another Great Sect arrived-- One Formation Sect. Bienze was overjoyed by this development.

    There was no need for any communication as the One Formation got to work, setting up many inscribed stakes, pillars, gems and unique treasures in a circle over the whole zone.

    ¡°Back!¡± Bienze suddenly hollered. A member of One Formation Sect that had attempted to set up a pillar close to the flattened area suddenly keeled over as bile spilled from his mouth.

    The Great Sects¡¯ members present immediately took a few steps back as a yellow mist rose from the ground.

    Bienze sighed. A weakness of the Pill Ignition Sect exposed. Airborne poisons can often be ¡®returned¡¯.

    Grand Alchemist Meehr was red-faced as he withdrew a gourd that sucked in the sickly yellow poison. He withdrew a few vials, within which were liquid poisons. However, Meehr hesitated, unsure if the Halls might have also prepared a counter for this.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Bienze shook his head. ¡°Unless you have a newly created unknown poison, the Halls will have long prepared for it. Save it for the chaos of battle.¡±

    Grand Alchemist Meehr could only nod. Poison attacks are generally ineffective if the opponent is well prepared. Usually, it is effective against those unprepared, or against those already wounded and thus has weakened resistance against poisons.

    Next to arrive was the White Lily Sect, a Sect entirely composed of women. They arrived on a gargantuan spinning White Lily, dressed in their pure white robes.

    The remaining four Great Sects, the Convergence Sect, Sun Sword Sect, Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect were the last to arrive.

    This was of no surprise to Bienze. The Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect was the farthest, at the northern tip of the Evergreen Mountains. As for Convergence Sect and Sun Sword Sect? Those two were hungry for revenge against the Halls-- initially, they intended to cause trouble for the Halls during the invasion of the demon beast wave through the Xuere Gap. None expected the current events.

    The leading figures of the Great Sects gathered together as the members of One Formation Sect finished preparing the surrounding battlefield.

    They knew that flushing out the Halls would not be possible. Based on Bienze¡¯s assessment, the Halls had little interest in direct combat, and seemed to be biding their time.

    Thus, a plan was quickly arranged-- they simply needed to remove the soil over the mining base! Under such a condition, the Halls would be essentially trapped in a cylindrical hole, easily pelted with no small amount of advancer arts and firepower! Already, the Pill Ignition Sect¡¯s airships hovered in the air, cannons at the ready.

    The command was handed down, and a number of outer realm advancers from each sect stepped forth with indignation upon their faces. To form aurae hands with their outer powers simply to dig and excavate soil¡­ how humiliating was this? Yet it was the quickest way to uncover their enemies. And so, they dug, with hatred and humiliation in their hearts!

    Each sect had hundreds of disciples ready for combat, surrounding the flattened area with weapons drawn. These shell advancers kept their heads down, thanking the fallen gods that the current desperate situation led to the higher ups ordering the outer advancers to complete such a distasteful task.

    As for the power distribution, most are shell advancers, while each sect had one to three outer advancers. Each sect had also sent one telekinetic advancer.

    By these numbers, one might assume that the Halls would not hold out for long. Bienze knew this to be untrue. The Halls¡¯ silver guards were capable of unique cooperative powers that none had ever successfully replicated.

    Underground, Supreme Guihnes gazed upwards with his hand ready to manipulate the formation disc.

    ¡°You fools better stay within the defensive formation. Else you will fall into the Great Sects¡¯ formations and become mincemeat. The incompetent will be discarded,¡± Supreme Guihnes informed the Halls¡¯ members.

    Rein was filled with nervousness. It certainly did not feel good to be trapped in this¡­ constrictive space. If he was honest with himself, he very much preferred open ground, such that he could escape in any direction at any time.

    A stream of sunlight leaked into the mining base, and all knew that the true battle was at hand!

 Ch105: False Domain

    With much of the material dug up, the soil and rocks were no longer compact and thus remnant substance dropped down onto the Halls¡¯ disciples. That light layer was naturally of no threat to them.

    Bienze gestured with his hand, signalling to begin bombarding the dug-up hole that contained the halls¡¯ people.

    His hand finished its motion. The outer realm advancers belonging to the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains launched their aurae projections. Axes, swords, spears, shields and various weapon forms, all formed from compressed aurae, were sent forth. Many explosive pills, too, were launched into the hole.

    At the same time, the stone pillars and gemstones forming the many formations positioned around the hole lit up, generating magical projectiles of various elements, adding to the bombardment.

    The Halls were similarly ready. Rein himself had already consumed the pill that would give him the ability to temporarily connect to the ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ in his hand. He had received the knowledge to wield this weapon from Master Yirn. Others who had received the training also launched their unique spears into the air.

    Huhrz¡¯s hundred aurae javelins with glimmering opal hues shot high into the sky, while he remained unseen. The other four Supremes naturally launched aurae projectiles.

    The aurae projections of two sides clashed midair, sending vivid trails of colors arcing through the air in various directions.

    As the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains have more numbers, a swathe of aurae projections leaked through, striking down upon the dark dome centered around that ancient relic chest. The formation shook with strain, but successfully blocked and dissipated these remnant attacks. This was the briefest advantage for the Great Sects.

    The next moment, Rein¡¯s eyes were drawn to a familiar strange phenomenon-- something akin to glittering dust blinking enchantingly before slowly melding into the air. It was the same phenomenon as when Huhrz had slain the Convergence Sect elder, Jekcen, who was pursuing Rein after his escape from the Molten Stone Clan¡¯s ancient dwarven ruins!

    Strangely, it had no effect on him despite some of this aurae dust landing on his body. Rein returned his focus to controlling the flight of his ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. He directed it towards a clump of advancers carrying large cauldrons for weapons.

    The segments and layers of the spear rotated against one another as aurae flowed through its internal channels. A layer of the spear broke into a thousand bits, and those bits were sent into this clump of advancer, before exploding in a combination of elemental bombs!

    Through his connection with the spear, Rein briefly assessed the effect, and was shocked to discover that many of these cauldron-wielding advancers remained alive and healthy. Many had heavily dented cauldrons, which protected their body. They remained largely unharmed!

    Other ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ wielders who had targeted the Pill Ignition Sect¡¯s advancers faced similar results-- their large cauldrons acted as sturdy shields!

    The wielders who targeted the other Great Sect¡¯s disciples had much better results. As such, Rein redirected the flight of his spear towards the other sect¡¯s disciples. His spear still carries a few layers of attacks to release, and kills meant better rewards for raising his strength.

    Bienze hovered high in the air, assessing the whole battlefield. In the Great Sects, he is the only advancer in the telekinetic realm that is not a current sect master or a retired ancestor in the shadows.

    The current situation appeared equal-- the Great Sects¡¯ numbers led to pressure upon the Halls formation through their advantage in aurae projections. Unfortunately, the Halls¡¯ unique spears are testing the defenses of the Great Sects. The secrets of manufacturing those  ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ remain out of reach for the lesser heavens.

    Through the chaos, Bienze noticed the glittering prismatic dust released from a number of aurae javelins. He sensed the phenomenon to be off, immediately wrapped himself in an aurae shell, arranging it to boost his speed. His body flashed, then reappeared a thousand feet from the shower of glittering aurae ¡®dust¡¯. His heart palpitated in fear.

    ¡°Leave!¡± He ordered, using his divine sense to contact his allies, opting to communicate directly with the soul.

    Though he had reacted quick enough, his allies simply were not as sharp as him, and his words arrived a heartbeat too late.

    Supreme Huhrz, his regal purple robe lined with jet black lines exuding an ominous aura, appeared out of thin air with a spin as four gleaming silvery javelins were hurled from the sleeves of his robes at the four closest Great Sect outer realm advancers.

    One would think that these outer realm advancers would easily avoid Huhrz¡¯s attack. Instead , all four seemed to have lost their faculties, limbs flailing as all four silvery javelins stabbed into four hearts! One managed to form an aurae shell in time for defense, but these silvery javelins, too, are augmented by inscriptions that increased their penetrating power. That aurae shell was nothing but a thin piece of paper.

    Their bodies turned deathly grey in the blink of an eye as inscriptions on those silver javelins lit up-- it was clear that their bodily vitality was all but lost. The tides of the battle immediately shifted in the Halls¡¯ favor!

    Having heard Bienze¡¯s order, the others attempted to leave, only to discover their control over their limbs to be chaotic. It was already too late.

    Bienze was naturally filled with unease as Hurhz waved an arm, wrapped his body in a black cape and disappeared into the thin air again

    It is said that the Halls collect and take advantage of the rags of society, those desperate enough to join the Halls and be sent out on high risk missions. Yet those who survive and climb become monsters beyond understanding.

    Bienze no longer had confidence that their forces were enough. As a telekinetic advancer, he has the ability to communicate with the soul. And so he called for reinforcements-- the Sect Masters of the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ Great Sects!

    ¡°Remain within the formation,¡± Supreme Guihnes ordered, then manipulated his formation disc again. Staying within the formation did not affect Rein¡¯s temporary ranged control over his ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯.

    The dark dome protecting them began to spin, creating a tornado effect. The whirling force caused the surrounding soil, buried stone and jade lumps to rotate before being flung outwards.

    Initially, Rein thought that Supreme Guihnes was using this method to fling material at their enemy, but he soon realized that Supreme Guihnes was simply transforming the battlefield.

    They were originally stuck inside a mostly cylindrical hole. Now, they might still be at a slightly lower elevation, but the surroundings had transformed into a gentle upward slope. This provided them with significantly improved visibility of the battlefield. The entryway into their escape tunnel to the portal was naturally revealed as well. Not at all concerning unless the Great Sects successfully breach their defenses.

    Rein¡¯s ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ pursued a number of retreating pairs of man and demon beast, who were falling back towards a set of inscribed pillars. He felt his connection to the spear weapon being severed, and thus immediately triggered the self-destruction function.

    The spear flew a few more feet into the enemy¡¯s formation before shattering into a thousand elemental firework explosions. A few closer shell advancers fell to the ground with their body lacerated, but much of the explosive material was repelled by the inscribed pillars.

    Rein took note of all the surrounding pillars. To remain effective, he needed to control his remaining two ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ from flying too close to those defensive formations.

    As he prepared his second flying spear, Rein had the chance to once again observe Supreme Huhrz in action.

    Rein already knew that tempering the body is considered a sidepath, costly and of limited use at the higher realm. Yet, he had never truly seen what that meant. Today, he saw with his own eyes as to why that is.

    As this was his second time seeing Supreme Huhrz in action, he already knew of the odd phenomenon that is Huhrz¡¯s glittering dust from his shattered aurae javelins. Naturally, he quickly noticed that similar to what had happened to Jekcen, all these outer realm advancers belonging to the Great Sects seem to have lost their control over their bodies.

    More and more opal-like aurae javelins shattered midair at an increasingly greater distance from the Halls¡¯ dark defensive dome, spreading the glittering aurae dust.

    As such, whenever Huhrz appeared, his thrown silver javelins were almost guaranteed to pierce his enemy¡¯s hearts! Those silver javelins were also engraved with some inscription that lit up to increase penetration. Another set of inscriptions would light up to ¡®drain¡¯ those pitiful outer realm advancers¡¯ bodies, rapidly turning their skin grey unto their death! Another three outer advancers lost their lives, unable to even resist.

    An advancer who dedicates too much of his life to tempering the body would never be able to achieve this degree of devastating effect on the battlefield. Rein naturally understood he should not rely on his physical body in the future.

    Again, Huhrz wrapped himself in a black cloak as he disappeared. A moment later, he appeared near another three outer realm advancers who seemed rooted and immobile, limbs flailing without control.

    Again, silver javelins were hurled from the darkness within his sleeves, and another three greying bodies that seemingly had their life force sucked out dropped to the cold ground.

    Rein suddenly felt a sharp hateful gaze burning his soul, and he swiveled his head, eyes locking onto a woman carrying a lute, her black hair tied to one side, curled around her neck. Her robes carried the sigil of Convergence Sect. Rein gulped, for that woman was floating in the air, meaning she should be at least an outer realm advancer, likely a mother of some Convergence Sect member he had slain under the Halls¡¯ watcher¡¯s behest.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Luckily, that woman¡¯s gaze soon turned to the four Supremes who had yet to take any action. Then her eyes squinted as she attempted to locate the hidden Huhrz. A pointless attempt.

    She dared not attack Rein and expose herself to retaliation. Ten outer realm advancer had already been quickly slain by Huhrz. They never even had the chance to retaliate, having lost control of their bodies due to Huhrz''s unfathomable glitter dust effect.

    Bienze himself was torn, wishing to interfere yet fearing that which he could not fully understand or counter. His mind suspected that it was some creative application of an obscure unknown origin ability, containing some sort of absolute effect. He dared not put himself at risk. The Sect Master should be rushing here full speed! He had already warned the others to maintain distance.

    Of the outer realm advancers that came, only five remained, with Bienze the sole telekinetic advancer. Three cowered within a set of formation pillars, having chosen to hide under their protection since the start of battle. The black-haired woman who initially wished to attack Rein now positioned herself at a distance, such that she could escape at any time. As for the fifth outer advancer¡­

    ¡°Advancer Bienze. Help!¡± Grand Alchemist Meehr yelped as Huhrz appeared before him, a silver javelin shooting forth. Bieze was simply too far to provide any assistance. Grand Alchemist Meehr knew of his own weakness, and thus had long mastered an automatic protective art amongst other measures.

    Three large shining violet cauldrons suddenly appeared, revolving around his body without even needing his control or command. The silver javelin pierced through one side of a cauldron and came to a stop.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Huhrz sneered as he vanished into thin air once again with the flick of a black cape.

    Grand Alchemist Meehr amazingly began to slowly regain control of his limbs, enough to shakily open a spatial pouch and use his mind to withdraw a bottle of pills. Aurae tendrils from his body, gathered the pills within and sent them past his lips. Meehr swallowed with no hesitation, and his originally brownish skin gained a dark luster.

    Meanwhile, Huhrz¡¯s form appeared beside the Convergence Sect black-haired woman and ten aurae javelins darted towards her.

    Her eyes widened. She strove to affect any close-ranged contact with these aurae javelins, and instead glided backwards while strumming her lute. A small spherical zone of vibrating air appeared before her and shattered one approaching aurae javelin. She glided towards another direction again, expertly manipulating the path of the aurae javelins through her own body¡¯s movement while creating vibrating air pockets to destroy the aurae javelins.

    She constantly backed away, avoiding being showered by the glittering sparkles that followed the destruction of each aurae javelin. By the time all ten aurae javelins that chased after her were destroyed, she became no more than a single tiny black dot in Rein¡¯s eyes.

    Huhrz¡¯s form vanished again, and the Convergence Sect woman strummed her lute creating many vibrating air pockets around her body, hoping to catch Hurhz¡¯s hidden form.

    Huhrz had long left the zone, for he reappeared beside Grand Alchemist Meehr. Five silver javelins from multiple directions jabbed towards Grand Alchemist Meehr. The three defensive cauldrons failed to defend against all five javelins, and two successfully jabbed their tips into his body.

    Meehr gave an almighty roar and those two silver javelins bounced off his dark luster skin with a ringing noise that caused all those below the outer realm to clutch at their ears in pain.

    ¡°His advancer art messes with the balance within your body! As long as you can realign your bodily elements and attain balance with flesh, bone, muscle, tendons, organs and blood, you will be able to move again!¡± Meehr yelled.

    Huhrz form reappeared above the Halls¡¯ dark defensive dome, and he nonchalantly shrugged, his regal purple robes flowing in the breeze.

    ¡°Well. I suppose tricks have their limits,¡± he sighed. ¡°Silver guards. Attack. Halls¡¯ disciples. Be ready to flood the shattered pillars with projectiles. All Supremes are to prevent the remaining outer and telekinetic realm advancers from interfering.¡±

    Two teams of silver guards marched up the transformed surrounding gentle slope, their mysterious aurae growing. Each team consisted of twelve silver guards. They each entered into formation, the inscriptions upon their silver armors lighting up as they unsheathed their silver swords.

    Their formation shifted through various forms. From an arrow initially to a hexagon, then two opposite rotating six-sided stars. Rein could feel a dangerous rising aura from the two teams of twelve silver guards.

    If Rein could sense it, then so too, could the Great Sects.

    ¡°Take the initiative!¡± Grand Alchemist Meehr hollered. He currently could not fully comprehend as to why Bienze had only observed and not taken any action.

    The Great Sects¡¯ advancers hiding in the formations set up by One Formation Sect began lopping physical projectiles such as arrows, throwing daggers, explosive pills, at the approaching silver guards, but those projectiles were grinded into dust by the whirling aura generated by the silver guards¡¯ formation march.

    ¡°Demon Taming Sect!¡± Meehr chose to target the most disreputable sect of the alliance. ¡°Lest you wish to be treated as traitors, take the initiative! Stop cowering underneath the protective formation!¡±

    The disciples of the Demon Taming Sect were naturally cowed by Huhrz¡¯ display. Frankly, those of other sects also dared not step out of their protective formation. They had seen how those ¡®brave¡¯ outer advancers had died without control over their faculties.

    The Demon Taming Sect semi-complied, sending their attached demon beasts forth. A number of demon beasts charged out of the One Formation Sect¡¯s pillars, and once they lost the protection of their pillars, they tumbled across the ground, limbs flailing. This was, of course, a result of Supreme Huhrz¡¯s advancer art. Though unseen, his ¡®glitter dust¡¯ still lingers over the whole zone.

    Naturally, these flailing demon beasts¡¯ bodies were soon lacerated and filled with holes.

    ¡°We can only wait for the Sect Masters¡­¡± a downhearted Bienze softly whispered through his divine sense at Meehr. Meehr glared with venom at this absolutely useless telekinetic advancer, who is said to have even mastered shapeshifting, something which only gods could supposedly do. Supposedly, Bienze had even been described as incredibly ¡®gallant¡¯ while occupying a discovered dwarven ancient ruin.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that,¡± Bienze barked, dissatisfied by Meehr¡¯s reaction. ¡°In the advancer world, there are checks and balances. Take you for example! How many years did you spend studying the human body to understand its reaction to various pills and potions? The effect of combining various herbs? Do you think the rest of us could simply resolve the imbalance within our bodies created by this man¡¯s false domain?!¡±

    Bienze himself is considered a physically aligned combatant. His transformation into the powerful six-armed deva and his transformation into the invisible eel to launch sneak lightning attacks. If he fell into the so-called false domain created by Huhrz¡¯s shattered aurae, he, too, would become vulnerable.

    He would not necessarily become a pig for slaughter-- as a telekinetic advancer, he had gained some mastery over the soul. His six swords all carried a sliver of his soul within, allowing him to control their flight through the soul-- an unbreakable connection. Those six swords would remain unaffected by Huhrz¡¯s false domain. Unfortunately, his own body would greatly suffer.

    As for why outer realm advancers are unable to resist? Outer realm advancers control their weapons through aurae tendrils, which function as extra limbs. Thus, these aurae tendrils become uncontrollable under Huhrz¡¯s glitter dust.

    Anyhow, Bienze¡¯s words cleared Grand Alchemist Meehr¡¯s mind. Luckily, as an alchemist, he has much practice in calming his mind prior to crafting potions and pills, and thus when prompted, was able to cool his head.

    He took a deep breath, his expression dark. Indeed, if the shell advancers under them ventured out of the protective formations, they would lose control of their bodies. Those formations protect against a number of effects, such as the intrusion of aurae from the outside-- that is why they are able to block aurae-formed projectiles. It must be this effect that blocked Huhrz¡¯s¡­¡¯false doman¡¯, so Meehr assessed.

    ¡°False domain?¡± Meehr himself chose to back away as well, after realizing that Bienze was right in his judgment-- they could only wait for their Sect Masters¡¯ arrival.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Bienze sighed. ¡°When one climbs above the telekinetic realm, they enter the deity realm. Above that is the avatar realm. It is in the avatar realm that one develops a domain-- a zone that manipulates the laws of the world in the advancer¡¯s favor. Completion of the domain demonstrates that one has reached the domain realm¡­¡±

    ¡°A false domain is what they call zones that tilt the scales in an advancers¡¯ favor, without manipulating the laws in the fabric of the world,¡± Bienze explained.

    ¡°A monster¡­¡± Meehr finally understood why Bienze had reflexively ¡®excused¡¯ himself. He discovered that he could not fault Bienze. In fact, Huhrz¡¯s demolition of ten outer realm advancers had happened in three blinks of an eye.

    ¡°A monster that must be slain today,¡± Bienze growled. ¡°Else, our lesser heavens will be tortured for eternity should he rise any further!¡±

    As he said this, the rotating formation of energy formed by twelve silver guards collided with one of the Great Sect¡¯s defensive zones. The energies from the two formations grinded against one another for ten heartbeats. The inscriptions on the defensive pillars flickered weakly, strenuously holding on.

    ¡°S¡­ss¡­support the pillars!¡± A disciple, eyes filled with fear stuttered as he rushed beside the pillar and began pouring his own aurae recklessly into the pillar, hoping to support the formation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t! You fool!¡± A disciple of One Formation Sect yelled. ¡°You¡¯ll disrupt the balance of the--¡±

    The pillar immediately cracked then shattered, exposing the Great Sect¡¯s advancers. What followed was a rain of projectiles, whether it be needles, javelins, spears, daggers, arrows, fired from the Halls¡¯ disciples within the dark dome.

    With that pillar destroyed, these Great Sect¡¯s shell advancers discovered that they could no longer control their bodies, and thus could only strengthen their aurae shell defenses. They were soon struck directly and repeatedly by multiple waves of projectiles, and without control over their bodies, rapidly lost their lives.

    Rein himself had simply guided his second ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ through the immobile crowd, easily piercing through the hearts of each body due to the weapon¡¯s expert make. It was a slaughter. He honestly wondered if he would even be rewarded for his well¡­ he almost felt as if it was ¡®unearned¡¯ kills. The credit belonged to Huhrz¡¯s false domain, which disrupted enemies but not allies.

    ¡°To watch as your disciples and allies are slaughtered¡­¡± Grand Alchemist Meehr¡¯s knuckles were white. ¡°Those damn silver guards!¡±

    Another ¡®tool¡¯ that the lesser heavens could not replicate. The silver guards are advancers who recognized the inability to rise in strength, opting to receive artificial augmentation and dedicate the rest of their lives to the Halls.

    It was this artificial augmentation that aligned the nature of the aurae. It is because of this ¡®matching¡¯ aurae that the silver guards could cooperate in such unity and generate such a powerful in-sync human formation. That, combined with arduous training.

    Unfortunately, the lesser heavens that used those exiles of the Minhr Nation to develop some influence through the Evergreen Mountains, simply never gathered enough of such self-sacrificing disciples in the weaker, middling realms.

    The Halls¡¯ willingness to give the rags and unpromising figures of the mortal world a chance gave them access to the most devoted of minds. And of course, the Allfather¡¯s enticing aura. An aura that most lesser heavens see as a sort of mind-trick that they could never concretely prove to have enchanted any minds.

    ¡°Surely, you must be betting on something. Someone. A unique treasure?¡± Meehr probed, hopeful that the battle wasn¡¯t lost.

    ¡°I believe my Sect Master has the means to deal with this false domain. Compared to him¡­ I am nothing.¡± Bienze answered.

    Meanwhile, Supreme Huhrz¡¯s eyes repeatedly roamed across the skies.

    ¡°Are they coming?¡± Jensure, in his shining armor and billowing half-cape asked.

    ¡°They must be,¡± Huhrz answered. ¡°The Uni Sect Master will no doubt be able to disrupt my false domain. From now on, the difficulty will increase.¡±

    ¡°I would not have bothered coming otherwise,¡± Jensure replied as he steadied his breathing, gradually sharpening his wits and senses.

    ¡°The Allfather expects us to go toe-to-toe against higher realmed advancers. Do not disappoint him. Only through success will we be awarded a place in his world.¡±

 Ch106: Unique Strengths

    Supreme Huhrz kept his eyes on Bienze. He had hoped that Bienze would recklessly enter the fray himself. Unfortunately, Bienze opted to simply watch at a distance.

    The sound of the shattering stone was followed by many screams as a second circular region was exposed. A second major stone pillar set up by One Formation Sect had been destroyed by the silver guards. More beehived corpses soon littered the ground.

    The third followed, then the fourth. The Great Sects¡¯ shell advancers soon became smarter, and escaped any formation targeted by the silver guards prior to their destruction. The silver guards did not switch targets in response. Their goal was to remove as many of these pesky surrounding formations as possible.

    Some of the Great Sects¡¯ shell advancers attempted to attack and disrupt the silver guards. The silver guards simply glared at a chosen target in sync, and said target became melted flesh under an intense heat.

    When Rein saw this, he recalled how he had briefly felt an intense burn when he was observed by silver guards during his entry into the Halls.

    Some of the Great Sects¡¯ shell advancers, desperate, wrapped themselves in aurae shells of various forms. One¡¯s aurae shell reformed into that of a tortoise. However, the formation of the silver guards shredded both his protective shell and flesh to pieces.

    A few raised their swords in unison in an attempt to launch a combined attack. Unlike the silver guards, they were not modified to share the same ¡®in-sync¡¯ aurae quality. Thus, their combined sword simply shattered against the silver guards¡¯ formation power.

    Eventually, the remaining Great Sects¡¯ shell advancers huddled around the last remaining pillar placed by One Formation Sect. All of One Formation Sect¡¯s disciples that came today had long gathered around this pillar-- they had long positioned themselves here such that they could cooperate to ensure that at least one pillar would endure. They did not bother informing the others, hoping to avoid drawing attention to their actions. Doubtless, this would create tension between the One Formation Sect and some of the other Great Sects in the future.

    The original two squads of twelve silver guards combined into one formation of twenty four bodies. They waved their silver swords in unison, and the combined aurae gathered in front of the formation to repeatedly slash at the last remaining pillar of the Great Sects.

    One Formation Sect disciples¡¯ robes glowed as they channeled their strength into supporting this last pillar. The two formations were perfectly in balance, neither side able to gain any advantage.

    ¡°Halls¡¯ soldiers. Prepare your projectiles,¡± Supreme Guihnes gestured with an arm.

    Rein himself chose to not prepare his third ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯. That was his last one, and he knew he needed to save this last unique armament. Wilo, standing next to him, shot forth a number of her unique wooden poison needles, while Chirh simply gathered aurae into one arm to boost his throwing distance, before launching a number of basic elemental bombs.

    These projectiles did not strike their target, for three flying swords flashed into existence and began deftly blocking all these projectiles with masterful shifts and strokes.

    ¡°They¡¯re here,¡± Huhrz uttered to the other four supremes.

    ¡°Hm.¡± Jensure rose into the air, his eyes like an eagle as he concentrated his senses. The inscriptions on his shining armor lit up as his body was suffused by a cloud of golden aurae.

    ¡°Remember. It will be our complete victory as long as we hold out for a thousand heartbeats. The sun will soon rise above the peaks,¡± Huhrz reminded the others. His lips curled-- a sly smile. The truth is, they have already won. The Great Sects¡¯ leaders had reacted much too slow to their surprising incursion. Not to mention, the many outer realm advancers that had easily fallen to his javelins in the early moments of their battle.

    Jensure opened his mouth, and on his tongue was an exquisite tattoo of a greatsword. That ¡®tattoo¡¯ flew off his tongue and into his hand, enlarging into a resplendent greatsword, its hilt inlaid with various gems thick with aurae within.

    ¡°Hah!¡± Jensure yelled as that greatsword increased in size until it was a hundred feet tall. He then slashed the greatsword, with every swing crackling the very air.

    A grunt sounded as a form of a man materialized in the air, having been thrown backward by the pressure of a blade swing.

    This man¡¯s appearance could only be described as perfect and immaculate. He appeared to be a man in his very prime, his skin a healthy glow, and slight pink on his cheeks and rounded chin. His eyes seemed innocent, but all who had fought against this man soon learned that behind it must lay a calculative mind. His shoulder-length hair tied into a ponytail was also incredibly¡­ one might even say, artificial, for it flowed smoothly no matter how he moved in the air. And though he had been struck, even his ¡®thrown backward¡¯ was an elegant drift in the wind.

    ¡°Sect Master Fienze,¡± Huhrz smiled. ¡°Welcome!¡± On Fienze¡¯s robes was the sigil of the Uni Sect.

    Fienze did not deign to reply, immediately gliding up high into the sky, his form blocking the sun, creating the image of some sort of descended divinity.

    ¡°All sect leaders be aware,¡± his calming voice sang in a comforting deep tone. ¡°Jensure¡¯s physical attacks are capable of pressuring your soul and mind. As for Huhrz¡¯s false domain-- prevent their approach and I will have it thoroughly snuffed out.¡±

    ¡°Return to balance!¡± He pushed his palm down and a thick stream of aurae spewed forth over the whole zone. The air flickered as if a thin film was being melted away.

    ¡°Leave this to me.¡± An elderly woman with sunken eyes, long white brows and lashes and a narrow nose appeared in front of Fienze. Her greying hair was simply tied with a black braid at its very end behind her back.

    With a flick of her sleeves, many gems and totems were thrown into her surrounding air, and these items began forming a spherical formation around her and Sect Master Fienze. Not needing to defend himself, Fienze could now focus on countering Huhrz¡¯s false domain as well as launching ranged attacks through his telekinetically-controlled swords.

    Five swords, each gleaming with a different elemental affinity shot forth, rotating in perfect balance and formation flight. Those who had seen Bienze in combat immediately saw some similarities. It was quite obvious that Bienze¡¯s talent in this art was higher-- Bienze could already control six different swords.  However, this Sect Master could contest Huhrz¡¯s false domain, whereas Bienze could not.

    Soon, another few other sect leaders arrived. One was a woman who¡¯s form could not even be clearly seen. She rode a white lily that drifted through the air, and a blinding white light cloaked her face and body. She hovered beside Fienze and greeted him with a simple tilt of her head.

    A man also arrived, his robes a mix of black and white circular patterns that were uneasy to the eyes-- the Convergence Sect Master. He wore a mask with concentric circles

    ¡°So!¡± He boomed, voice full of mockery as he examined the bloody battlefield, full of mostly corpses of the Great Sects¡¯ disciples. ¡°This is the result of your stewardship, Fienze.¡±

    After all, having been embarrassed at the Halls¡¯ meet, the Convergence Sect could only take a step backwards. Many of their resources and territories in the Evergreen Mountains had been taken.

    To be accurate, it was Bienze who had failed to contain the Halls. However, he is a child of Fienze. Fienze remained completely unflappable. In fact, he even smiled, amused.

    ¡°Gustkr. If you wish to demonstrate your capability, I can step aside.¡± His voice was mellow. ¡°I am certain that the Halls will be happy to arrange a duel-- you against a Supreme of the Halls by yourself. And frankly, without the Uni Sect, none of you would even be aware of the Halls¡¯ presence here.¡±

    Gustkr, the Convergence Sect Master, floated silently in the air, fuming with lips thin. If he dared to participate in such a duel, yet end up losing his life¡­ He, of course, is aware that the Halls¡¯ Supremes rose to their position through trial by fire.

    The female outer-realmed advancer from Convergence Sect that had luckily avoided entering Huhrz¡¯s false domain, approached and whispered words into Gustkr¡¯s ear.

    Rein suddenly felt a pair of eyes lock onto him. Gustkr was not physically directly his gaze towards him, but Rein¡¯s instincts told him that Gustkr, through some unseen magical method, had locked onto him.

    ¡°We will remain on the side and observe the proceedings.¡± Gustkr snarled from behind his concentric circle mask. ¡°You seem to have everything well under control.¡±

    ¡°One can never make such a claim against the Halls,¡± Fienze replied, his tone as mellow as ever. ¡°Sit aside if you only wish to observe. Though if your hesitation is detrimental to our cause, your heavens might punish you and your line.¡±

    The Great Sects are those exiled by the Minhr Nation, then offered to lead a sort of ¡®outpost¡¯ by the lesser heavens in the Fusion Realm. In return for their loyalty, they receive all sorts of benefits. Of course, the lesser heavens, though often bickering with one another, always stood united when facing the Allfather¡¯s greater heaven.

    Gustkr¡¯s choice today could possibly lead to his disaster, but his eyes had been drawn to another goal-- one personally motivated.

    Rein, knew himself to be Gustkr¡¯s target. After all, he had, under the watcher of the Halls¡¯ orders, slain quite a few descendents of the supposed main family of the Convergence Sect.

    Then, the final six telekinetic ranked advancers arrived.

    A wizened old man, the master of the Pill Ignition Sect. This master arrived, perched on the edge of a greenish glowing furnace-- all could tell that this was the Pill Ignition Sect Master with his famous furnace of high lumite density. Then, a woman with glasses, of a sharp disposition with robes of One Formation Sect. These two stood beside Fienze in support.

    Another man in robes carrying the sigil of a sword surrounded by a sun arrived. This Sect Master of the Sun Sword Sect glanced at Fienze then at Gustkr, and frowned as he half-stepped in the air in hesitation.

    The cause for his hesitation was obvious to the members of the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ Great Sects. The Sun Sword Sect had always leaned towards the Convergence Sect. However, their loyalty was to the Thousand Swords Mountain lesser heaven, and it was expected of him to stand against the Halls when the time came.

    He eventually came to a decision and glided behind Fienze. The way he saw it, Gustkr was likely to lose his position sooner rather than later. His movement certainly drew the ire of that outer-realmed female advancer under Gustkr.

    As for the last three sect leaders? They were none other than those from Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect. Rein had already met the two sect leaders of Harmony Sect, the handsome Aihr and enchanting Meynzy. As for the third, it was a female advancer that rode upon a breed of bear demon, its paws sending out small air shockwaves as it lumbered through the air.

    The sect mistress of the Demon Taming Sect was incredibly eye-catching, for she was a tanned beauty wrapped in a robe weaved from vines and leaves. Her chestnut hair initially appeared wild, yet it also carried a sense of chaotic order. Her eyes glowered like a cat¡¯s in darkness as she took in the battlefield. She leaned forward and whispered some words to her mount.

    Aihr, Meynzy, and this oddly-dressed woman upon her mount separated themselves in a position away from the primary group around Fienze, as well as the solitary Gustkr.

    ¡°Your lesser heavens have mostly kept to yourselves to your own detriment. Is this your own position or your lesser heavens¡¯ orders?¡± Fienze queried. ¡°Many of your disciples have been slain. Do you not care for their sacrifices?¡±

    Indeed, the Halls had already slain a few outer advancers and many shell advancers from each of the Evergreen Mountains¡¯ Great Sects. To stand aside would be an affront to these sacrificed disciples. Or¡­ An eyebrow of Fienze¡¯s suddenly twitched as a thought occurred to him.

    ¡°Indeed, we have already contributed significantly to our cooperation, having lost many of our disciples,¡± Aihr replied with a low voice. ¡°My heavens will not lay the blame upon me.¡±

    For the first time since his arrival, Fienze¡¯s lips quivered. Indeed, technically speaking, the other Great Sects had already participated with their shell-realmed and outer-realmed members. In the case of Harmony Sect and Demon Taming Sect, fringe sects that barely receive any benefits from the jade mine, there was no reason for them to provide more assistance.

    At this moment, Bienze¡¯s six swords flew towards Huhrz, and his body transformed into a translucent eel that melded into the air, becoming invisible.

    ¡°Look at them,¡± Huhrz chortled, a rare sight given his usual efficient executioner, no-nonsense demeanor. ¡°The Allfather is correct. Only under our Halls, under the Allfather, will humans unite and settle all our debts with the demons, devils and spirits.¡±

    ¡°Remember. Telekinetic advancers¡¯ main strength lay in their fully developed soul capabilities that can meddle with the mind, and control distant weapons with perfection and deftness, unlike our whip-like aurae tendrils,¡± Huhrz reminded the other four Supremes. ¡°As for Bienze, it was by luck that he stumbled upon the godly capability of shapeshifting.¡±

    ¡°Allux, Yirmane, and Jensure. We will be relying on you three to limit their soul capabilities. Myself and Guihnes will protect the three of you.¡± All five Supremes are on their way to the peak of the outer realm, and as such, their soul forms had already been born and were on their way to completion. Their telekinetic abilities are thus partial.

    Under ¡®standard¡¯ understanding, they stood no chance against a number of telekinetic advancers. However, these five are the chosen of the Halls-- they all have unique capabilities.

    Jensure had already demonstrated his ability to strike the soul with a physical attack. Yirmane¡¯s capabilities lay in her mastery of gaseous and poisonous magics, an absolute thorn even to telekinetic advancers despite her being an outer advancer. As for Allux, the other female supreme? The other four supremes knew of her fearsome art that manipulated light in an expansive range that could even mesmerize the soul.

    ¡°Old freak! Leave them as grinding stones for our children and blooming flowers,¡± Supreme Guihnes ordered. ¡°Return and defend in my place!¡± That leader, ¡®Old freak¡¯, led the twenty-four silver guards to return.

    The Great Sects¡¯ last stone pillar had successfully withstood the silver guards¡¯ attack, supported by a whole group of One Formation Sect disciples.

    ¡®Old freak¡¯ received the formation disc from Guihnes. This freed up Guihnes to rise up into the air. He, similar to the One Formation Sect Mistress, spread many inscribed totems, gems, and treasures to form a spherical formation around himself. Mobile formations are significantly smaller in size, and as such, he could only protect himself and primarily Allux. If Allux and Yirmane stayed close together, then he could shift between the two in defense.

    Fienze internally grumbled upon witnessing this. These five Supremes were simply growing increasingly more difficult to deal with-- they seem to all have unique capabilities that transcended the idea of advancer power realms.

    Formation magics, for example, only require one to be in the outer realm, such that one could connect with the various points of the formation with aurae tendril and control all the levers. Naturally, most formations are designed to protect against telekinetic meddling of its mechanisms. As such, those who have the resources and will to master formations are often troublesome if given time to prepare their assisting tools.

    Supreme Guihnes originated from a noble advancer clan of the Minhr Nation, and as such, he had access to many resources. His respect for Huhrz naturally stemmed from the fact that Huhrz could very easily prevent him from preparing his formations-- and had done so whenever conflict had arisen between them.

    Then, there¡¯s Huhrz¡¯s false domain, which Fienze needed to suppress with a costly constant flow of aurae that gave balance and order to the area.

    ¡°Great Sects! The time is now! The Halls are hellbent on subjugating the Evergreen Mountains, taking advantage of the succession process of the Minhr Nation to establish their branch, simply to wreak havoc against our Great Sects! How arrogant for them to come, believing they will leave here alive?! Strike now! Reinforcements are coming!¡± Fienze gestured with an arm for the Great Sects to attack.

    Those reinforcements, naturally, could not arrive here at the same speed as the telekinetic sect leaders shooting through the skies like a diving hawk. The truth is that those reinforcements are unable to arrive anytime soon-- the Evergreen Mountains are vast, with space to contain many of these proud sects. They would take at least a day if not more to arrive. The initial forces were simply sentires that had long been sent here to watch the jade mines beneath. Bienze had simply gathered them to form a resistance¡­ However, Fienze needed to raise the spirits of his side, and thus made such a claim.

    As for why no portals had been set up? The Great Sects thought that having multiple portals to the jade mine would lead to news of its location leaking out through spatial fluctuations. Well. It was too late to establish a stable portal for reinforcements to travel through. As for how the Halls had appeared here? That was something for the Great Sects to investigate themselves in the future.

    Not all of the remaining Great Sects¡¯ disciples followed Fienze¡¯s orders. Those of the Demon Taming Sect, Harmony Sect, and Convergence Sect all backed away to escape.

    As for the others? One Formation Sect disciples organized themselves and lifted up that remaining stone pillar and began marching forward, while other disciples withdrew new items, toy pillars that strengthened the moving formation. This was the method to move a large-scaled formation-- to carry the many key nodes of the formation in a relatively stable connecting shape, which requires a high degree of training and cooperation.

    The two formations of the two sides soon clashed, sending lashes of aurae curling in all directions. The two edges of the two formations began to overlap over one another, and the overlapping zone became chaotic under the incongruous rules of the two formations interacting with one another to control the zone.

    As such, the advancers of both sides in this overlapping zone lost protection from their formations, and could only rely on their own abilities to survive. The two sides soon began pelting their enemy, especially those unfortunate enough to fall into this overlapping area.

    Soon, half of each formation overlayed one another, seemingly equally matched. Rein himself was drawn into the combat zone, and thus he swallowed a pill and launched his third ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯, its many layers rotating against one another as it burrowed towards the Great Sects¡¯ advancers.

    Of course, both sides wished to disable the others¡¯ formation-- it would signal a victory if one could crumble the other side¡¯s formation!

    As such, Rein¡¯s target was none other than a One Formation sect disciple that was carrying a small stone pillar supporting the main pillar. Many of the Great Sects¡¯ disciples made strenuous efforts to protect said One Formation Sect disciple, and Rein discovered that these disciples used many methods to repeatedly knock the path of his flying Spear of Heaven off course, whether it be projectile weapons, thrown elemental bombs, or other magics from their inscribed weapon.

    To allow Rein to retain his focus, Wilo stood before him to provide protection. Her poisonous wooden needles flying in the chaos against any that dared to approach.

    Chirh, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Rein could only assume that the wimp had given into fear, perhaps fled back towards the portal through the small opening into the slope.

    A layer of Rein¡¯s last spear shattered into bits, showering explosive bits onto a group of advancers defending a stone pillar. Those shell advancers defended themselves with aurae clouds that formed various types of armors. Rein discovered that since he could only use the weakest form of ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯, he failed to do much damage against this concentrated and cooperative group of shell advancers. It was unlike the panicking and scattering of the Great Sects¡¯ disciples during the initial phases of the battle, after many had witnessed Huhrz slaying many outer-realmed advancers in a row.

    As for the silver guards? They now had to maintain the Halls¡¯ protective formation. They stood over important points of the formation in order to protect the gems and treasures that were key nodes to maintaining the Halls¡¯ defenses. Unlike the One Formation Sect disciples, they barely needed assistance to protect themselves, their gaze focusing in unison to melt the flesh of approaching enemies.

    If this continued, the Halls would likely emerge victorious. It was only a matter of time, given the silver guards¡¯ dominance.

    Meanwhile, high up in the sky, the five Supremes faced off against Fienze, Bienze, the unnamed Pill Ignition, White Lily, Sun Sword, and One Formation Sect Leaders.  No additional words needed to be said, and none cared to introduce another.

    Both Guihnes and the One Formation Sect Mistress were learned in creating mobile formations using magical tools and items as nodes around them. Their range was naturally limited, as these were mobile formations that moved around their bodies.

    The One Formation Sect Mistress focused on protecting Fienze such that he could continuously rewrite the effect of Huhrz¡¯s false domain. As for Guihnes? He positioned as a sort of shield for Yirmane and Allux. It was soon obvious as to why he did so.

    These two female Supremes were quickest to act. Allux clapped her hands together above her head as her eyes glowed and her hair fluttered in an aurae storm. Above her head, a large ball of light coalesced in the blink of an eye, and a spherical pulse expanded outwards.

    Rein found it difficult to describe the sensation he felt at that moment. All his eyes saw was a flashing light that seemed to be refracting through the air that had become a glass prism. His mind felt dull and his vision swam as the ¡®Spear of Heaven¡¯ swerved off in a random direction, skyward.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    He, alongside both the Halls and Great Sects¡¯ disciples, all groaned and clutched at their heads. Rein himself nearly dropped down onto one knee. The shell advancers of the Halls remained standing, their legs trembling. Many inner advancers crumpled to the ground. Those that did were stuck by the enemy, and lost their lives in a heartbeat.

    Fienze and his allied sect leaders had it much worse, as they were in much closer proximity and the primary target of Allux¡¯s attack. Their eyes were blinded. They felt as if pieces of glass were attempting to dig into their souls.

    Of course, not all of them suffered the same.

    The Pill Ignition wizened Sect Master simply closed his eyes as he harrumphed.  Fienze closed his eyes as he concentrated his mind. The One Formation Sect Master, barely maintained her defensive formation protecting herself and Fienze as veins pulsated over her body, the many gems and totems supporting her formation trembling in the surrounding air.

    As for the remaining others, they all coughed up blood, a rather embarrassing result given their position as Sect Leaders.

    Bienze had originally hidden himself as an invisible electric eel. The prismatic light that carried a sort of hypnotizing pattern shattered his concentration, and he physically reappeared.

    ¡°So, this is the so-called Allux¡¯s Prismatic Pulse Art,¡± Fienze grumbled. Supreme Allux rarely made any appearance in the last few decades, even during her rise within the Halls. It was only now that the six Great Sects truly felt fear towards her.

    The light ball above Allux¡¯s head pulsed, and another wave of prismatic light expanded again. That wave weakened as it spread outwards, and it became but a thin wisp when it struck Rein far below. Even then, Rein felt his mind freeze for a heartbeat again, as he redirected his Spear of Heaven after it had flown off in a random direction due to the initial strike of Allux¡¯s magical art.

    ¡°How?!¡± The light-veiled White Lily Sect Mistress exclaimed.

    Fienze understood her question despite its lack of detail. For a rising outer advancer, their attacks should only have partial, weak influence on the mind and the soul.

    ¡°It is her manipulation of light aurae, to influence our mind through the eyes of our telekinetic divine sense.¡± Fienze felt certain in his judgement. He had closed eyelids when that second pulse passed by, yet his senses were still stunned. This was also why Allux¡¯s attack could bypass the protective formation. After all, Fienze had reached outside of the formation with his divine sense to assess the battlefield¡­

    That did not mean Allux¡¯s attack was a soul attack-- Fienze was certain that if he ceased using his divine sense, and kept his eyes closed, his mind and soul would no longer suffer from Allux¡¯s magical art. True soul-based attacks would be capable of striking one¡¯s mind regardless of what senses were closed. Still, to enter combat under the condition of closing one¡¯s physical eyes and divine sense was like a mortal in darkness wrestling against a tiger

    Firenze honestly felt the situation to be ridiculous. The five supremes of the Hall seem to have figured out numerous tricks, then created and mastered these complex advancer arts that integrated said tricks-- he was very much aware of how these supposed ¡®tricks¡¯  actually require unique insight and skill.

    ¡°Is it not your capability to bring the elements into unison and quell imbalance?¡± The Sun Sword Sect leader complained. Too often have Uni Sect disciples mocked the Sun Sword Sect of only wielding one single type of sword when they were supposed subordinates of the Thousand Sword Mountain¡¯s lesser heaven.

    ¡°This twisted refracted light has little to do with imbalance of the elements,¡± Fienze sighed, his head hurting. ¡°I have already suppressed Huhrz¡¯s false domain, which has the ability to truly create imbalance and confuse one¡¯s control over their body.¡±

    ¡°Take the initiative!¡± Fienze refocused his mind. He kept one palm facing downward, an aurae stream flowing out to quell Huhrz¡¯s false domain. He pointed with his two fingers using his other hand, and his five elemental swords pierced towards Guihnes.

    The light orb above Allux¡¯s head pulsed once again-- Fienze¡¯s side could only endure it and force their minds to focus.

    Jensure was there to block Fienze¡¯s five flying swords. He swung his enlarged greatsword, and his strike shook the soul fragments within these flying swords. However, as he was but an outer advancer-- granted his attacks uniquely pressured another soul-- he was still forced to dodge, only successfully parrying one sword. His movements created a rather wacky image, as Jensure in his shining silver armor spun in the air acrobatically, his body dancing around the supersized greatsword, effectively using it to block before swinging out the cumbersome weapon when an opportunity presented itself.

    The original target of Fienze¡¯s swords were Guihnes. As such these elemental swords flew past Jensure. Fire, wood, water, metal and earth aurae wrapped around the blades, and stabbed at Guihnes.

    The five swords sank slightly into the formation as Guihnes¡¯ inscribed gems and totems lit up in resistance. Misty swirls of a silvery aurae wrapped around the tips that had partially penetrated in. Guihnes pressed his palms together, and the five elemental swords were bounced off, as if there was an elastic material reflecting the force within those swords.

    The five swords made another attempt, gathering together to form a pentagon. They spun around one another, and a beam of swirling elements shot at Guihnes.  Guihnes pressed his palm together once again. That beam of swirling elements entered the surface of Guihnes¡¯ formation, then suddenly changed direction. It curled around, passing through a number of block-like containment zones. By then, its direction had been turned around! The beam of swirling elements was sent back towards the formation that protected Fienze instead!

    Fienze frowned then snapped his fingers, and his pentagonal swords spun, reabsorbing the beam of swirling elements.

    The woman veiled in light naturally had entered the fray. Her white robes flowed in the breeze as her form flashed forward, her right hand carrying a simple and elegant silver sword with glowing white inscriptions and a white sash on the hilt. Following behind her were four similar swords.

    Jensure reacted by unsheathing a normal-sized sword and a dagger both exuding a neon green  glow due to the infusion of lumite. He controlled these three differently-sized blades to defend himself, taking extreme care to ensure that his aurae tendril connection to these three weapons weren¡¯t in a position to be severed by the enemy¡¯s telekinetic weapons. This is the greatest danger for outer advancers-- as they could not insert a soul fragment into their weapons, it was possible that their aurae connecting to said weapons could be severed.

    The pressure upon Jensure soon rose as he discovered that the woman veiled in light, the White Lily Sect Leader, left behind white lily apparitions with every sword strike. Those white lily apparitions had the effect of soothing his battlelust, and Jensure had to constantly refocus his mind in order to swing one of his blades properly

    His strikes, though painful for the soul, were tolerable if one braced themselves for it. As such, the White Lily Sect Mistress grew in confidence as the battle continued. Her form flashed backwards as another pulsing wave from Allux¡¯s light orb passed by. Once she refocused her mind due to Allux¡¯s disruption, she continued battling Jensure. Soon, Jensure was surrounded by troublesome white lily apparitions.

    Meanwhile, Huhrz had clashed with Bienze. Bienze, recognizing his invisible eel form to be pointless, had transformed into a six-armed asura and recalled his six swords to his six hands. Initially, Bienze assumed he would have an advantage, but was soon proven to be incorrect in his assessment.

    Despite Fienze having suppressed Huhrz¡¯s false domain, Bienze felt himself temporarily lose control of a limb when one of his elemental swords in his hand clashed against one of Huhrz¡¯s aurae javelins. Of course, thanks to Fienze, Bienze soon recovered function over that limb. Still, that loss of control lasted for a few heartbeats.

    As a result, Bienze, feeling perturbed, engaged in an endless melee against Huhrz. Every single clash would cause a shower of aurae that temporarily disabled one of Bienze¡¯s six arms. Luckily, as this shapeshifted form of his has six arms, he was able to cycle through his arms during combat, ensuring that their duel remained slightly to his advantage, forcing Huhrz to occasionally dodge a few of his swords.

    As Bienze had focused on physical combat with this form, he knew little of launching a soul attack-- he had spent his time to primarily train his soul defenses, such that those who fail to match his six-armed melee combat capability would fail when switching to attacking his soul.

    Since he was unable to dominate Huhrz, he decisively attempted to launch a soul attack. Yet as his eyes narrowed in focus, one of Huhrz¡¯s aurae javelins suddenly aimed for his head. He blocked said javelin which shattered and covered his head in a shower of glittering dust. His mind was momentarily thrown into chaos, and it was through instincts that his six-arms reacted to block a strike to the ribs.

    Yirmane remained behind Guihnes, and she clapped her hands together as a few vials floating before her opened. Wind vortexes soon drilled towards Fienze, carrying whatever dastardly mixture was within those few vials.

    Pill Ignition Sect Master was ready to respond. He withdrew a cauldron, and the fluid within flowed out as a liquid weapon. Many pills were also launched forward, exploding to dissipate Yirmane¡¯s vortexes. He then slapped the surface of that fluid blob gathered before him, sending dangerous spittle drops flying towards Guihnes.

    A few aurae-filled gems that functioned as key nodes for Guihnes shield formation flickered as it came under pressure under the effects carried by the fluid, causing Guihnes to frown in concentration. A sizzling sound could be heard as those drops burned before vanishing into thin air.

    Grand Alchemist Meehr was floating with his legs crossed behind, working in tandem with his Sect Leader, furiously crafting more explosive pills for his superior¡¯s use. A bag of newly-crafted pills flew into the Pill Ignition sect leader¡¯s palm.

    The light orb above Allux pulsed again, disrupting a few white lily apparitions, and a momentary stuttering of Fienze and his allies¡¯ motions.

    The Sun Sword Sect Leader realized that disrupting Allux¡¯s art was critical. His sword lit up with flames as his body left behind a trail of flaming shadows. This fire has qualities that could burn the soul of his enemies. He circled around, betting that Guihnes would not intercept him due to the threat of the Pill Ignition Sect leader.

    He was right-- Guihnes did not respond. Yet as the Sun Sword Sect grinned, he discovered a number of vortexes swirling towards him. He foolishly swung his word, directing a blade of his flame to attack those vortexes.

    The result was that he suddenly yelped in agony, plummeting towards a mountain peak to the side like a meteor.

    ¡°Fool,¡± that Pill Ignition wizened Sect Leader simply spat.

    Yirmane was bemused. If there was one thing known regarding alchemists, it was that they, too, could easily take the life of a far more powerful advancer. After all, their skill came from their ability to create mixtures that could kill or heal. Sometimes, unique enough poisons could even kill unsuspecting powerful gods! Of course, delivering these poisons to their targets becomes much more difficult if said target was careful.

    As for the Sun Sword Sect? Their telekinetic advancers connect their soul to their flames to raise the power of said flame. Well¡­ seeing as these are telekinetic advancers, Yirmane had simply made use of a type of poison that attacked the very soul. To clash against her vortex of poison with his flame¡­ was the height of idiocy, it must be said. Perhaps he thought his flame powerful enough, but an advancer with proper common sense would recognize that the form of a spinning vortex was rather effective in dissipating flame. Since he had injected his soul into the flame, which lacked a strong or resistant body¡­

    The reality is that even powerful advancers cannot be careless. Well, Yirmane doubted that the Sun Sword Sect Master suffered any serious injury. Telekinetic advancers should not be that weak, surely¡­?

    The Sun Sword Sect Master¡¯s falling body drilled into a mountain side.

    ¡°Ah, Zren,¡± the Sun Sword Sect Master muttered to himself. ¡°The path of the sword must be pure. By the fallen gods. These fuckers and those shitters under me just can¡¯t help but involve themselves.¡± He caressed the flaming sword he still gripped firmly as his body came to a stop. ¡°My baby. Your flame is not to be wasted on such meaningless chores.¡±

    The supposed idiotic mistake of the Sun Sword Sect Leader Zren did not change the battlefield. The five Supremes remained pressured, with the advantage on the side of Fienze and his allies. Especially troublesome was the white lily apparitions that increasingly dulled Jensure¡¯s battlelust.

    ¡°Switch!¡± Huhrz ordered, as he suddenly accelerated towards the increasingly expansive zone of white lily apparitions. Jensure gathered his mind and burst towards Bienze. Bienze, originally chasing after Huhrz, found a new opponent blocking his path.

    Huhrz began to send many compressed aurae javelins to attack all the white lily apparitions. It was his turn to come under the pressure of White Lily Sect Leader¡¯s swords and lilies.

    However, with every shattered aurae javelin, some white lilies would become unstable and disappear. Huhrz was using his shattering disruptive aurae to destabilize these apparitions!

    Jensure was not as skilled and precise as Huhrz in close combat, but his blows were much more powerful and shook Bienze¡¯s soul. To compensate for his decreased precision, Jensure used the gigantic greatsword to limit space while wielding his other blades, making it difficult for  Bienze to fully use all six of his arms. It was pointless to sever Jensure¡¯s tendril connections to his blades, as Jensure remained right beside his weapons.

    Fienze¡¯s eyebrow twitched. It was extremely embarrassing that they, as telekinetic advancers, Sect Leaders of the Great Sects, were struggling to put down five Supremes, even if they are upper outer advancers. He felt rather pathetic-- though he had much of his attention pouring into preventing Huhrz¡¯s  false domain, he did still attempt to attack with his five elemental swords. It was simply that Guihnes repeatedly blocked his attacks with some high rank and costly mobile formation

    As for Yirmane, her battle against the Pill Ignition Sect Master was a battle of alchemical knowledge. They repeatedly negated each other to a standstill. Meehr dared not contribute more than crafting pills for his Sect Master-- if he accidentally added some unknown element, it could cause an unexpected alchemical chain reaction.

    It could not be denied that these five Supremes all had unique capabilities that allowed them to stand their ground.

    Fienze¡¯s eyes gazed downwards. Unfortunately, the Halls¡¯ silver guards were simply too powerful, cooperating in perfect unison. On the other hand, quite a few of One Formation Sect¡¯s key nodes had already fallen. Unless they could subdue the five Supremes immediately, the battle below would be lost. He sighed.

    ¡°Wahrzein. Do it.¡± His voice was loud and echoed through the mountains.

    Rein¡¯s mind shook. He recalled that Aizen, a disciple of Harmony Sect, had mentioned the advancer named Wahrzein during his visit to Harmony Sect. Supposedly, Wahrzein was a Uni Sect prodigy, a man who was born with perfectly balanced high affinity with all elements, enabling him to even create and craft a ¡®body skin¡¯ that could fool even telekinetic advancers!

    Rein turned his head to find a silver guard collapsing to the ground with a grunt, his eyes in disbelief at a white-aurae wrapped shortsword stabbing through his silver chestplate and white robes. That white-aurae wrapped shortsword occasionally flickered with various elemental colors. How was the silver guard¡¯s defensive treasure so easily penetrated?

    Rein¡¯s eyes then widened at the identity of the man holding the shortsword-- it was none other than Chirh! No. Perhaps Chirh never existed!

    Wahrzein held the gem that originally functioned as a key node. His hands glowed with a white light, flickering between various hues of color. He was infusing various types of aurae from within himself into the formation! It happened so quickly that none could react in time. The keynodes supporting the defensive formation simultaneously shattered due to the imbalance caused by Wahrzein¡¯s chaotic insertion of various elemental aurae!

    The silver guard nicknamed ¡®Old Freak¡¯ hollered as the remaining silver guards immediately gathered to him, and then formed a weakened star formation to clash against the Great Sects¡¯ formation. The downside of this formation, of course, is that it could not be used to effectively protect the Halls¡¯ disciples. Still, ¡®Old Freak¡¯ recognized that if he did not take this course of action, the Halls would greatly suffer today.

    Luckily, the Great Sects¡¯ formation was already on the brink of collapsing due to their earlier disadvantage. When the silver guards grinded with many combined silver sword strokes, the central pillar soon shattered. Both sides had lost the protection of their defensive formations.

    Since the Halls¡¯ defensive dark dome had been destroyed, the ancient relic surrounded by five pillars that stood at the center was also revealed. And beside those pillars now was Wahrzein! He reached out a hand in triumph to grab hold of the ancient relic, an open chest with a dark mist pouring out from within, a dark mist that flowed into those five surrounding pillars. He had long determined that those pillars weren¡¯t defenses, but tools to direct that dark mist from within into the ground. As such, it should be safe to grab the ancient relic chest.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    A few closer Halls¡¯ disciples reacted quickly and launched projectiles at Wahrzein. They were both amazed and horrified when at least ten, if not more, different aurae layers simultaneously formed over Wahrzein¡¯s skin. First a rocky shell, then a layer of water, a metallic layer, a layer of mud, then a layer of ice and more. All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

    Though some of their attacks penetrated a few layers, none were able to pierce through Wahrzein¡¯s true skin.

    The Great Sects¡¯ moment of triumph was here, so Fienze thought as he observed. Not so.

    When Wahrzein¡¯s hand came close to the opened ancient relic chest, the layers of protection on his hand suddenly turned into a black soot and drifted to the ground. In fear, Wahrzein leaped backwards, clutching at his hand. He had lost the tip of one of his fingers! He decisively jumped back into the surrounding crowd of Halls advancers as his appearance flickered. Many Halls¡¯ disciples attempted to strike Wahrzein with their blades and points, but they struck air as the man vanished. When they spun their eyes around in the chaos of the battlefield, they simply could not find Wahrzein¡¯s previous form.

    Fienze widened his eyes, observing the black mist that flowed into the pillars, drilling into the ground¡­ the jade mine was below! He had planted Wahrzein in the Halls, hoping to strike a blow at a critical moment. When the Halls had successfully retrieved an ancient relic from the Western Wilderness, he was precisely waiting for an opportunity to regain this ancient relic and examine it for himself! He had taken too long. Now he understood. The Halls had already gained an understanding of the ancient relic, and was using its destructive properties to erase the Great Sects¡¯ jade mine!

    Even if the Halls now simply retreated, a significant portion of the jade mine would have been destroyed. This battle was simply a means to give the ancient relic more time to spread its destruction!

    Fienze gritted his teeth. They had been played. At first, he wanted to blame Wahrzein-- if that prodigy had informed him of the effect of the ancient relic¡­ Fienze quelled this thought of his. It was ridiculous for him to expect Wahrzein to know of the ancient relic¡¯s effect. No-- Fienze blamed himself. He should have sensed that something was off much earlier.

    The truth was that he assumed the ancient relic to be some powerful tool to support a defensive formation. It was only now that he realized that the Halls¡¯ dark dome-like formation was to protect and give the ancient relic time to do its work!

    As for Rein, he was already in disbelief that Chirh never existed. Now, his mind was further shaken as he recognized that black soot! It was strangely familiar to the black soot that covered the Bleak Mountains, where nothing could grow! It was only deep within its internal caverns, under Master Yirn¡¯s hand, that small pockets of vegetation existed.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Guihnes was ecstatic. His task was more or less done. He and his clan would soon be rewarded with a position in an aurae-rich realm.

    ¡°Halls! Fall back!¡± Overseer Jeahz¡¯s voice sounded in all ears. In fact, he could have interfered but thought it unnecessary.

    All five supremes darted backwards to withdraw, with the Great Sects¡¯ sect leaders bitter with dismay. How insulting-- Overseer Jeahz was present all along, and had found it unnecessary to participate, simply watching in the background while ensuring the safety of the Halls¡¯ escape passage and portal.

    ¡°Wait¡­ why is the ground shaking?¡±  A Halls¡¯ shell-ranked woman suddenly tilted her head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous- wait¡­ the ground really is-¡±

    A hundred thick vines unexpectedly burst out from the ground and wrapped around the five pillars and the ancient relic! Many of the vines were repeatedly destroyed by the leaking black mist, turning into black soot, but then more appeared from the ground. The Halls¡¯ disciples screamed in fear, but none were attacked by the thick vines. Somehow, the relentless storm of vines eventually managed to close the lid of the chest that is the ancient relic! The black mist ceased pouring out, and the thick vines stopped turning into black soot.

    Then those thick vines retreated into the ground, leaving behind hundreds of dark holes. Naturally, the ancient relic also disappeared along with those vines.

    Fienze saw new hope for his capture of this powerful ancient relic. Initially, he deemed it impossible, with the path blocked by the five supremes ahead of him. They would no doubt have retrieved the ancient relic and disappeared through the escape route prepared by Overseer Jeahz. Now? It was a different story!

    ¡°Follow me!¡±

    Fienze dropped low to the ground, gliding forward as he expanded his divine sense. He drifted down a slope of pine trees, before coming to a stop. He originally used one palm to counter Huhrz¡¯s false domain. Now he raised his other palm. A gigantic dense aurae hand formed in the air and slammed down in a thunderous boom.

    ¡°Come out!¡± Fienze yelled as he slammed down again. No response. He sighed. He could not believe he was about to rely on an art he had long abandoned. After all, those of his realm rarely, if ever fought with feet on the ground. As the Uni Sect leader, he had naturally mastered many arts of different elements. That was expected of Uni Sect disciples. To master and combine arts of different natures and elements. Some were successful, while others failed, forever demoted to unimportant positions.

    He placed a hand on the ground and activated an earthquake imitation art. The earth began to rumble and quake. An odd squeal sounded as the land split open and out flew a vibrant flower with vines whipping, its body curved in the shape of a woman. It also spewed a yellowish mist from its mouth before darting away.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s the Blissful-Endflower!¡± Bienze exclaimed. ¡°It guarded the entrance to the ancient dwarven ruins! It should have become a telekinetic demon plant! Why¡­ ¡±

    Grand Alchemist Meehr launched a number of pure white pills into the air, and the white pills absorbed the sickly yellow mist, clearing the air. This was not the right time to consider as to why the Blissful-Endflower had come for the ancient relic chest!

    ¡°After it!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t only some of the Great Sects¡¯ leaders that chased after the Blissful-Endflower.  The five Supremes were also in hot pursuit, a slight distance behind!

    As for Rein? He stood in the now silent battlefield, observing his fellow Halls¡¯ members as well as the supposed enemy, the Great Sects¡¯ remaining disciples. They all wondered the same thing-- are they supposed to continue the battle?

    Rein spun his head around as he felt daggers on his back. Gustkr, the Convergence Sect Master, was filled with glee. To him, this was an opportunity to get revenge on Rein for his descendents.

    Yet before he could launch an attack, Harmony Sect¡¯s Aihr blocked his way. Gustkr was astounded. Harmony Sect rarely interfered. They might not always participate, but they have never attempted to block the actions of the other Great Sects. The same could be said for the lesser heaven behind Harmony Sect!

    ¡°Enough has died today. I propose we call a truce.¡± Aihr then raised his voice. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Overseer Jeahz?¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡± The Halls¡¯ destruction of the Great Sects¡¯ jade mine was more or less complete. The truth is that none would gain anything from continuing the battle.

    Gustkr gestured for the outer realm female advancer below him to take action, only to find her way blocked by the Demon Taming Sect Mistress upon her intimidating mount.

    Gustkr was maddened by the situation. He held a grudge against the Uni Sect, and thus opted to not provide assistance during the earlier battle. If he attempted to attack Rein then, he would end up indirectly assisting Fienze. It was almost inevitable that his movement would be revealed by that damn Allux¡¯s pulsing light orb.

    Now that Fienze, his allies, and the five supremes had run off in pursuit of the being that had stolen the ancient relic chest, Gustkr thought this to be the best opportunity to finish Rein with a single blow. As Gustkr was a telekinetic advancer, he assumed that with cooperation of his outer realm disciple, they would be able to force Overseer Jeahz into choosing between defending the Halls¡¯ escape route versus Rein¡¯s life. He had no doubt the Overseer Jeahz would interfere to maintain the Halls¡¯ dignity and respect.

    Still, what Gustkr did not expect was for Harmony Sect to step in. Worse, they had stepped in to call for a truce. Gustkr obviously cannot state that he simply wished to kill a man still in the inner realm. He initially planned to attack Overseer Jeahz and accidentally take Rein¡¯s life. In such a roundabout way, he would be able to slay Rein without ruining his own name and reputation. For a telekinetic advancer to set his eyes on an inner advancer was indeed embarrassing¡­

    Well-- that plan could no longer be carried out.

    ¡°Yes, I agree! A truce!¡± Zren shouted as he returned, conveniently after the battle. This Sect Master of the Sun Sword Sect had been pushed, ¡®tricked¡¯ into this position due to his combat ability, he often complained to his disciples. Much of the sect¡¯s arrangements were set up by the vice sect leader.

    Gustkr fumed internally at the man¡¯s agreement. He rarely interacted with Zren-- however, the vice sect leader often told him that Zren preferred not to be involved. Of course, the problem was that this battle demanded all sect leaders to show, forcing the unreliable Zren to come along¡­

    Rein felt relief at having been saved again by the circumstances-- he knew all too well the true strength of telekinetic advancers, having nearly lost his life from a casual flick of Bienze¡¯s finger.

    Rein¡¯s vision suddenly transformed, and he discovered Meynzy, the busty and mesmerizing female Sect Mistress of Harmony Sect standing before him. They stood beside a sparkling cool lake surrounded by cherry blossoms.

    ¡°Worry not. This is simply an advanced form of soul transmission,¡± Meynzy informed Rein. ¡°Not even a heartbeat will have passed before our conversation ends.¡±

    ¡°How¡­?¡± Rein knew that such communication between their souls should not be possible. The body¡¯s natural protection should reject such a direct and simple intrusion into the soul. This was why devils needed to use various methods to control slaves.

    ¡°During your visit and our¡­ ¡®little fun¡¯,¡± Meynzy acted all bashful and coy as she said this. ¡°I naturally inserted a mark~¡±

    Though Rein knew this woman to be a powerful telekinetic advancer, a sect leader of the Harmony branch in the Fusion Realm, he still could not resist glowering at the beauty.

    Rein also recalled his experience in Harmony Sect, especially that supposed ¡®love trial¡¯ during which Aihr had forcibly taken Suey, while he was forcibly seduced by Meynzy herself.

    In truth, he had rather mixed feelings regarding the incident. On one hand, Aihr and Meynzy did provide Suey with a rather incredible advancer art that transformed Suey¡¯s body into flesh and bone capable of absorbing and dissipating all sorts of forces. It was quite obviously a valuable, perhaps even a top notch body tempering art. On the other hand, that ¡®love trial¡¯ was rather questionable in its nature.

    Rein did not bother hiding his displeasure from appearing on his face.

    Meynzy bitterly smiled, having noticed Rein¡¯s displeasure. She became serious.

    ¡°I see that you hold reservations towards me. Towards us. I am happy to provide you with deeper insight into our supposed trial. But you should first know. We are ready-- ready for a new age.¡±