Chapter 58: Blood Runes

Hearing her words, immediately brought to mind a question that Lain had in his head in the past but forgot to ask due to the situation getting out of hand earlier. After a moment to gather his thoughts, he voiced out his concerns. “Now that you’ve mentioned the gates, I was wondering, why are the gates opened completely, when the entryway is over ten miles in width? Isn’t the government afraid of people bypassing the guards and entering the city from a different location? I’m truly confused about this.”

“The answer is actually very simple. The runes on the city walls have a mind-altering effect that forces anyone intending to enter the city by bypassing the guards to subconsciously line up in front of the guards at the gates patiently. That is one of the many reasons why the runes on the walls are always glowing, as they are always actively affecting the minds of those around them subtly. The runes on the walls also serve as a surveillance system that monitors the outskirts of the city.” Hui Shi said, after hearing Lain’s question.

Dumbfounded by his answer, Lain couldn’t help but stay silent for a minute to process what he  had just heard. He then said thoughtfully, “So that’s why I subconsciously desired to follow the crowd and line up, when I could’ve just walked through the opened gates?”

“Yes. I heard all city gates, and surrounding walls in our kingdom have this technology. I also heard only very powerful people can ignore the mental effects that these gates have on their minds, but these people should be very few in number in our city, and may not feel the need to go against city rules.” Annette said, as she also marveled at such a wonderful use of runes by the government.

“The technology of runes is widely used all over the world. Each city, kingdom, and empire all have their own unique way of using runes that differ completely from one another. Even the various organizations and people within these places all have their own unique runic technologies that others cannot replicate.” Hui Shi added, with a smile on his face.

“Runes are truly a blessing to the world. But since they’re made using blood, I wonder how these blood are sourced. Can human blood be used in the making of these runes as well? Wouldn’t that be a bit barbaric to use human blood to make runes?” Lain asked, as he found runes to be somewhat creepy when he truly thought about how they were made.

 “It is a bit barbaric to use human blood. But since I’m not a rune maker, I truly have no idea about the rules of the empire or kingdom pertaining to rune making. Brother Hui Shi, are there runes possibly being made using human blood within our empire?” Annette said, as she started to feel slightly creeped out when she looked around in the room that they were in that was filled with glowing runes, that could possibly be made using human blood.

Chapter 59: The Corpse Race

“It’s actually a national crime to use human blood to make runes, but only if the blood used to make the rune is not the rune maker’s own blood. Many cities in our kingdom even ban the buying and selling of instruments that are made using human blood runes entirely, just to prevent the harming of humans to create these types of runes. So most rune makers across the empire that use their own blood to make runes, tend to make runes that are for their own personal use.

Other than human blood, rune makers tend to use the blood of various animals and creatures instead, due to the use of human blood being frowned upon and even banned by the empire.

But there is an exception to the empire’s rule that bans the use of human blood. There’s actually a race of humans whose blood can be used to make runes without it being illegal. This race is so vile in their behavior that they’ve incurred great infamy across the empire, making them wanted criminals that must be arrested on sight, otherwise only an ill fate will befall anyone around them. This cursed race is called the corpse race.” Hui Shi said, as his face shifted into one of disgust at the mention of the corpse race.

“The corpse race? I’ve heard of this race being gossiped about in the past. I heard from my friends, that the first member of this race was birthed after a deranged ghost raped a corpse. After the corpse was raped, it became pregnant and birthed a cursed being that became the forefather of the corpse race.” Annette added, as her face also shifted into one of disgust as well, at the thought of a ghost raping a female corpse.

“That is true. I’ve read many ancient records mention that the corpse race was truly birthed from the body of a corpse, after a cultivated ghost celestial from ancient times revived and raped a corpse. After the birth of their progenitor, the corpse race have wrecked havoc all over the empire, doing many vile acts, which include the killing of people, cannibalism, and the raping of corpses, until they were all hunted down by the empire, and driven into hiding.

The worst part about the corpse race is not only their ability to successfully impregnate female corpses, but their unique rune making technology that requires the blood and souls of human babies.” Hui Shi said, with his face turning even more gloomy at the remembrance of the records that he had read in the past.

“This corpse race sounds pretty cruel. It’s best If I never come across such vile beings in the future. This world truly isn’t as safe as I once thought it was.” Lain said after listening to their conversation. He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of a corpse being raped by a ghost.

“Don’t worry. The chances of you encountering a corpse race member must be pretty low. Since I’ve been working with the law enforcement agency of our district for years, and I’ve never come across a single corpse race member.” Annette said gently, in order to help ease Lain’s mind.

Chapter 60: Gaming Archives

“I see. Well, that answers my questions. I hope brother Hui Shi can continue teaching me about this remote key thing.” Lain finally replied, after a short sigh of relief escaped his mouth.

“Got it. I’ll continue explaining the bank balances. After you have money in your bank account, a small menu screen will always pop up whenever you use an instrument that’s connected to the government’s technology grid that requires in-menu purchases. 

You can close or open that bank balance menu at any time by saying the words ‘open or close my bank menu’ but you must already have money deposited into a bank previously, for the menu to open or close at your whim.” Hui Shi said.

He then took a short second to see if Lain, or Annette, had any questions before continuing. “All the menu sections on the smaller TV screen have contents within them that require the spending of Yearning Dollars. Some pages within the Global Archives section also have virtual stores that allow you to purchase physical items using Yearning Dollars that can be shipped directly to your home from wherever they are located within the empire.

Now, let’s move on to the next section of the menu. The Gaming Archives section.”

Lain quickly pressed on the Gaming Archives button in the menu section, after Hui Shi finished speaking, then looked at the canvas below it. 

In just a second, the screen changed as the pictures that were there before morphed into new pictures. The new canvas screen still had rows upon rows of pictures, but this time the pictures seen within it were different. There were more cartoon-like pictures on the new canvas than the old. 

Looking at the screen filled with pictures, Hui Shi continued speaking. “Each image on this screen contains a unique game created by game developers situated somewhere within the empire. 

Clicking on a picture, will either ask you to buy the game hidden within it, if it’s a game with a cost, or start the game, if the game is free, or have been previously purchased.

Unlike the other sections, some games can be played on the screen, with a virtual keyboard, that allows you to control the in-game elements. While other games create a virtual world around you that allows you to play the game using your physical body.

Many games that teach you martial arts, or cultivation techniques, require you to have enough room around you to maneuver, since they create a virtual world around you that you can practice within.

Chapter 61: Temperature Change

Lastly, if you find it cumbersome to hold your stone key, you can place it in your pocket or anywhere on you, and the virtual screens around you will never disappear. You can also place it away from you, and continue using the screens, but you mustn’t let anyone touch the stone key, otherwise it’ll switch users, and close down all screens in front of you.”

“I see, brother Hui Shi. Thanks for the advice.” Lain responded, as he looked at the screen filled with games of all types in front of him.

Not feeling the need to play a game, he quickly looked up from the screen and said to Hui Shi. “Brother Hui Shi, can you please continue showing us around the house. Lastly, how do you exit a screen? I do not feel the need to delve into games right now.”

“Don’t worry. Just point at any screen inside the house and say the words ‘Exit this screen’ and the screen will disappear.” Annette responded. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue showing them around the house, patiently.

“Got it! Thanks for the help, sister Annette.” Lain responded, before closing the smaller TV screen using the voice command that he had just learned.

Seeing this, Hui Shi then took a short deep breath to clear his head, before pointing at the original screen that displayed the living room and saying. “Now that we’re done with the mechanics of the TV, I’ll tell you more about the house. 

Swiping vertically over the sofa inside the screen, or any other furniture in the house, allows you to change the texture of it. Swipe up, if you want to increase the setting, or down, if you want to decrease the setting. Just like you do with the temperature of the room.

You can also make a furniture moveable or fix it in place, simply by double tapping its image on the screen.”

Lain, hearing his words, first decided to try the first feature that he was told about earlier. Which was the feature that allowed him to change the temperature of the room. He quickly tried swiping down across the middle of the living room within the holographic screen. 

The moment he did, a temperature rating number appeared next to his swiping index finger that followed his finger down the screen. The lower his finger went, the lower the number declined as well.

When he was done swiping down, the number reached -10. After he let go of the screen, he immediately started to notice the temperature of the room drop. Fearing that he may have made a mistake, as the temperature almost went below freezing within seconds of letting go, he immediately corrected his mistake by swiping up on the screen again.

Chapter 62: Pervite

This time, only letting go, after the number following his finger stopped at 70. Seeing his curiosity, Annette couldn’t help but giggle a little, before saying. “Nifty, isn’t it? The temperature can change to your desired setting within seconds. That’s why only adults can change the settings on a key. Children are incapable of using these keys for safety reasons.

There’s even an age scanner on each key that’s designed to scan its user, in order to make sure no underage children are operating it. I know this because my chariot and home also have similar keys.”

Hui Shi eased into a smile, after hearing Annette. He then continued where she left off, saying. “Sister Annette is right. Children are truly incapable of operating this key, due to safety reasons.”

“That’s a useful feature. It shows there’s been a lot of thought put into the designs of these runes and keys.” Lain added. He then took a moment to look around the screen in front of him before finding the sofa that he was currently standing in front of. 

After finding the sofa, he reached towards it, then swiped up on the sofa. After a second of swiping, he only stopped when the setting number that hovered next to his swiping finger reached 100.

”I forgot to mention what the rating numbers indicate for the sofa. Number 100 indicates complete firmness, and number 0 indicates complete softness.” Hui Shi added, in slight guilt.

“I see. Thank you.” Lain replied. He then sat down on the sofa, in order to test what the words “complete firmness” truly meant. 

As soon as he sat down, he felt the difference. Before, the chair felt extremely soft and comfortable to sit on. Now, on the other hand, sitting on the chair felt like sitting on a hard rock. 

Lain, while feeling the texture of the sofa, reasoned to himself. ‘It seems after the rating number reaches 100, the chair will go back to its normal texture. And since the sofa was carved out of some sort of stone, I can only feel uncomfortable sitting on its rock hard surface.’

“The texture of the sofa actually gets firmer than its original texture, due to the runes carved on it. I heard the runes of most furniture can make them much harder than they originally were. They can even turn water into a hard, rocky material. But I’ve never been in a house that doesn’t use pervite as its building material. Since all houses in our district are made of it.”  Annette said, after seeing the look of realization on Lain’s face.

 “Pervite is the name of the stone that all buildings and furniture are made of in this district, if you’re wondering. Even our city has many architectures made out of this stone, due to its light weight and great durability.” Hui Shi added. 

Chapter 63: Completely Dark

‘Light weight?’ Lain thought, before getting up and double tapping on the sofa’s image inside the holographic screen.

After doing this, he then grabbed the left edge of the sofa with his left hand before gently pushing it towards his right. The moment he pushed on the sofa however, he immediately realized how light the sofa really was.

It was almost as light as the stone key in his hand, even though the sofa was much bigger. Just a gentle push caused the sofa to jeer sideways very easily. He even felt embarrassed of himself for using so much force. Feeling embarrassed, he quickly moved the sofa back to its original location.

After letting go of the sofa, Lain then looked back at the screen that followed his every move and always hovered in front of his body, and double tapped on the sofa again, in order to lock it in place.

After doing this, he then grabbed the sofa a second time in order to push it. This time, however, the sofa didn’t budge a single inch. Noticing this, he began adding a little bit more pressure to his left hand, trying to forcefully move the sofa.

As he began pushing with more force, the runes on the chairs slowly started to light up. The more he pushed the brighter the light they emitted, until the runes in the entire room started shining in a bright, bluish glow.

After pushing with more than twenty percent of his normal strength, the holographic screen in front of Lain started to shake, as it began to blink in and out of existence repeatedly, until it disappeared completely from sight. After its disappearance, the light inside the room also gave out, causing the entire room that he was within, to go dark.

Noticing this, Lain immediately gave up pushing the sofa, and released his grip.

“What an interesting magic. These runes have made the sofa almost immovable. I may need to use more than 50% of my normal strength just to make it budge.” Lain said out loud in wonder, as he looked around at the dark room which had lost all source of light.

“It truly is. But as you can see, there’s a cost to this. The energy within these runes, that’s connected to the entire house, will be depleted if you use all your strength. You’ll then need to buy the right type of blood from the market in order to replenish the energy within them. Otherwise you will never be able to use the various features of the house again.” Annette stated, while smiling at the dumbfounded Lain.

Chapter 64: Snake or Muscle?

“How do I get this blood? And what method do I use to replenish the runes, after acquiring the blood?” Lain, asked with a questioning look on his face. He even felt a slight chill every time he thought about using blood to replenish runes.

“You can either go to a physical store here in the district, or order the blood online, through the Global Archives section on the smaller TV. Most beasts’ blood will replenish the energy within the runes, so you can also just go hunt animals outside the city or around the districts in order to acquire their blood.” Hui Shi said, as he also looked around the dark room. 

“Brother Hui Shi is correct. You can use any animal’s blood. But the more powerful the animal, the more energy their blood contains, and also the less blood you’ll need to replenish the runes.” Annette added in satisfaction, since she’s been doing this for years, and knew quite a lot more about this subject than the previous ones they’ve talked about. 

 “In order to replenish the runes, you just need to place your stone key inside a vat of blood, or inside an animal, and it’ll absorb all the blood within. It’ll then slowly distribute the energy within the blood into the runes inside the house using invisible energy waves, while you're on the premises” Hui Shi, stated.

“You can also dump blood on the floor, anywhere in the house, and the runes engraved on the floor will absorb them, and distribute the energy within the blood all around the house.” Annette added in glee. 

“Watch this!” She stated afterward, before a long, tiny muscle in her right arm started to wiggle around like a little serpent. After a few seconds of wiggling, it slowly separated from the rest of her arm, and slithered down from her arm towards the floor, as its khaki color, which resembled Annette’s skin, slowly started to change into that of green. 

Scales started forming on its long, slim body before it made it to the floor, and large snake-like eyes grew out of its head.

By the time its entire body laid on the floor, it resembled a vicious green snake, with the length of an arm. 

The snake-like muscle, after reaching the floor, quickly looked at Hui Shi, and Lain, with the eyes of a dangerous predator, before blood started to seep out from in-between its scales. 

The blood that seeped out of its body quickly landed on the floor, painting the floor around the snake-like muscle, blood-red in color.

After a few seconds of watching the snake-like muscle bleed on the floor, Lain soon noticed the blood slowly start to evaporate, as the runes underneath it lit up.

Chapter 65: The Hidden Serpent

Within a minute all the blood that the snake-like muscle had bled out had disappeared into thin air. The snake-like muscle then stopped bleeding on the floor before quickly slithering back onto the arm of Annette, and wiggling itself back into its previous position on the arm.

Looking at Annette’s arm, Lain couldn’t even see a single thing out of place, after the snake-like muscle went back into position, and changed its color back to that of Annette’s skin.

“You have such an interesting ability!” Lain exclaimed in shock and awe. “It truly is a wonderful ability, sister Annette. I wonder what will power you’re cultivating?” Hui Shi asked, as his mind began to ponder the possible will powers that he had read of in the past, that this ability could possibly come from.

“My immortal will power is called the Hidden Serpent Immortal. It allows me to hide and traverse the world in secret like a hidden serpent. Being able to transform my muscles into various serpents is a subset of this power that helps me fight those who try to harm me, as well as rescue those in need.” Annette said shyly. She felt very blessed to be given such an amazing cultivation book, by the mysterious man that she met in the past.

“Hidden Serpent Immortal? That sounds like a pretty amazing will power. Congratulations for cultivating such a wonderful power. It must’ve helped you a lot growing up.” Lain stated, with a smile on his face.

“I almost lost the cultivation book many times after that mysterious man gave it to me as a child. I even threw it away many times. But each time the book was misplaced, it always appeared in my hands, after I woke up from sleep the next day, as if it was following me. The book has been a great mystery that I’ve been trying to uncover my entire life.” Annette added, as a thoughtful expression surfaced on her slightly beautiful face.

“It seems the mysterious man who gave you the book was truly a thought-provoking character. Casting a spell of sorts on the book that makes it soul bound to you is truly a unique thing to do for a child.” Hui Shi said. He also felt slightly surprised by the ability of the book to miraculously appear on Annette, every time she fell asleep.

After Hui Shi finished speaking, the light in the room slowly came back on, as the darkness surrounding the trio disappeared. 

The holographic screen that was previously hovering in front of Lain, that disappeared previously also appeared again, as soon the room fully regained its light.

Seeing this, Hui Shi smiled and said to Annette. “It seems your blood is pretty powerful, for such a small amount of it to replenish the runes so quickly.“ 

Chapter 66: Cultivation Stages

“I guess it is.” Annette replied shyly, as she gazed at the extremely handsome face of Hui Shi, with a slight blush on her face.

Ignoring the dazed expression on Annette’s face, Lain asked her, “How powerful are you? Is there a way to measure strength in this world?”  with a questioning look on his face.

Hearing his words, knocked Annette out of her joyful emotions. She then stared at Lain, with a smile, before saying to him. “Based on cultivation terms, I’m currently at the body perception stage, and will soon perfect this stage, before elevating my being and proceeding into the next cultivation stage, called the body manipulation stage.

On the next stage, I should then be able to turn parts of my body invisible. Currently, other than my heightened senses, great strength and endurance, I’m only able to turn my body into various snakes, and move them at will.”

After saying this, she then flexed her arm muscles, which then began to wiggle around as if they were live serpents.

Seeing her wiggling muscles come alive, Lain became even more confused, as he thought in his head, ‘Body perception stage? What’s the body perception stage?’ completely ignoring her performance.

Hui Shi, after noticing the confused look on his face, couldn’t help but help him understand the cultivation stages. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before saying. “I know you’re confused, brother Lain. So I’ll explain to you what the cultivation stages are.

You see, after the divine beings of our past created cultivation techniques that mimicked their will powers, they created a rule brick called cultivation stages, that measured the average strength that a cultivator should have as they evolved their existence and strengthened their will power over time.” 

“I see. So how many stages are there before the body perception stage? Also, is the stage pretty powerful?” Lain asked, as his confusion increased.

“Well, the body perception stage isn’t really powerful in the grand scheme of things, but it’s enough to help me survive most encounters out there. The body perception stage is only the third stage of immortal cultivation, after the body formation stage and the adept stage that all cultivators start at.” Annette replied, shyly, since she knew deep down that she was only a small fry within the vast world teeming with true immortals and gods.

Chapter 67: A Wonderful Gift To Mankind

“There are about 17 stages of cultivation, all together. The 17th stage is called the ascension stage. Cultivators at the ascension stage are all called true persons, due to the fact that they are all practically omnipotent, in places where true immortals and true celestials aren’t present. 

Now, let’s start at the beginning. The adept stage is where all cultivators start their journey, as previously mentioned by sister Annette.

From what I’ve learned in school, immortal cultivators at that stage gain a stronger body, and have their lifespan increased from the average 50 years, to over 200 years of age.

Celestial cultivators also have their lifespan increased by an average of 40 years at this stage as well, because celestial cultivators focus on nourishing their souls, while immortal cultivators enhance their physical bodies.” Hui Shi said slowly, after seeing the confused look on Lain’s face.

He then continued. “The next stage is where immortal cultivation and celestial cultivation diverge, as they start to gain more abilities related to their specific will power. It is called the mind formation stage for celestial cultivators, and the body formation stage for immortal cultivators.

At this stage, as I mentioned before, both cultivator types start to gain magical abilities related to their unique will powers, and on average have their lifespans increased by over 40 times. With immortal cultivators having an even greater increase in lifespan than celestial cultivators.

Based on their unique will power, some immortal cultivators can even gain over 100 times their lifespan at this stage.”

“Wow! Cultivation is truly a wonderful gift to mankind. Being able to extend your life to such astronomical proportions is magnificent!” Lain exclaimed in surprise, after listening to Hui Shi.

“It gets better.” Annette added gleefully. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue his explanations.

“Cultivation truly is a wonderful blessing. Now, let me continue to the next stage. The current stage that Annette’s currently at.” Hui Shi said, before he continued his explanations again.

“The next stage for immortal cultivators is called the body perception stage, while for celestial cultivators, is called the mind perception stage.

At the mind perception stage, celestial cultivators in general develop the ability to fly. They also develop a small mind field around them that allows them to view and listen to everything within the field, even to a microscopic scale. 

Chapter 68: Arduous Cultivation

They can even apply mental pressure on anyone within that field that can manipulate their minds, and injure their souls. Their lifespan also increases to over 100 times their previous lifespan.

As for immortal cultivators, they also gain an increase of over 200 times their previous lifespan, as well as other unique abilities of their will power. On average, the senses of an immortal cultivator at this stage are so enhanced that they can view and hear things thousands of miles around them.

Their physical strength also allows them to move at over 100 times the speed of sound. This makes them very dangerous predators in a world filled with normal humans, and animals.” 

Hearing his words, Lain, couldn’t help but mutter in surprise, “You truly are powerful, sister Annette.”

“She truly is. Over 80% of cultivators at the body and mind cultivation stages cannot even get to her current stage without dying of old age. That is how hard it is to evolve into a higher being, as a cultivator.” Hui Shi responded. 

“Not to mention, she’s only in her early years of life. You’re a gifted lady, sister Annette.” Lain, added with a look of admiration on his face. He couldn’t help but realize the difficulty of being a cultivator.

“Thank you! But I’m not really that great. I just have a great cultivation book to rely on.” Annette replied with a look of shame written on her face.

“You truly are. It takes a lot of determination and effort to get to your current stage, as every stage requires cultivators to acquire the right resources to nourish their bodies and souls. Many cultivators have even died during the process of cultivation itself, either due to using the wrong resources, not getting the right resources when they require them or just cultivating inappropriately.” Hui Shi said, because he didn’t believe the book could’ve truly helped her overcome the burdens of cultivation. Especially when she began cultivating at such a very young age all by herself, without any mentors or friends to help her get through its difficulties.

“As for the next stage. I will not go into details on it. Because what I’ve already explained should be enough for you to understand sister Annette’s powers. I also do not wish to extinguish sister Annette’s desires, or place false expectations on her mind. As each person’s experience at each stage can differ greatly from one another. Food that cannot be eaten should not be worried about.” Hui Shi added, before looking at the expectant looking Lain, with guilt.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi, for your consideration. I truly would like to get to the next stage and figure out all its benefits by myself.” Annette said, with a look of appreciation in her eyes.

Chapter 69: The Unity Stage

“What about Elder Micas, and Elder Trent? What stages are they at, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lain, asked in disappointment, after realizing that he wouldn’t get to understand the next stage of cultivation anytime soon, unless he did his own research.

“Well, although I do not know what stage both elders are currently at, since it's been countless years since they did anything publically notable, I do know that they were once generals in the kingdom’s military. A person cannot be a general in the kingdom’s military if they aren’t at the simple unity stage. Which is the 8th stage of cultivation.

At the simple unity stage, cultivators are given a cultivator title by the kingdom. Cultivators that serve in the military or have helped the kingdom in notable ways, are given a noble title instead, which holds real power all over the kingdom. A noble of a kingdom is well respected all over the empire.”  Hui Shi replied. 

“Is that so? What titles do Elder Micas and Elder Trent have?” Lain asked again. He even began to yearn for a noble’s title in his heart.

“From the records that I’ve read, I heard that Elder Micas was once called the Moon Light Marquis. Making him a marquis ranked noble in the kingdom. Mind you, a general at the unity stage is given the title of baron, so Elder Micas, as a marquis, must be much stronger than the unity stage. And that was over 100,000 years ago.

His strength today must be countless times greater than when he was first given his title.

As for Elder Trent, it’s been over a couple billion years since he left the military and started this district, so I have no idea what his current noble rank is, but I do know that he was once called the Peaceful Sage Marquis in the past. He could’ve done a lot more notable things since then that could’ve elevated his status within the kingdom.” Hui Shi responded. 

“I heard those at the unity stage are god-like beings that can easily destroy planets and galaxies. I can’t believe I met two elders with powers greater than that!” Annette exclaimed, with a shiver. 

“I can’t believe the two elders are that powerful. They must be more powerful than brother Mon Dupa that we met earlier, right?” Lain, asked. Remembering the handsome man from earlier with flames for hair, he couldn’t help but believe that he was someone stronger than Annette, not weaker.

“You met the superhero Mon Dupa?  I’ve heard of him before, but haven’t truly spent time trying to find out who he is.” Annette said, in shock. She couldn’t believe what she heard, since there were very few superheroes in each district compared to the number of heroes, which were almost countless in her eyes. 

Chapter 70: Candle King

“Yes. We met him earlier, when the Fang Clan villain passed through the gates with his weird insect-like creature.” Lain replied. He couldn’t help but feel slightly vexed when he thought about the man from the Fang Clan that he met earlier.

“We did. But I do not know much about him, other than his origin. Judging from the blue flames on his body, I fear that he’s a very dangerous man from the Candle King Sect. All members of the Candle King Sect emit flames from their bodies of various colors, where their hairs should be.

The blue flame on his body, from the historical records that I’ve read in the past, indicates that he must be a direct descendant of their progenitor, the Candle King himself. Who is a true immortal that’s been alive since ancient times. The Candle King is the main reason why his sect is called an untouchable zone. For he is a truly terrifying monster from ancient times that can destroy the world, and easily rule our empire, if he ever wishes to.

As for Mon Dupa, due to him being called a superhero by sister Annette, his strength must at least be at the unity stage or higher. I believe this because all heroes in the empire are called superheroes, after reaching the unity stage.” Hui Shi stated. But just before he could continue, he noticed the hairs all over his body start to emit blue flames. 

Just as he was about to look around in caution, words suddenly echoed out in the quiet room, startling the trio. “Is everyone talking about me?” 

As soon as the trio heard those words, they quickly looked around them in shock, only to see blue flames mysteriously materialize all over the living room. Even the two holographic screens in the room, started to burn in blue flames as well. 

Hui Shi who was previously glowing in golden light was quickly bathed in blue flames, as the golden glow that emitted from his body was forced by the blue flames to recede into his body. Even the halo above his head began to shine in a hue of blue flames as well, but strangely the halo remained over Hui Shi’s head and didn’t disappear completely. It seemed, the powers of Ensieth were too concentrated within the halo, for it to be conquered completely by the blue flames.

Lain, seeing the blue flames all over his body, that made every breath he breathed out emit plumes of blue flames into the air, couldn’t help but feel that the flames looked slightly familiar.

He noticed that the strangest part of the blue flames that covered everything in the room, from his point of view, wasn’t that it covered their entire bodies, and possibly even their insides, but that there was no heat emitted from them at all.

Chapter 71: Brother Mon Dupa?

But Lain, and the other two beside him were not fooled by this, because from their instincts, the trio could tell that hidden within the harmless looking blue flames that surrounded them, was heat that was mind bogglingly terrifying.

Seeing the blue flames all over her body, Annette’s first reaction was to try to put it out, due to her instinctual fear that the heat she perceived within the flames could incinerate her to ashes within seconds. But before she could move, the flames that covered the entire room, as well as the two holographic screens, all converged at the center of the room within the blink of an eye.

Within a span of seconds, the flames that left the body of the trio, quickly took on the figure of a human, before receding inside that figure rapidly. After a couple milliseconds, human features started to appear within the flaming figure.

Looking at the flaming figure that was quickly turning into a human, Lain couldn’t help but say cautiously. “Brother Mon Dupa, is that you?” It seems he had somehow recognized the figure within the blue flames. 

“It truly is the voice of brother Mon Dupa.” Hui Shi, added. The slight worry in his heart vanished at Lain’s words.

Standing by the side, the shocked Annette could only listen to their conversation, hoping the flaming figure in front of them was truly a friend and not a terrifying foe.

“Hello again, brothers! I’m sorry for my interruption.” The flaming figure stated, as the flames completely disappeared within its body, and the handsome figure of Mon Dupa appeared.

Mon Dupa then took a step forward, towards the trio standing in front of the sofa and said to them. “I was worried earlier that something must’ve happened to the two of you, when I sensed your presence vanish through a teleportation of sorts, so I decided to track you guys down, hoping the Fang Clan member from earlier wasn’t involved in your teleportation.”

“How’d you know where to find us?” Lain asked in bewilderment. After asking his question, he soon noticed a slightly sticky feeling all over his body. 

Noticing this feeling, he quickly glanced around his body and the bodies of the other two beside him, only to notice a film-like, sticky residue that felt like candle wax covering their bodies. 

He first looked at Annette, whose body now looked like a wax figurine, with eyes and hairs that were wax-like in appearance, he then looked at Hui Shi in shock, as his body which was now emitting the familiar golden glow again, was also covered in wax, as if the wax covering his body and eyes, was an illusion. It seemed to Lain that the wax didn’t affect his god’s divine powers, like the blue flames from earlier did.

Chapter 72: A Little Girl

But in a matter of seconds, as Lain was observing the two, all the candle wax that covered the bodies of the trio melted to the ground, then quickly moved towards Mon Dupa, who was currently walking towards them.

The melted candle wax then quickly covered his walking legs, from feet to waist, before disappearing into his legs. While this was happening, the walking Mon Dupa, nonchalantly answered Lain’s question, as if he wasn’t aware of the mysterious wax’s movements. ”Earlier, when brother Hui Shi told us that you guys had something important to attend to, I felt the need to protect you from the Fang Clan member that entered the gates before you. So I secretly left a bit of my candle wax on your bodies. Hoping to use it to monitor your presence, for a couple of days to make sure your lives were not at risk, before I withdraw them back into my body.”

40 minutes before Mon Dupa manifested directly in front of the trio, somewhere far away from Yearning Sweet City, a little girl was sleeping on a small, blue, stone bed inside a small room with stone walls and stone floor that was filled with unique, moon shaped, dark blue runes.

While the little girl was sleeping in the quiet and dark room, blue flames quickly started to materialize inside the room. The blue flames that materialized, first appeared as small sparks of flames that danced around the little girl’s body, before more flames quickly exploded from within the body of the sleeping girl, towards the exterior of the room. The exploding flames then quickly covered not only the walls and the bed, but also the entire body of the little girl as well. 

But strangely, the blue flames that coerced everything inside the room, did not emit a single amount of heat. The little girl continued sleeping on the now flaming bed peacefully, as if nothing unique was happening, as blue flames flew out of her nostrils every time she breathed out, while blue flames entered when she breathed in. 

After a few milliseconds, the blue flames that covered the entire room, quickly converged next to the right side of the bed that the little girl was sleeping in, before the figure of Mon Dupa appeared within the flames.

Looking at the little girl, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but breathe out a sigh of relief. He then quickly looked around him, as if he sensed the presence of something terrifying watching him from somewhere.

After glancing around the room, and finding nothing but darkness. He quickly looked back towards the bed that the little girl was sleeping on.  But as he looked back, he shockingly discovered that not only had the little girl disappeared, the bed and room had also disappeared as well. 

Chapter 73: Mysterious Space

Replacing them were the dark recesses of space. The surroundings of Mon Dupa had somehow transformed into a quiet, cold, and silent universe, with nothing but darkness and unfathomably large incandescent planets situated around him. 

His lungs, which were used to breathing air, quickly came to an agonizing stop, as they struggled for air to breathe, only to realize that there was no longer air around Mon Dupa for them to breathe in. But luckily, Mon Dupa’s, unique, cultivated body, overrode the shortness of breath that came with his suffocating lungs. Shortly after stopping, his powerful lungs started back up again and quickly went into overdrive, and started inhaling the pure, invisible energy that was hidden within his surrounding environment, in order to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the environment.

 With the restart of his lungs, Mon Dupa started to feel at ease again within seconds, as his body slowly started to acclimate to his weird airless environment. But feeling slightly groggy for some reason, he cautiously looked around him, only to notice that strangely, the incandescent planets that filled the dark space around him and the distance, were not truly planets but large moons of various sizes. Moons that emitted gentle moon light that slightly obscured their surroundings in white light. And with his microscopic stature in comparison to them, he couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the massive moons situated around him, that appeared out of thin air, along with the universe.

While he was observing the moon, his mind kept getting even more groggy and chaotic, causing him to notice that the mysterious light exuded into the surrounding darkness by the mammoth sized moons, not only made the dark space around them brighter than it should be, it also created an effect towards its surroundings that made time move countless times faster than normal at times, while at other times made time move countless times slower than normal.

Being bathed by the gentle light from these mammoth sized moons, the microscopic sized Mon Dupa, situated among them, was easily affected. Just the short few seconds that he had arrived in this unknown universe, his mind had already started to quickly go haywire. 

The entire time that he had been trying to acclimate to his new environment, his thinking process and awareness, would speed up by thousands of times, while at other times, they would slow down to a crawl, as if time had slowed down to almost a stand still.

Feeling the constant change in time, caused him to panic, and clutch his head with both hands. He then used a great deal of effort to will his mind and body, using the power of his unique will power, to ignore the irregular changes in time that were occurring within his surroundings, in order to help his mind and body regain stability. Only after doing this, did his mind and body slowly start to function as they normally would, while ignoring the rapid changes in time that occurred around him.

Chapter 74: Celestial Mind Field?

‘I must currently be in the mind field domain of a celestial!’ Mon Dupa concluded in his mind as he looked around at the surrounding moons that were shining light on his body. He knew that an immortal was incapable of creating this field out of thin air. He reasoned that a celestial was likely the culprit.

 ‘When I entered the room earlier, there was no indicator that an array was set up within the environment. So this universe that I’m currently within, can only be the witchcraft of a celestial’s mind field.’ Mon Dupa concluded again in his mind. An array was out of question to him. For he had already thoroughly checked the room using his flames when he had arrived earlier, and he didn’t find the energy signals of a dormant or active array nearby.

‘Since this is likely a celestial’s mind field, there must be a celestial hidden within it. Watching my every move!’ He concluded in his mind, after another moment of thought. He then heightened his eyesight, using his powerful will power, in order to look deeply through the cosmos, as if he was searching for something. The moment he did, the barely visible universe that was obscured by the lights originating from the moons, started to become clearer, until every inch of the universe was visible to his eyes, as if he was right in front of them. 

Four minutes into looking around the billions of light years wide universe desperately, he soon spotted a short old man, dressed in a blue gown with a belt on his waist, holding a wooden cane, standing billions of light years away, on a large glowing moon, that emanated white light which slightly obscured his old, but etheric figure. 

Although the old man’s figure was infinitesimally small within the giant universe, Mon Dupa could still quickly find him, due to his heightened eyesight that scanned light years of distance extremely efficiently.

Looking at the mysterious old man in the distance, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but feel as if he was looking at a man that was standing somewhere in the far distant past, and not someone who existed within his current time period.

Realizing this, the eyes of Mon Dupa quickly lit ablaze in blue flames in order to enhance his sight even further. He used a powerful eye technique that caused his eyes to capture the heat energy emitted from the world around him, in order to see more accurately. Only after doing this did that mysterious feeling surrounding the old man go away. He could now see the old man clearly. The mysterious feeling that made the old man appear as if he was obscured by time itself had finally disappeared, as he viewed him using his heat energy view that made the old man appear like a man made of flames.

Chapter 75: Old Man

He then made eye contact with the mysterious old man that was situated billions of light years away. Making eye contact with the old man, made the old man smirk in response. You could tell from the old man’s smirk that he was not happy about Mon Dupa’s appearance within the little girl’s room. Not even the slightest bit of surprise was seen on the face of the old man. As if he was already aware that Mon Dupa was going to appear within the room, before he did.

After seeing the old man smirk, Mon Dupa quickly started to notice his lifespan slip away from him. Every second that he hovered calmly in space, he felt over a thousand years of his life disappear from within him, and evaporate into thin air. Yet, strangely, time itself still flowed haphazardly, around him. Sometimes speeding up, and sometimes slowing down. It seemed his lifespan was evaporating from within him, at a steady rate, regardless of how time flowed around him. The young looking Mon Dupa, was truly growing older by the second, and after a moment of using his powerful will power to try to counter this mysterious life draining force in order to slow it down, he quickly realized there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Noticing his depleting lifespan that couldn’t be stopped no matter how much will power he used to control his body and mind, Mon Dupa feared that something even worse was in store for him, if he didn’t put a stop to the old man’s machinations somehow. So, bright blue plumes of flames quickly lit up from his back, as his back from head to heel, lit in flames. 

The bright plumes of blue flames that lit up, then forcefully ejected from his back powerfully, quickly launching his body forward with unstoppable momentum towards the old man situated billions of light years away, creating violent shockwaves that destroyed every moon within a hundred billion miles around him. Turning Mon Dupa into a bright burning, blue comet that barreled violently forward. 

His barreling speed was so blindingly fast, that it left afterimages behind him. Only after traveling over trillions of miles, did the image of him at his original location start to slowly dissipate. 

With his violent lunge forward, the temperature of the space around him quickly increased astronomically as well. It increased by millions of degrees every millisecond. 

Due to the rapidly increasing temperature around him, every gigantic moon that he came across, as he violently barrelled forward, melted into ashes before he could even get near them. 

The gargantuan moons that made him look extremely microscopic couldn’t withstand the surrounding temperature billions of miles around his body, and quickly melted into magma, before evaporating into ashes, and smoke covered in blue flames, as he flew closer.

Chapter 76: Another Dangerous Predator

But after traveling over two billion light years, he quickly lurched himself to a complete stop, as a hideous grimace surfaced on his handsome face. Looking at Mon Dupa, you could tell that he was very angry. And his anger stemmed from the fact that the closer he moved towards the old man in the distance, the faster his lifespan depleted by the second. 

At his starting location, he was previously losing around a thousand years per second, but now however, after traveling two billion light years forward, he started to lose over a million years per second. His face also started to show signs of aging, which was strange given how long he was fated to live given his cultivation level. With small wrinkles appearing all over his face, and facial hair growing every second, his over a trillion years of life that he had gained from cultivating his immortal will power for the past 15 years, depleted constantly as age spots started to appear all over his body.

Feeling his life deplete by the second, he quickly came to the conclusion that moving towards the old man ahead of him was a dangerous mistake that he wouldn’t make again. He also felt that moving backwards would not reduce the speed at which his life depleted. He had a hunch judging from the wicked smirk given by the old man, that the old man wouldn’t be that merciful to him.

After a couple seconds spent desperately thinking of a solution to his shrinking lifespan, Mon Dupa soon noticed that another pair of eyes seemed to be watching him from somewhere. Somewhere he couldn’t see even with his great eyesight, which bothered him. Facing one celestial with his current body, that had been fractalized into many different bodies that are all situated all over the city, was already a strenuous task.

Fearing that another dangerous predator was about to make a move on him, he decided to use a desperate approach.  After coming to this decision in his mind, his entire body started to emit large, ocean sized plumes of blue flames into his surroundings that grew larger and faster by the second as they expanded towards his exterior.  

Hoping to incinerate everything in the universe of moons that he was currently within, Mon Dupa released extremely terrifying flames that traveled billions of light years within seconds, and turned the entire universe into a field, covered in blazing blue flames. Every inch within the universe soon became ablaze in blue flames. Their scorching heat obscuring the air around.

Every moon within the universe, after being bathed by the terrifyingly hot flames, quickly melted into ashes upon being surrounded by the field of blue flames that covered every inch of the universe. 

Chapter 77: Terrifying Heat

But after 3 minutes of melting every moon within the universe in a bid to stop his lifespan’s depletion, Mon Dupa soon noticed that strangely, each time a moon melted, another larger moon miraculously appeared, and took its place. But alas, the temperature of the flames were too terrifyingly high for the new moons to survive as well, so the new moons also disintegrated into ashes shortly after appearing.

This constant destruction and creation of moons went on for minutes, as Mon Dupa constantly increased the temperature of the burning flames using his powerful will power, in order to make sure everything burned down permanently. But to his dismay he soon noticed something troubling. Not only did his lifespan’s depletion not cease, after burning down the entire universe for minutes on end, it seemed that each time a new moon appeared after being burned down, its resistance to the burning flames increased as well. But due to the still rising temperature of the environment, their increased resilience was still futile. 

Noticing this growing resilience of the moons, Mon Dupa knew that sooner or later the new moons would gain enough resilience to resist the heat from his burning flames, if he didn’t think of another solution soon. He didn’t know much about the mysterious old man in front of him, and couldn’t tell how much longer the old man could handle the pressure brought by the burning flames to his mind field universe. 

Knowing that he had a time limit, he quickly looked towards the direction where the old man was previously standing in order to investigate his appearance. Hoping to gauge whether his current rising flames’ heat were effective.

But to his further dismay, the old man was still standing on the same moon that he had previously been standing on without any blemish to his appearance. 

The moon the old man was standing on, was now covered in a white colored, circular energy shield, that enclosed the moon and the old man completely. This large energy shield that looked like a ball filled with moon light, somehow prevented any flames from burning the large moon that the old man was standing on. Keeping him safe from the flames’ terrifying temperatures.

But as Mon's lifespan kept depleting minute by minute, while he stood and studied the old man carefully in order to think of a counter measure, he kept increasing the temperature within the universe rapidly as well, until the old man, hiding within the energy shield, couldn't help but start sweating profusely. 

After minutes of being incinerated by the surrounding flames, it seemed his energy shield couldn’t handle the pressure, and started emitting light sizzling sounds as the flames surrounding it burned at its white colored edges ferociously. 

Chapter 78: Blue Flames

Noticing the shield’s reaction, Mon Dupa finally felt more at ease, and continued increasing the temperature within the universe desperately. Hoping to burn the old man down, before his moons could build up any resistance to his flames, and turn the tables. For he knew those moons could be key to how the old man uses his powers. Making sure they constantly melted into ashes may be of great help, even if it currently doesn’t appear as such.

The old man who was standing on the moon, and calming watching Mon Dupa’s actions the entire time as if he was trying to figure out his origins, and intentions, quickly stopped his smirk, after noticing the energy shield surrounding him emit sizzling sounds as if it was being burnt to ashes. 

As the energy shield was emitting sizzling sounds, he even started to feel the temperature within the inside of the shield rapidly increase as well. After a couple of minutes inside the shield that was rapidly gaining temperature, he started sweating profusely.  

His sweat even started to evaporate instantly after being secreted from the sweat glands on his skin, after the temperature rose to a certain degree. With his sweat glands emitting gas instead of water, that turned into blue plumes of flames in the air.

Noticing the blue plumes of flames inside his shield, the old man couldn't help but take in a deep, sweltering breath, before saying. “It seems I've really met my match this time.” 

He finally realized that the young Mon Dupa before him was truly someone of his caliber. Mon Dupa’s blue flames have somehow bypassed his energy shield and have started affecting his body, from within. Something only people of his caliber could do, within the short period of time that they had battled.

After saying those words, blood started to seep out of the old man’s eyes, mouth and nose, as the temperature increased even more rapidly around him, as if his insides were not only being cooked by extremely high temperatures, but also being torn apart by a mysterious force. 

The blood that seeped out of his facial orifices, strangely evaporated as well, into a bloody mist that soon turned into wisps of blue flames, just like his sweat from before. 

Noticing his damaged, and aching body, the old man for the first time, couldn’t help but feel surprised. His powerful will power that’s currently appearing as the energy shield around him, seemed to truly be unable to protect his body from the overbearing heat from his surroundings. Even the mysterious force that was tearing his insides apart, he was also incapable of subduing.

Chapter 79: A Waxy Transformation

Feeling frustrated at his inability to withstand the rising temperature, and the tearing force within his body that brought him great pain, the old man quickly raised his wooden cane, after determining that waiting patiently for the young man in front of him to die from lifespan depletion, was detrimental to his own survival, and thrusted it towards Mon Dupa, who was billions of light years away with all his might. In a bid to end the battle quickly.

The powerful thrust of the cane situated in the old man’s right arm, seemed to easily traverse the trillions, upon trillions of miles separating the two in less than a second, as if the distance separating the two of them was an illusion. 

As he thrusted his cane mysteriously towards Mon Dupa, the illusion of an ancient moon soon appeared at the tip of the cane. The ancient moon appeared lone and desolate as if it was the only moon in existence, as it hovered at the tip of the cane.  After appearing, the ancient moon, then rapidly enlarged, as it moved towards the distant Mon Dupa at terrifying speed, quickly enlarging to epic proportions that dwarfed several galaxies combined, and covered the old man, and the moon he was standing within, completely. 

The flames burning in its path seemed to freeze in place as it passed through them, as if time, millions of light years around the moon, had slowed down to almost a complete stop. Its piercing movement also pushed the countless moons in its path to the side violently. Even the heat burning the inside of the old man, as well as the tearing force within him disappeared, as the illusionary moon encapsulated him, and his surroundings.

Looking at the rapidly approaching moon in the distance, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but feel as though he was watching an ancient, desolate moon that was birthed at the beginning of time, cross countless eons of time from the distant past, towards his current position in the distant future, with unstoppable momentum that grew more terrifying by the second.

Noticing the moon that was approaching him at terrifying speed, threatening to tear him asunder, and wash him away within the river of time, Mon smirked in anger and fright for the first time, for he knew he could die if that illusionary moon crashed into him as his body currently was.

After realizing this, his body that was covered in flames then quickly started to change. The flames erupting from his body quickly disappeared in less than a second, leaving a muscular body with wax-like consistency behind. 

Mon Dupa had somehow transformed himself into a wax figurine, in a bid to protect his body from the incoming moon. For he believed that only in this state could his body somehow survive the onslaught of the moon.

Chapter 80: A Powerful Thrust

After the transformation, he didn’t wish to wait for the moon to crash into him, for he feared that he may not survive its onslaught. So he quickly balled up his right waxy fist using every ounce of will power left within him, before thrusting it forcefully towards the approaching cane with all his might, hoping to obliterate everything in its path, bring down the old man situated within the moon and end this terrible battle that he was facing.

 A large bang echoed out with the powerful thrust that pushed the surrounding flames forcefully away from him. The punch that he threw seemed so terrifying that the space around it warped and cracked. Even the surrounding new moons that appeared, were obliterated to smithereens from the violent shockwaves emitted from the forceful thrust that reached trillions of miles around Mon Dupa.

The terrifying punch quickly traveled countless light years, ahead of Mon Dupa, elongating his right arm. Turning that arm into a long, and dangerous, wax pole that obliterated everything in its path.

The punch quickly arrived in front of the enormous moon that had already enlarged to cover Mon Dupa’s entire frontal view. The moment it arrived in front of the moon, its extreme speed seemed to ignore the time slowing effect that the large moon had around it. 

It then pierced the moon with extreme force that sent massive shockwaves all over the enormous moon, which caused it to crack all over violently, threatening to break at any moment. Within the blink of an eye, the punch then burrowed deep into the center of the moon, before exiting it at extreme speed towards the old man who was situated towards the end of the moon. 

The large, crack filled moon that was punctured by the punch, strangely continued forward towards Mon Dupa at extreme speed as well, gaining more momentum by the millisecond, as if the cracks all over it caused it no harm. 

It then bore into Mon Dupa, causing him to quickly disintegrate. Turning his body into an illusionary substance that disappeared like a mirage, as if his body was being unraveled by time itself. But just as the moon was tearing Mon Dupa’s body apart, his violent punch entered the moon with overwhelming speed, and barreled towards the old man, the moon he was standing on, and his light shield with extreme force.  

Within an instant it arrived in front of the old man’s face, causing the skin and flesh on the old man’s entire body to quickly tear apart, until only crack filled bones remained, even before the punch successfully landed. 

Chapter 81: Moonlight Eyes

Noticing the extremely violent punch pierce through his shield and reach towards his now bare skull, the old man, who was now nothing more than a crack filled skeleton, panicked. He wasn’t willing to die along with his enemy, so he made a quick decision to save his old life, which was on the brink of collapse. 

His eyes, which were strangely the only things left on his face, aside from his crack filled skull, quickly changed color. They quickly turned from dark brown to pale white. They then started to glow as if they were two moons in the night sky. The instant his eyes transformed, the punch that was already almost touching his splintering skull, with extreme force that tore the skin and flesh on his body apart, stopped abruptly. 

Strangely, after the old man stopped Mon Dupa’s violent thrust, everything in the entire universe also stopped moving as well, as if time had slowed down to a complete stop. The crack filled moon that was already tearing Mon Dupa's body apart, then instantly released a blinding moon light that covered the entire universe, in an instant.

That light seemed to wash everything within the universe away instantly, like illusions disappearing from sight. By the time the moon light disappeared, all the moons, and terrifying blue flames, as well as Mon Dupa had vanished from the universe entirely. The entire universe had now become a dark and empty wasteland, as if everything within it previously were mere illusions.

The only thing now left within the dark and quiet universe was the moon that the old man was standing on, as well as the glowing light shield that enclosed the two. 

Noticing something, the old man that was standing on the moon, looked towards the pointed cane that was held in his right hand. The cane at some point in time had become riddled with cracks. After the old man glanced at it, the cane then quickly disintegrated into ash, and fell on the moon below him.

Looking at his now empty hand that the cane used to be in, the old man slowly lowered his arm in regret. But as his arm slowly lowered, new moons started to appear all over the universe, completely filling the universe back up again within a matter of seconds. 

The lacerated skin and flesh on the old man’s body also started to heal again. As the old man bathed in the light emanating from the new moons around him, the light from the moons seemed to slowly move time around his damaged skeletal body back in time, towards a time where his body wasn’t injured. Every second, pieces of flesh, organs, tissues and skin, would materialize on his skeletal body, as if they were being pulled from the past towards the current moment in the present.

Chapter 82: Forced Transformation

Within a couple seconds his body was almost completely healed, making him look like how he used to before the battle began. But strangely, before his body could heal completely the old man started to cough violently. He coughed for over 3 minutes in agony before his body knelt on the ground in desperation and pain. After falling to the ground in agony, he started to cough even more violently than before, with blood coming from his mouth with each cough. But strangely the blood that he coughed out of his mouth looked more like blood colored wax, than real blood. 

After spending a couple of minutes coughing up blood colored wax, he forced himself to stop coughing using his will power, as his pale white eyes started to glow again. He tried to use his will power to slow down time around whatever mysterious force was currently tearing his insides apart, using every ounce of strength within him, and causing his entire body to emit blinding moon light towards its surroundings that completely obscured his curled up figure on the ground of the moon.

But before he could accomplish his goal, he seemed to notice something, which caused him to look up from his kneeling and hunched position on the ground. As he raised his head to look around, he shockingly noticed that the entire universe that he had manifested from his celestial will power had at some point in time transformed into a wax figurine. 

The entire universe, including the countless moons and empty space within it, had at some point in time solidified into gray colored wax. The only location within the entire universe that hadn’t transformed into wax was only the few feet around his body that had been obscured by the moon light originating from his body. 

Noticing this, he quickly tried to get up in desperation, but only to realize that half his body had already turned into wax, from his two feet to his torso. They were wax-like and felt like they weighed tons to him. Even worse yet, he soon realized that he was strangely incapable of moving those parts of his body that had already gained a wax-like consistency. It seemed they no longer belonged under his mental and physical control. 

The scariest part of this wax-like lower body to him, was that it was currently rapidly spreading towards the rest of his body by the second. Looking at the wax constantly spreading all over his body, he couldn't help but panic in fear and anxiety. It seemed to him that the mysterious force that had been tearing his insides apart in the past, was somehow still within his body even after all he had done to get rid of it. And he quickly realized that this mysterious force was the cause of this wax-like transformation that his body was currently going through.

As he was stricken by extreme terror, and anxiety helplessly watching the wax spread towards his upper body, he soon noticed something materialize in front of him that drew his attention away from his changing body.

Chapter 83: Baffled!

Due to the entire universe being transformed into wax, there was only a small empty space left. From his viewpoint of his surroundings within that empty space, only a circular milk colored, wax wall surrounded him. Now he strangely noticed that a portion of the wax wall situated in front of him seemed to instantly transform strangely into the shape of a human being within the blink of an eye. 

Seeing the human shaped wax in front of him caused him to be baffled. He couldn’t help but understand the cause of his current predicament, the young man from earlier that he thought he had successfully gotten rid of. Looking at the human shaped wax that materialized in bafflement, and anxiety, he heard a chuckle echo from that wax figure. 

After the chuckle, the wax-like human then quickly transformed into the flesh and blood human called Mon Dupa, who then looked menacingly into the old man’s moon-like eyes, as if he was looking at an evil villain.

Mon Dupa while looking into the old man’s eyes asked in an angered voice. “Who are you? What's your relation to the little girl? Did you kidnap her?”

Looking at the now old and haggard looking Mon Dupa in front of him, the old man whose head, which at some point in time had already started to transform into wax, came to another realization. It seemed he may have guessed the identity of the person in front of him wrong. It seemed the wax manipulating man in front of him wasn’t the criminal that he thought he was.

But instead of answering Mon Dupa’s question, due to fear of being turned into a wax figurine, the old man’s moon-like eyes started to lose their previous glow. Knowing that he was soon going to turn into a wax figurine even before he could answer the question, the old man used his last bit of strength to make one final move.

While staring at the old man’s eyes, Mon Dupa quickly fell into a slight trance. He soon noticed in his trance that when he looked into the old man’s eyes they had no resemblance to regular eyes to him, instead they looked like two, glowing full moons situated in a cold and desolate night sky. 

And strangely the two full moons started to wane, until they slowly turned dark, causing the night sky to lose all its brilliance. The old man’s once bright moon-like eyes waned into two dark moons, as they stared back at Mon Dupa menacingly. 

Looking at the dark moons, situated within the cold and desolate night sky, mesmerized Mon Dupa deeply for a brief moment before he forcefully snapped himself out of the trance using his will power.  

Chapter 84: Back In Time

After snapping out of the trance, he immediately noticed a change in his environment. The old man that was just in front of him had somehow teleported himself to countless light years away from him at some point in time. Noticing this, shocked Mon Dupa greatly, as he soon also noticed that it wasn’t teleportation that just occurred, because the old man and the moon he was standing on looked exactly the same as when he had first arrived within this universe filled with moons, with the old man sporting a wicked smirk on his aged face.

Realizing it wasn’t teleportation, Mon Dupa quickly looked away from the smirking old man, to look at his surroundings. That’s when he accepted that his earlier conjecture was true. The old man hadn’t teleported, he had somehow reversed time to just after Mon Dupa arrived within the universe instead.

Looking around the universe that was previously covered in his wax, everything was just as calm, quiet and peaceful as it was before, when he had first arrived. His current position was also completely different from where he was just a moment ago as well, he was now floating in the exact place where he previously floated, before he launched himself forward towards the old man.

But strangely, Mon Dupa soon noticed a great difference from the last time that he was at this current location in time. His body was still strangely aged and withered, and was currently still aging rapidly by the second. His skin was also losing its luster by the second, and as well as his entire body, which was actively growing weaker and weaker.

Noticing his rapidly aging body, that was filled with exhaustion from his previous bout with the old man, Mon Dupa finally realized that he had lost the battle. He was forced back in time by the old man, along with his injuries from the previous battle.

After realizing this, he quickly looked towards the old man that was currently smirking at him. Who now looked exactly the same as he did before, when Mon Dupa first arrived, without the slightest look of exhaustion or damage to his body. 

Mon Dupa then smirked as well, before proclaiming to the old man, in an aged and haggard voice that sounded nothing like his previous self. “You think you've won right? Well, I believe it's a draw. If you don't stop now, we'll both die here!” 

He couldn’t help but bluff, even though he knew that a celestial of this caliber that could easily drag his body back in time, was definitely someone with more aces up his sleeves. But thankfully he was already prepared for this celestial’s time manipulating witchcraft when the battle began, so he left a little surprise for the old man to discover before the old man could drag him back to the past.

Chapter 85: A Peaceful Forest

Hearing Mon Dupa’s bluffing words, the old man couldn’t help but chuckle for a brief second. But after a second of chuckling he quickly ceased his chuckling, as he started to feel that something was amiss. He then quickly looked down at his feet. Strangely his two feet had already turned to wax. With the wax quickly spreading from them upwards towards the rest of his body by the millisecond. 

Looking at his body that was quickly transforming into a wax figurine again, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself even more before looking towards the distant Mon Dupa, with a smile. He knew that facing someone at his level wouldn’t be an easy fight, but he didn’t expect his enemy to use all his will power sometime during their battle to brand an irremovable curse on his body that followed him through time. Even his powerful will power couldn’t remove the curse, that previously felt like a violent force that tore at the insides of his body.

“You immortals truly are a nuisance to kill.” He muttered under his breath, before his eyes, which were currently dark brown, started to brighten up again. They then turned into two pale white, glowing moons that stared at the distant Mon Dupa with malice.

But just as his eyes transformed into bright shining moons, an aged, but crisp voice echoed out within the quiet universe filled with moons of various sizes. “I think this should be enough, Micas. No need to scare the child. I believe he is not a criminal.” 

Along with the voice came a feeling of extreme delirium that washed the dying Mon Dupa’s mind in both fatigue and chaos. He quickly fell into a deep trance that took him over 10 minutes to awaken from. By the time he was freed from the trance by an unknown force, he found himself sitting on a wooden chair, located deep within a peaceful wilderness of sorts. 

With vibrant green grasses and large foreign trees of various species as far as the eyes could see around him, and the gentle calling of birds in the distance, as well as the fresh breeze that blew by, the entire scene that met Mon Dupa’s eyes after he had awakened, was a picture of peace and tranquility. 

After clearing his mind, Mon Dupa quickly glanced in front of him, in slight anxiety and fear, only to see a brown colored, square table in front of him, with all sorts of delicacies situated on top of it. 

Sitting on the opposite side of the table from him, was the mysterious old man from before that he was previously fighting, calmly watching Mon Dupa look around, while sampling some of the fruits on the table. Sitting on a chair, on the right side of the table, was another old man, who looked very familiar to Mon Dupa. 

Chapter 86: The Peaceful Sage

Noticing the change in environment, as well as the familiar old man on his right, Mon Dupa couldn't help but draw in a deep breath, before exclaiming in shock. “Are you the Peaceful Sage, Trent Shiler?” The anxiety in his mind, vanishing from his mind, at the sight of this familiar man. For he finally realized where the feeling of delirium that he experienced earlier came from. 

The Peaceful Sage has always been publicly recognized as a great illusion expert, and Mon Dupa believed that he was one of the few people within this city that could create such powerful and strange phenomena within his mind that he couldn’t get rid of by himself.

After his mind relaxed, he noticed his body was still aged and almost at death’s door. His once handsome face had now transformed into that of an extremely old, sickly and scrawny man. His previously well-kept blue flamed hairs had also now messily grown to reach his feet. 

Looking at his aged appearance, he thought to himself, ‘I can’t believe this body of mine almost died in that mind field.’ Mon Dupa thought to himself in sadness. ‘Now that I have the chance, I should transfer my depleted lifespan into one of my other bodies, situated elsewhere just in case this is another mind game created by that celestial.’ Before using a unique ability that came with his immortal will power. 

Within a span of a millisecond, his old and weak looking body, quickly transformed back into his youthful appearance from before, as if nothing had ever happened to him.

“Yes I am, child. This fellow right here, is Micas Groundworth. You may have heard of him.” Trent, replied to his question, before pointing towards the old man sitting opposite Mon Dupa, who was still busily sampling the various fruits on the table. Completely ignoring Mon Dupa’s youthful transformation, as though it was an expected outcome.

Hearing Trent’s words, the now youthful Mon Dupa looked at Micas who was still busy sampling the delicacies on the table, and couldn’t help but exclaim. “Are you truly Micas Groundworth of the Groundworth Industries from the distant Yearning Trust City? I’m sorry for my earlier transgression!” Mon Dupa didn’t have the slightest grudge concerning their previous battle in his heart. He even felt slightly pleased instead. Not many times would he meet with a business mogul at Micas’ level. ‘I could use this opportunity to build a friendship that can help my sect members in the future.’ He thought to himself.

“Hello son! Don’t worry about earlier, I was in the wrong anyway. Sorry for my mistake. By the way, I wonder why you were monitoring my little granddaughter earlier?” Micas asked, after chewing, and swallowing a small, finger sized, red colored, oval-shaped fruit in his mouth. Mon Dupa could tell, from his smiling face, that the red fruit that he had just eaten was truly sweet and juicy.

Chapter 87: Divine Butterflies

“I’m sorry for my mistake, as well. Earlier while I was outside the gates of the city, I noticed a villain from the Fang Clan entering the gates prior to your granddaughter entering, so I took it upon myself as a superhero of the city to monitor her, in order to make sure she was safe and sound. 

An hour after she entered the city, I noticed her presence vanish through a teleportation, so I decided to investigate her whereabouts. I truly thought she might’ve been kidnapped.” Ignoring his growing desire to grab a fruit from the table to eat, Mon Dupa replied, with a slight feeling of anxiety welling up in his mind, again. He didn’t want the two old men thinking that he tried to do anything untrustworthy to the little girl.

While the trio continued their conversation, back at the stone house where Lain, Hui Shi and Annette were currently situated, Mon Dupa, who had just finished talking to them, trying to explain why he had arrived inside the stone house, came to an abrupt halt. The flaming hair on his head and face started to grow longer, every second, until the flaming hair on his head grew all the way down to the floor, and his beard grew to just below his waist. His previously young and handsome face grew old within seconds, before stopping when he started to look over a hundred years old. Withered, and emaciated.

Looking at the aged appearance of Mon Dupa, Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette were shocked. Annette then quickly exclaimed, “What’s going on! Are you alright?” due to fear that the Mon Dupa in front of them was dying before her very eyes.

Hui Shi, seeing the aged Mon Dupa, became very concerned as well. He then quickly walked over to him and reached towards him with a glowing right hand, while saying. “Praise my lord, Ensieth!”

Watching Hui Shi’s approaching hand that spewed out a relaxing golden light, Mon Dupa acquiesced and bent his head forward, in order to allow Hui Shi’s hand to reach his head that was filled with long blue flames that reached all the way to the ground.

After touching Mon Dupa’s head with this hand, Mon Dupa’s body started to glow in a bright golden color. Countless butterflies of many colors started to appear all over the room. Some were green, and appeared majestically as they flew gracefully in the air like young green leaves in early spring, some were red and appeared capricious in nature, as they dance slightly haphazardly in the air, like old leaves dancing gracefully in the autumn air. While some were white as snow, and danced gently like beautiful snow flakes in winter. Some were even yellow, and danced like young and happy birds in the early summer mornings. Every butterfly had its own graceful way of flying, and each was etherically beautiful to watch.

Chapter 88: Youthful Transformation

These butterflies, after appearing and dancing freely around the room for a couple of seconds, making everyone witnessing them feel relaxed, and mentally refreshed, dove straight into Mon Dupa’s glowing body.

As the butterflies dove into Mon Dupa’s body, his long hairs started to recede back towards their previous length. His old face that was filled with age marks also quickly started to look younger again. Within a span of a few seconds, the old body of Mon Dupa, quickly regained its youthful appearance.

Feeling his body get younger, Mon Dupa whose head was bowed couldn’t help but mutter in gratefulness. “Praise our glorious lord, Ensieth!”

After Hui Shi was done with his healing, he muttered a silent prayer underneath his breath, before letting go of Mon Dupa’s head.

He then asked Mon Dupa, with concern written on his face. “What happened to you? Are you being targeted psychically by an enemy somewhere?”

Mon Dupa, after healing, couldn't help but take in a deep breath of air, in order to clear his mind. He then took a moment to reason out his thoughts before answering Hui Shi. “I met an old man called Micas Groundworth, while using a separate body of mine to monitor Elena. We got into a scuffle, due to a misunderstanding, and he did this to me. 

I almost died and became a cold corpse, just waiting for a corpse race member to rape me. As we all know, the sum of one corpse race member plus another corpse race member, equals rape, hahaha!

But let’s not talk about the sinister corpse race for now, me and Mr. Groundworth are currently in the midst of solving our issues verbally, so my life is completely safe. Thanks for your help, brother Hui Shi. You truly saved me a lot of time and effort that I would’ve had to spend looking for a cure for my depleted lifespan, by lending a helping hand.”

“You’re welcome, brother Mon Dupa. Lord Ensieth’s grace is plentiful.” Hui Shi replied with a dashing smile, then stepped back to give Mon Dupa some space.

Lain, who was listening by the side, couldn't help but feel that Elder Micas was an extremely dangerous man. ‘How did he cause brother Mon Dupa to age so rapidly?’ He thought to himself.

“Brother Mon Dupa, did you just say that you met Elder Micas? Why were you two fighting? My name is Annette Duet, by the way. Pleased to meet you.” Annette stated, after noticing that Mon Dupa, was finally safe and sound.

Chapter 89: No Shame

 “Pleased to meet you as well. My name is Mon Dupa, from the Candle King Sect. It seems you may have heard of me from brother Lain and brother Hui Shi.

I was actually investigating the whereabouts of the little girl that was accompanying the two of you earlier, using another body of mine, when I was ambushed by Mr. Groundworth. We got into a short fight, and I technically lost. Which was reasonable, since fighting someone at my level of strength or higher requires all my bodies that I’ve scattered around to help me investigate crimes for the city to come together as one in order to barely win anyways. 

Just one body of mine definitely won’t be enough to handle a celestial of Mr. Groundworth’s caliber if he truly became serious.” Mon Dupa replied. He then reached over his head with his right hand to pat down his slightly unkept blue flamed hair, without the slightest feeling of shame. Looking at his happy face, Lain, and Hui Shi could tell that losing a fight wasn’t a big deal to him.

“I see. You must be truly powerful to fight Elder Micas, and live to tell the tale of it.” Annette added after looking at Mon Dupa’s smiling face, that looked like he didn’t say anything shameful just now. She then started to fear the old Micas, after remembering Hui Shi’s description of him from earlier, as well as Mon Dupa’s earlier emaciated and old figure.

“I finally understand now why you fought Elder Micas. He’s actually the grandfather of little sister Elena, who we were escorting earlier. Her father was facing a crisis, and Elder Micas teleported us to his house, in order to help us quickly attend to her father. That was why we teleported earlier.

You investigating little sister Elena, must’ve caused Elder Micas to assume you were a villain trying to abduct her, just like his daughter was abducted years ago. So he attacked you, in order to subdue you and get vital information that could lead to the arrest of the villains that abducted his daughter.” Hui Shi stated, after coming to the realization, that Mon Dupa truly did not understand the events that occurred since they last met.

“Is that so? It’s understandable for him to react that way, since many people have been missing all over our city for years now. I’ve also been trying to investigate these missing persons in my free time as well.” Mon Dupa replied, with a look of realization on his face.

“I hope we can find out who’s responsible for this very soon, brother Mon Dupa. I’ve also been working on investigating this issue in my free time as well, like all heroes in the city.” Annette added, shyly.

Chapter 90: Hero License

“It seems this issue is a very pressing issue for the city. I guess when I become a hero in order to be able to carry my blade legally, I’ll also have to investigate this issue.” Lain said with a look of concern on his face. He truly wished to be able to find the culprit of the missing persons incidents. It troubled him that so many innocent people have gone missing.

“You wish to become a hero? Well that reminds me, I have to get going. Sorry for my intrusion. I still have to get ready to take my younger sister to get her hero license tomorrow. When we last met, I was escorting her back from my sect to the city. She wishes to become a hero like me, and bring glory to our sect like in the olden days.” Mon Dupa stated with a look of exhaustion on his face.

“Why don’t we meet up at the hero license office tomorrow? Since brother Lain wishes to take the license I can help guide him there, and he and your sister can both take the tests together?” Annette stated excitedly. She had always loved recruiting new heroes.

“Sounds like a great idea. I truly need help navigating my way around the city. Thank you sister Annette!” Lain said with a look of appreciation on his face.

“I’ll also tag along as well. It’s been a while since I’ve returned home. Following you two will help me relax before I have to head back to my family in the Holy Myan District.” Hui Shi added. He didn’t feel like heading back to his family, until he had helped Lain fully acclimate to living in Yearning Peace City.

“Well, that’s great. I’ll be heading there by noon tomorrow. I hope to meet you guys there.” Mon Dupa said, after hearing their suggestions.

“Perfect! We’ll meet you there.” Lain replied. 

“Enjoy the rest of your night, brother Mon Dupa. I would love to meet your sister tomorrow.” Annette, added with glee.

Hui Shi, who was closer to Mon Dupa, hearing their words, then walked towards the door leading to outside the house, while saying to Mon Dupa. “May Lord Ensieth guide you. Your visit was truly a blessing to us all.” He then opened the door, upon which Mon Dupa walked out of, with his last words echoing in the night. “Thank you brother Hui Shi. May Lord Ensieth guide us all.”

“Well, let’s continue introducing the holographic screens, as well as the other rooms in the house. It’s already very late.” Annette said, with a slight feeling of lethargy building up within her mind, after the fright that she just experienced from Mon Dupa’s strange appearance.

Chapter 91: A Sinister World

“Great idea. I still need to understand the features of the other rooms in the house.” Lain added, with a look of anticipation on his face.

“I see. Follow me then, and let’s go into the first bedroom on the menu. You may click on the menu that says Bedroom 1 whenever you wish. I believe that should be the bedroom on the left based on this district’s usual housing architecture.” Hui Shi stated, before walking towards the bedroom that was situated on the left side of the living room, as Lain, and Annette followed behind him.

At this point in time, while the trio were exploring the stone house, somewhere in a distant, foreign world, something sinister was brewing.

In this foreign world was a dust filled sky, as well as gigantic, towering mountains as far as the eyes could see. The entire world was desolate, filled with sand storms, dry, and overbearingly cold. The temperature within this world was so cold that any regular human would start to freeze within seconds of entering it. 

The world was so desolate and freezing cold, that it seems all signs of life had disappeared from this world ages ago. Even the air within this world had zero oxygen for normal human life to function.

Looking at the countless mountains within this world, you would notice that they looked slightly different from regular mountains created by volcanoes. These mountains instead looked like gigantic ant hills, with hollow openings at their peak, that lead to bottomless abysses below. 

On the sides of every mountain in this world from top to bottom, were countless cave holes that seemed to lead to the deep recesses of the mountains, forming weird tunnels within them filled with the unknown.

On one particular mountain in this world, a weird phenomenon was occurring. Unlike the countless mountains surrounding it, this particular mountain’s peak, instead of being hollow at its center, was filled with a large pool of water, creating a lake at its center.

Situated around this large and mysterious lake, that was weirdly calm, even though violent winds tore through its surroundings, was a large group of humans, numbering in the millions, wearing gray gowns, encircling it barefooted.

This group of people came in different shapes and sizes. Some were very tall, while some were very short. Some were abnormally fat, while some were abnormally skinny. Some were male, while some were female. But this group of people also had weird features in common.

Chapter 92: Cold Vilkerites

They all looked like lifeless corpses, with sunken, dead-looking eyes, and a weird smell emanating from their bodies that turned the calm edge of the blue lake where they were standing, slightly discolored in a grayish tone. Parts of their faces were already visibly decaying, as tiny pieces of rotting flesh, and peeling skin fell off their faces with their slight body movements. Their chests were also strangely still, as if they didn’t need to breathe at all. Not a single ounce of air entered their nostrils, nor did their chest heave rhythmically up and down, as a sign of breathing. 

The most striking feature that this group of people shared in common, wasn’t their corpse-like appearances, but that they were all extremely beautiful. As if a god had spent an inordinate amount of time chiseling every part of their bodies to perfection.

Situated within the group of people that surrounded the lake, was a slightly tall, and feminine looking old man who stood at the edge of the lake, who was currently scanning the entire group with his slightly decaying eyes that had a look of cruelty and violence emanating from them.

This old man, who stood about 6 feet tall, after scanning the group of people numbering in the millions, surrounding the quiet lake before him, started to speak with a voice that sounded deep, baritone, and mellow. “We Cold Vilkerites, over a few hundred thousand years ago, were banished from the main world by the various forces of the wretched Gilagesh Empire like dogs without a home. 

They called us the corpse race and punished us for doing what came naturally to us. Our innate desire to kill, rape, and pillage was chastised, and mocked by the heinous villains of the Gilagesh Empire. But today, we'll be going back to that same empire to wreck havoc! 

Remember brethrens, since we do not breathe, and our bodies are cold to the touch, you must  remember to use your will powers to mimic the bodies of a normal human at all times, until we reach our destination!. 

And be prepared to die for our cause as we venture forth on this mission, in order to fight for the future of us Cold Vilkerites!” 

 He then paused for a minute, as he looked over the lake before him. The others watching him also followed and looked at the quiet lake as well. 

“Now before we enter this portal before us, I must ask you, what should we Cold Vilkerites do to anyone who's not a Cold Vilkerite?” The leader asked as his baritone voice echoed around the calm lake. 

Chapter 93: Savage Chant

But before anyone could respond to his previous question, as they stood by and watched him, as if in preparation for his next words, he yelled mightily in a voice that sent shockwaves rippling throughout the lake. “What do we Cold Vilkerites do to their men?”

“Kill!” The group responded loudly! With the entire lake rippling in waves that cascade all over the bodies of the men standing by it. 

 “What do we do with their possessions?" The leader asked again, this time with an even louder yell, that was valiant and heroic in nature.

“Steal!” The entire group responded even louder than before, their loud and powerful voices causing even more ripples across the lake before them. 

“What do we do to their women?” The leader asked again, even louder and more valiant than before. With an aura of heroism and power clearly visible around his body.

“Rape!” The group responded again, even louder and more majestic than before. 

“What do we do to their children?” He asked one last time, with his gray gown bellowing violently in the wind that originated from the shockwaves of his valiant and powerful voice.

“Eat!” The group responded with a loud cheer that sent violent waves of water crashing into them before tumbling down the mountain below them. 

By the time they were done, their bodies were drenched with water, yet their mood had soared by countless times. With each member of the group looking more valiant and heroic than they were at the beginning.

“And anyone who ever calls us the corpse race? Behead them! Now jump!” The leader yelled angrily, before jumping into the violently tumbling lake in front of him. The rest of the group soon followed after him quickly. 

In a span of minutes, the entire group of people had vanished into the lake. Leaving behind only a body of water that was strangely evaporating by the second.

Within an hour, the large lake at the top of the mountain had already disappeared. Looking at the mountain now, no one would ever believe that there was once a large body of water situated at its top.

Chapter 94: Sinister Clouds

At the same time, millions of miles away, rain clouds started to form at the top of another mountain. The rain clouds were gray and ghastly in appearance. With the painful cries of evil ghouls echoing from within them constantly, as if thousands of miserable souls were being tormented within the rain clouds. 

After an hour’s worth of gathering, crystal blue droplets of rain started to fall from the now mile long congregation of ghastly gray clouds. Countless mirages of different worlds, occasionally flashed within the surface of each water droplet as they fell towards the bottomless pit of the mountain below them, as if the droplets contained countless worlds within them. 

Just as the first drop of water fell from the clouds towards the bottomless pit of the mountain below them, a withered, old and emaciated lady who looked to be in her 90s, dressed in a blue gown, was seen exiting a cave entrance situated at the top of the large mountain where the clouds congregated, like a devil that had just escaped hell. 

Covered in a baleful aura that could make anyone around her shiver in fright, she slowly walked up the mountain like an evil spectre, who craved slaughter, and violence. 

After her appearance outside the cave, countless barefooted people dressed in gray gowns, also started to appear from the many cave entrances situated all over the sides of the same mountain. Each of them were corpse-like in appearance, as well as extraordinarily beautiful. 

After emerging from the cave entrances like evil demons emerging from the underworld, they then slowly started to trek uphill towards the top of the mountain, as the rain fell over the abyss at the center of the mountain’s peak.

After three days of trekking uphill, the last droplet of water fell from the clouds, towards a lake that had now appeared after three days of constant rainfall on top of the mountain, where the abyss was previously located.

The abyss that was previously there, was now filled to the brim with rain water that had coalesced from the rain. The clouds, after filling the abyss with water, quickly disappeared from sight.

By the time the last droplet of water fell from the sky, the countless people that trekked uphill had already arrived in front of the lake, and were now waiting for the withered lady, who first appeared to reach the edge of the lake. 

Chapter 95: Sinister Old Lady

Looking at the pupils of the withered lady, which were strangely too black in color, as she trekked towards the lake, caused the hearts of countless people watching to beat erratically as fear gripped their minds. Looking at the blue gowned lady, whose lithe and small figure, made her look weak and fragile, the people watching her could only be frightened, as if they were watching the evilest devil walk amongst them. A devil who has taken countless lives in the past, and who still wishes to take countless more lives in the future.

The withered lady, whose face was very old, and corpse-like, but still strangely alluring, was the first to start the trek up the mountain, and was strangely also the last to reach the top of the mountain peak as well. By the time she reached the edge of the lake, with her slightly shaky foot steps, the last droplet of water had just fallen onto the lake’s surface.

After looking at the tiny ripple caused by the last droplet of water on the surface of the lake, the lady then slowly looked at the sky above her, as the ghastly clouds disappeared from her sight.

 After a minute of watching the now empty sky with her ghastly, and extremely intimidating eyes. She then looked back at the lake, before saying in the most quiet voice known to man. Words, which were barely a whisper escaped her mouth, scaring everyone who gathered around the now quiet lake as it entered their ears. “We’ve all been through this before, so I won’t bother you with my shallow words.

As always, when we meet other races of humans, we must kill their men, steal their possessions, rape their women, and devour their offspring. Anyone who calls us virtuous Cold Vilkerites, the corpse race, must also be beheaded.”

After stating these words, in a quiet whisper, she then waited a couple eerily silent minutes to gather her evil thoughts, before continuing in the same eerily quiet whisper, that seemed like an evil devil was hissing in the ears of everyone listening. “Now children, enter the portal.”

Hearing her words, the terrified group of people, numbering in the billions, then quickly jumped into the lake before them as if they were desperately escaping her evil grasp, leaving three emaciated people, who were dressed in blue gowns behind, along with the lady.

The three people had at some point in time, situated themselves behind the withered lady, as they stood there humbly with violently pulsating hearts, waiting for her commands in fear and trepidation.

Looking at the lake that was now filled with ripples, from the previous people jumping into it, the withered old lady opened her mouth as more eerie whispers escaped from it. “Now that the children are gone. I’ll now allow you young elders to go to your predestined locations. Remember your missions, and bring back any stragglers.”

Chapter 96: Sorrowful Gait

After a moment’s pause, her eerie whispers continued. “Situ Nan!”

“As you wish, Queendal.” After hearing her words, one of the frightened men behind her stated calmly, before stepping forward. 

The man who stepped forward was dressed in a blue gown, and looked to be in his early twenties. His extraordinarily handsome face had tiny black maggots crawling all over it, as if it was the face of a decaying corpse, with the black maggots eating the decaying flesh on his face constantly.

His handsome face also had a very sorrowful appearance, as if he had just lost his loved ones. His walking body was also hunched over in the most depressing way, like the body of a grieving widower. Tears could be seen falling down his crying face constantly, as he walked forward. Looking at his figure, anyone could see that he was a broken man who’s lived a very sorrow filled life of pain and torment.

After stepping forward, this extremely depressed looking man walked towards the lake and slowly entered it as if he was going towards his own suicidal death. The moment both bare feet of his entered the lake, the lake somehow started to emit sorrowful sounds, from within it. Cries of sorrow echoed all over the lake as the man continued deeper into the lake, which slowly grew louder. By the time his head had disappeared within the lake, the entire lake’s surface had somehow manifested phantoms of men, women, and children, flying sorrowfully all over it. Each phantom figure was crying sorrowfully as if a catastrophe was reaping the lives of their loved ones directly in front of them.

The terrifying cries of the phantoms that appeared all over the lake could make anyone listening weep agonizing tears of sorrow. But the 3 people standing by the side of the lake, watched the phantoms cry coldly, as if they were watching worthless objects. Yet the sorrowful cries went on.

After two hours of sorrowful cries, the lake slowly quietened down, as the phantoms disappeared. 

“Ereiel!” Eerie whispers escaped the mouth of the withered lady again, after watching the lake quieten down.

“As you wish, my liege!” A baritone voice answered back at her, before a young lady took a step forward. Seeing the young and beautiful lady, who was also wearing a blue gown, and looked to be in her late 30s, you wouldn’t expect her voice to be so deep and low. She sounded like a grown man.  

Chapter 97: Cold And Sinister Stride

The young lady had a thin figure, that was about seven feet tall. She towered above the other two beside her, with a dark, yet cold aura emanating from her body that brought a cold chill to the other two by her side.

Each step that the lady took towards the lake, caused a black colored patch of ice to build up underneath her feet, in the shape of her feet. Within each black colored ice patch on the ground, various evil faces with twisted black horns would occasionally appear, looking curiously at the outside world, from within the black ice, before moving to another black ice patch. They seemed to be capable of moving from one black ice patch to another, even though each patch of black ice was never connected. They watched the outside world with their evil gazes, as if they were waiting patiently for prey to come closer.

The moment the lady stepped her bare foot into the lake, the lake started to turn black, starting from where her foot was placed, black ice started to form around her foot, before spreading throughout the entire lake.

By the time her entire body had disappeared into the lake, the entire lake had already turned into a black colored, frozen lake that had creepy, demonic faces with large and intimidating horns, appearing underneath its surface constantly, as if countless evil spectres were hiding deep within the lake, waiting for unsuspecting victims crossing the lake to capture, then torment, and devour. 

Occasionally, black ice in the shape of large demonic arms covered in spikes and large sharp claws, would shoot out from the lake towards random locations in the atmosphere as if they were desperately searching for prey to capture, before falling back into the lake and crashing into its frozen surface powerfully like falling meteors, sending shards of black ice flying everywhere.

The two people waiting by the side of the lake could only patiently stand by as the shards of ice crashed into their bodies. Strangely, the shards of ice did no damage to their bodies or clothing, no matter how violently they crashed onto them. The demonic arm shaped ice that shot out from the ice occasionally also strangely seemed to ignore their presence.

Only after more than an hour of this constant chaos, did the lake slowly defrost and turn back into its original blue color, and temperature.

“Zatlan!” Whispered the withered lady again, eerily. After the lake returned to normal. 

“Yes, your grace.” Replied a nasally male’s voice, that sounded a bit too old and exhausted to make sense. 

Chapter 98: Strange Toddler

After the nasally, aged voice echoed out around the lake, the last person standing behind the lady walked out. This person was only about one and a half feet tall, and had the look of a young male toddler, with small chubby arms and legs, along with a small chubby torso, and small, infant sized blue gown that made him look cute and harmless. His small stature, which was currently waddling forward towards the lake, like a child who just started learning how to walk, was too eerily contrasting to his old and exhausted voice. It was as if an extremely old man had somehow forcefully occupied the body of a young infant.

As he waddled towards the lake, like a child who had just barely learned how to walk, he would occasionally fall on his butt due to misplaced steps, before shakily standing back up again with effort, and continuing on his slow and unsteady steps. It took him a good 15 minutes of slow and unsteady steps, with frequent falls, to make it to the edge of the lake in front of him. He then stood still at the edge of the lake to gaze at its entirety, with an eerie calmness unbelonging to a young infant

His face as he gazed at the lake that he was about to enter, was extremely handsome for a young child, without the slightest sign of decay on it. The only place on his face that had signs of decay were his eyes. Unlike the rest of his face and body which was rosy and beige colored like that of a healthy child, his eyes however, had already decayed beyond recognition.

His eyes have been through so much decay, that his two irises and pupils had already disappeared. Replacing them were large pimples filled with black, and blue liquids that constantly dripped down his handsome, young face, towards the ground beneath him. 

The two white eyeballs of his eyes had also already decayed beyond recognition, and had turned into two yellow balls filled with blue and black holes that oozed out thick blue and black fluids constantly, which also dripped down his face, and fell to the ground. 

The moment these fluids hit the ground, they would immediately sizzle into a puff of bluish black smoke that would spread into the air around him quickly.

His head, unlike those of regular children, was abnormally large and sparsely covered in brown hair. Strangely covering his abnormally large head, other than his hair, were large, pink colored pimples that would occasionally burst out pinkish fluid towards his surroundings. The fluids upon touching the ground would quickly decay the ground, until it turned black, with black noxious gas escaping from it constantly. 

After looking at the lake before him for two long minutes, with a calm gaze that resembled that of a confident serial killer, the young child slowly waddled into the water.

Chapter 99: Stay Still!

As he waddled into the lake, the fluids flowing from his eyes and head would constantly drip into the lake below him. Rapidly causing the lake to transform into a blue and black colored, thick and sticky lake that oozed out toxic gasses of various colors from its surface.

From the noxious gasses emitted by the toxic lake, you would occasionally glimpse strange, terrifying, spectral bodies, moving within them, as if cruel and savage ghosts were hiding within the toxic gasses, waiting to prey on anyone who ventures into them.

By the time the toddler had fully submerged into the lake and disappeared from sight, the entire mountain had become enshrouded in a thick layer of noxious gasses of various colors. Turning what was once a large anthill-like mountain into a mysterious, and terrifying cloud filled with creepy spectral creatures that seemed to phase in and out of existence constantly.

The old and withered lady standing within the fog of noxious gasses by the side of the now toxic lake seemed to be unaffected by its fumes. Even the terrifying spectral figures ran away from her in extreme fright, the moment they appeared by her side, as if she was a terrifying devil, waiting to prey on them.

After an hour of patiently waiting by the side of the lake, the gasses finally cleared around the old withered lady, as the lake turned back into its pure blue color. 

After seeing the lake cleared up, the lady thought to herself. ‘I guess it’s time to go and supervise their missions. Hopefully we kill, rape, and devour more people this time than the last before the villainous military of the Sval Kingdom catches wind of us.’

She then raised her right bare feet from the ground in preparation to walk into the lake. But as her raised feet started to move closer to the lake, the lake’s water receded backwards quickly, as if it was terrified of her.

Seeing the lake’s water recede as her feet drew closer, angered the old lady. She then whispered in slight anger, as her old and intimidating eyes narrowed slightly while looking at the receded lake. “Stay still!”

The moment her whispers escaped her old, and slightly decaying mouth, filled with brown, decaying teeth, a baleful, gray aura emanated from her body that covered the entire lake. The aura caused the entire lake’s previously blue color to turn gray instantly, as skulls of various sizes started to float from somewhere within the lake towards its surface.

Some of the mysterious skulls looked humanoid, while others were monstrous in size, and were shaped weirdly, as if they were those of foreign monsters. Some skulls were complete, while others were broken and shattered, as if they'd been crushed by a frightening force while they were alive. 

Chapter 100: Terrifying Skulls

All these skulls had different, terrifyingly baleful auras emanating from them, with shrill cries escaping their empty mouths, as if they had all died horrifyingly gruesome deaths.

The deafening cries of these floating skulls echoed out powerfully. Spreading thousands of miles around the giant mountain, pushing the sand storms surrounding the mountain away violently.

Thousands of skulls floated to the surface of the lake by the second, until the entire lake’s surface had been filled to the brim with terrifying, crying skulls of various sizes.

Looking at the lake filled with crying skulls, the withered lady smiled, then moved her lifted feet towards the now gray colored lake water.

After stepping into the lake, she whispered. “See? It’s not that hard to be obedient now is it?” 

But after her right foot submerged into the lake, the entire lake started to bubble and boil violently. The crying skulls also started to break, as cracks started to appear all over them. Their cries became even more violent and loud as they boiled within the lake, creating even more shockwaves to erupt from the mountain’s peak that caused the entire mountain to start shaking violently. 

Ignoring the boiling lake, and the screaming skulls that started to shatter as she approached, she ventured further into the lake. With each step she took, causing the lake to boil even more violently, while the temperature within the lake rose astronomically.

After submerging half her body into the lake, half of the lake’s water had already boiled into gray mist that encircled the mountain’s peak. The various skulls within the lake had also been ground to dust, which then flew along with the gray mist of the boiling lake. 

By the time her lithe and withered body had disappeared completely within the lake, the entire lake had already boiled into gray mist. The skulls that had previously littered the surface of the lake, had also been crushed into dust that now flew along with the mist of the boiled lake.

Only a tiny strand of hair from the old lady was left behind, after she disappeared into the lake. That strand of hair floated above the dark abyss at the center of the mountain peak, following the gray mist, for a couple of seconds, before something strange started happening to it.

As the hair follicle gently floated in the mist, it strangely started to morph. Strange human faces started to appear all over the tiny hair follicle. Faces that expressed different terrifying emotions. Some faces seemed to be crying in agony, some seemed to be laughing maniacally, while others seemed to be screaming frantically. Each face looked as if they were moments before their doom, as if something monstrous was about to tear them apart, and devour their remains.

Chapter 101: Strange Hair Follicle

After countless faces appeared all over the hair follicle, they started to grow into real flesh and blood faces. Within a couple minutes, an amalgam of life sized faces replaced the hair follicle, and grew into a circular mound the size of a 4 feet tall human body, before slowly morphing into a humanoid shaped mound. The small humanoid shaped mound of faces, had two arms, and legs, as well as a head made out of countless faces, which were all making terrifyingly agonizing expressions.

The humanoid figure that was made up of countless faces, then started to morph again for the second time. This time slowly turning into the naked body of an old and withered lady. The countless faces had somehow strangely transformed into a complete, and smooth, caucasian, human body.

The naked female body that the faces transformed into was also strangely badly decayed, with the skin covering her chest and torso completely gone. Maggots of various shapes and sizes could be seen viciously biting at the remaining decaying flesh and internal organs within her chest and torso. 

The arms and legs of the female body were also strangely discolored, emaciated, and were emitting a foul, rotten stench, as if they had already been decaying for weeks, with pieces of gray, decayed skin dangling from various parts of them, exposing the badly decayed flesh and bones underneath.

After taking the shape of the decomposing female body, the female body slowly fell to the edge of the mountain peak, away from the abyss at its center.

After touching the ground, the old and withered, female figure which had completed its transformation, started walking down the mountain in slow and unsteady steps. The strangest thing about the naked figure that was walking down the mountain was that her face had a striking resemblance to the old, withered lady that had just entered the watery portal.

The aged, rotting, and naked figure continued walking down the mountain for a couple of minutes, before the cold, gray mists that flew around the mountain’s peak started to transform as well. The mists flew towards the aged figure as she walked, and quickly transformed into countless ghastly human faces around her body.

The ghastly faces, made out of gray mist, were just as terrifying to watch as the faces that grew from the hair follicle that created the aged lady. Each face looked as if it was moments before its agonizing death. The faces appeared to be terrified of an evil entity that was about to cause their cruel and agonizing death.

Chapter 102: At The Peaceful Forest

The ghastly, and terrified faces after drawing close to the lady covered her body from her neck to her feet, as she walked. After fully covering her decaying body, they started to transform again. The ghastly faces quickly morphed into a blue gown that covered up her entire body, from neck to toe. Looking no different from an ordinary linen fabric.

After the ghastly faces transformed into a blue gown, the withered and old lady continued her slow and unsteady steps towards a cave at the side of the mountain. After three days of slow and exhausting steps, she finally entered the cave, before disappearing from sight, as uneven echoes of her shaky steps resounded from within the cave.

A couple days later, somewhere else within the same world, ghastly clouds started congregating over another mountain. It seemed that the Cold Vilkerites situated within this world were currently leaving towards foreign places constantly. Possibly going to cause mayhem wherever they go. 

Back at the peaceful forest, where Mon Dupa found himself in, after fighting Micas, a few days prior, the two elders and Mon Dupa continued their discussion. 

“Did you say, the Fang Clan?” Elder Trent, asked Mon Dupa. With a slightly raised brow. Mon Dupa mentioning the Fang Clan brought back many unsettling memories to his old mind.

“What did those Fang Clan villains do this time? I won't be surprised if they're responsible for my daughter's disappearance!” Micas asked in slight anger. He had already come to a conclusion in his head, that the villainous Fang Clan was likely responsible for his daughter's disappearance a long time ago, since he had always been suspicious of their appearance within his Sval kingdom. He just didn't have proof yet. 

“Don't blame everyone that looks suspicious, Micas! We have diplomatic ties with that clan and are forbidden from harming their members. Besides I'm sure they won't be stupid enough to kill our citizens on our own soil.” Trent couldn’t help but declare to Micas. He knew Micas too well, to not know that he wasn’t afraid of forcefully arresting the Fang Clan member in order to investigate his daughter’s disappearance.

“Well, I guess you have a point there, teacher. Please, young one, let us know what happened with the Fang Clan.” Micas replied, after hearing Trent's words. He then calmed down his slightly angered heart, and kept his suspicions to himself. 

“Earlier this morning, while I was on my way back to the city, after coming from my home back at the Candle King Sect. A member of the Fang Clan passed through the gates in the most dastardly way. He allowed his insect to release toxins that harmed everyone waiting by the gates. 

Chapter 103: Angered Micas

If not for a dear priest of Ensieth who was walking towards the city at that time, I'm pretty sure many citizens of our kingdom would've been seriously harmed by him. 

Due to his obnoxious and callous behavior, I decided it was best to keep an eye on everyone who followed after him into the city after he entered, in order to make sure he wasn't planning to do more dastardly deeds inside the city.

Out of everyone I monitored, only the group with your granddaughter had something weird happen to them. So I decided to do a more detailed investigation on their whereabouts.

That's how I came to where I am right now. Sorry for my rudeness.” Mon Dupa answered carefully. Hoping the two old men before him would understand his circumstances. 

“I see. A deacon of the Fang Clan was responsible for your investigation. They're always going from city to city within our kingdom, doing who knows what and meeting with who knows who.

They’ve been riding on our heads since they came to our kingdom. Now they’re defecating on us, by harming our citizens. They're almost as bad as the corpse race!” Micas replied, after hearing Mon Dupa’s words, with a look of contemplation and anger on his face. He still felt that the Fang Clan was up to no good, and should be removed from the kingdom.

“The Fang Clan have always been known to cause these minor disturbances, but unless they kill our citizens, there's truly nothing we can do about it, child. They're protected by the king of our kingdom, so we can only let them be. We’ve always been trying to pressure the king to rethink our partnership with them, but it seems he won't change his mind any time soon.” Trent replied to Mon Dupa after a moment of thought, with a look of sorrow on his old face. He couldn't help but pity the citizens that had been hurt by the Fang Clan, since they came to the kingdom. 

“It seems, these Fang Clan members are going to become the future corpse race if we keep letting them get away with their behavior. Maybe I should monitor their whereabouts in the future.” Mon Dupa muttered, after hearing Trent and Micas’ words. He felt that the city should be doing more to protect its citizens from the Fang Clan.

“Speaking of the corpse race. Didn't they just cause trouble recently, teacher? They've always been the primary suspect of my daughter's disappearance.” Micas asked old man Trent, with his anger rising up again, at the mention of the dreaded corpse race. His eyes, due to his angered state, turned pale white as if he was going blind again. He even stopped eating food from the table in anger. 

Chapter 104: Micas’ Injury

After his anger erupted, he suddenly started coughing up blood violently, splattering it all over the various delicacies on the table, as well as the grass on the ground. Strangely, the blood that he coughed out was wax-like in texture, and appearance. 

Seeing the wax-like blood all over the table, and the still violently coughing Micas, Mon Dupa quickly realized that he had forgotten to remove the wax that he had left within the body of Micas using his will power, during their earlier battle. He then said to Micas in a hurry. “Sorry for my lack of manners. I’ll remove my will power from your body immediately!”

After saying this, he quickly extended his right arm over the table, towards the coughing Micas sitting opposite him. After doing this, plumes of flames, and wax quickly started to escape from within the body of Micas, as well as the blood that he spat on the ground, and table before flying in the air towards Mon Dupa’s extended arm. 

Within a couple milliseconds, all the flames and wax in the air covered Mon Dupa’s right arm, before receding within his arms mysteriously, and disappearing from sight, like a bucket of water entering the sea.

After the wax and flames left Micas’ body, he slowly stopped his coughing bout, before raising his head tiredly. Trent, who was watching by the side the entire time couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, before snapping his fingers. 

After snapping his fingers, all the blood on the table mysteriously vanished, as if they were all an illusion. Leaving a table filled with perfectly clean plates of delicacies behind. 

Looking at the table filled with delicacies, as if he just created a work of art, Trent stated. “It’s fine. Let’s continue our discussion. Micas can handle this small bit of pain.”

“I had completely forgotten the poor state that my body was in due to our discussion. Thanks for your help, young man. I just need a little bit of rest to get over this small issue. We can continue as normal.” Micas added with a smile on his blood covered lips. He then started eating fruits from the table again. The blood covering his lips, and parts of his blue gown mysteriously started to vanish as he ate.

“As you wish. Well, from what I've heard about the corpse race, they've been causing many disturbances lately as well. Many heroes were even dispatched by the Justice Bureau outside the city to help investigate the destruction of many remote towns and villages nearby, which they suspect is likely caused by the corpse race.” Mon Dupa added while monitoring Micas’ old body carefully, hoping he hadn’t caused too much damage to him. Only after a minute of careful observation did his heart relax.

Chapter 105: A Divine Trueseer

“It's true. I've also been briefed on their illegal activities. It seems they're out looking for sacrifices. Every few hundred years, the corpse race's Ghost Saint Cult always seeks bodies to hunt and defile, in order to create weapons, feed themselves, and rape to start their next generation of children.

In the past they’ve rarely ever come to our city's area, due to its remoteness, and had mostly preyed on other cities within our kingdom. But I guess they must've suffered greatly elsewhere, and decided our small city situated within the outskirts of the kingdom, was a better target this time around than the bigger, and more populated ones located within the inner parts of the kingdom. 

My family and the Justice Bureau are already putting together a task force to go into our nearby villages and towns, as well as our off-world colonies, in order to quell their uprising, before they do more dastardly deeds. Strangely, there have also been reports of various anomalies occurring in our off-world colonies that have baffled us for a while now. That’s why these colonies were included in this mission.” Trent answered the two. 

“Is that so? You won't mind if I send some of my men along with your task force in order to capture some of these villains right? It's been a while since they started to appear around our two cities, so I'm pretty certain they must be related to my daughter's disappearance. 

As you know, my ability to manipulate time doesn’t work in a way that allows me to go back in time at will, otherwise I would’ve gone back to before my daughter died, to rescue her from danger. And although I have the eye sight of the Divine Trueseers, which comes from my Divine Trueseer bloodline, that allows me to see into the past and future, I’ve been strangely incapable of looking directly into the past to investigate what happened to my daughter, no matter how hard I’ve tried, which baffles me.” Micas added in sadness, and defeat. Although he had no means to change the past and save his daughter’s life, he wouldn't sit back and wait, when a clue to his daughter's disappearance was right in front of his eyes. 

‘The fabled Divine Trueseer bloodline that the powerful Sval Kingdom’s royal family also has? No wonder he could manipulate time so easily, he’s from the Ancient Meno race, who are all born blind at birth, because their eyes can only see time, and not light and color. 

His ability to see normally must mean his bloodline must not be pure, but his eyes that glow white when he uses his will power, is a definite proof of his Trueseer bloodline.

That terrifying bloodline that my father once told me grants its user the ability to defeat a god barehanded, is definitely not something I can handle as I am right now, with just one body.’ Mon Dupa couldn’t help but gasp and think those words to himself, as he looked at the weak and fragile looking Micas sitting directly in front of him, whose legendary bloodline from Mon Dupa’s understanding could give him the power to fight gods, and true celestials alike.

Chapter 106: A Dangerous Mission

But after a moment of shock and slight trepidation, he gathered his thoughts and said. “I would also like to join in as well. Although I do not know who your daughter is, I'll always be willing to help get rid of the corpse race, and solve the mysteries of her disappearance. I can capture a few, more powerful members of the corpse race for questioning, if I tag along.” As a hero of the city, he felt like it was his duty to protect everyone from harm. Even those not situated directly within the city itself, so he couldn’t help but volunteer. 

“Great idea! Although we already have a superhero willing to support our men on this mission, having you join us is truly a blessing. You know how hard it is to get superheroes to leave their comfort zone these days, and venture outside the city on our demand, especially when they also have to investigate the Sweet Phenomenon as well as the other miscellaneous problems plaguing the city.

`

 I'll notify the Justice Bureau of your request later today. I believe the task force responsible for this mission will start leaving in a couple of days, until all problematic locations have been attended to. Lastly, be prepared to meet those from outside our kingdom on your mission.

This corpse race issue is something that the entire Empire is trying to solve as a whole.” Elder Trent replied to Mon Dupa, who quickly nodded to him in acceptance. 

He then turned to Micas and continued. “Micas, you can send some of your men as well. I know you have connections to a lot of sects. We'll definitely need all the help we can get. The corpse race has always been a tricky group of people to deal with, so I'm also starting to believe they could likely be responsible for your daughter's death. Their recent appearance and your daughter's disappearance from years back are too coincidental.”

“Thank you, teacher. I'll let my assistant pick a few men stationed in this city, to accompany your Justice Bureau officers as soon as possible. It's been a while since I've seen my granddaughter, so I wish to spend some time with her, until my men bring back vital information.” Micas replied, with a look of appreciation on his face. His pale white eyes started turning back to their original brown color, after getting Trent's approval.

“Son, I also have a request for you. Please help us investigate the missing persons phenomenon more thoroughly when you have some free time in the future. As you've heard Micas’ daughter Michelle, is a victim of it, and we need all the help we can get. I don't fully believe the corpse race or the Fang Clan are truly involved in her disappearance. 

It may be some hidden gang or cult. There's always a new gang or cult starting every year in this city. And it could also be a sect, which is worse. But you can never be too sure” Trent said to Mon Dupa, after listening to Micas’ confirmation. 

Chapter 107: A Distant Universe

“I will try my best. Thanks for allowing me to tag along. I’ll bring some of my men along with me on this trip as well, in order to train them, as well as help me investigate more thoroughly.” Mon Dupa added. Looking at the old Trent who had always been known to try his best for the citizens of the city, he could only feel deep respect towards him. 

“Now, we should head out of here. The battle earlier was a misunderstanding anyways. Young child, I'll teleport you out of my granddaughter's room, after you go back in. Just wait a minute.” Micas stated. He then looked towards Trent, before giving him a slight nod. 

“Goodbye son. As a descendant of the Candle King, I hope you're enjoying your time here in my district, and don't find living in this district too mediocre. 

Let us know if you ever require our help during your future investigations. We’ll send you our contact information later today.” Trent said to Mon Dupa after seeing Micas’ nod. 

“Thank you. I will let you know if I ever require your assistance.” Mon Dupa responded gratefully, then nodded at both elders. Before closing his eyes, in order to blink, after a feeling of discomfort overwhelmed his eyes. 

After opening his eyes, he quickly noticed that he was back inside the small room, filled with moon shaped runes. The little girl was still sleeping on the bed peacefully, without the slightest concern about the outside world.

After two seconds of standing by the bed, before he could examine the room again clearly, he mysteriously vanished from within the room, as if he had teleported elsewhere.

In a distant universe filled with countless stars, galaxies, and planets, there existed one large planet the size of a normal sun. Surrounding this planet was a blue halo of asteroids that revolved around it counter-clockwise. This planet’s surface was strangely covered with over 40% water. As a large ocean occupied less than half the planet, while the other 60% of the planet was a large grassland that was covered in both purple and red colored grasses that were above 14 inches in length. On this large grassland were sparse trees and clusters of strange buildings that seemed to be made using bundles of those red and purple grasses, scattered throughout the massive planet.

The buildings were often cone shaped, looking similar to huts, with grass doors placed on their exteriors, leading to their interiors. The trees, which grew sparsely within this planet looked strangely out of place in this foreign planet covered in red and purple grasses, due to the fact that they were verdant green in color, only about 5 feet in height on average, and had long, bushy vines covered in sharp, and very hard leaves, that seemed to stretch for miles around them.

Chapter 108: The Three Young People

At the top of each of these trees were large green bulbs that seemed to enclose something within them. The strangest fact about these trees wasn't their green color that stood out from the red and purple surroundings, but the fact that there were always cone shaped buildings situated next to them in small clusters, as if to protect them from unknown danger.

On this planet, other than the strange trees, was a particularly large cluster of cone-shaped buildings situated in a small corner of its grassland that was over a thousand miles in diameter. These clusters of buildings were made using the red colored grass that covered their surroundings, causing their colors to be red as well. 

In front of one particular building within this cluster of buildings, two caucasian looking men and a young lady that looked to be around the age of 18, were sitting on three balls made out of bundles of red grass., which seemed to function as chairs for the three of them to sit on.

The lady, whose skin color was brown, was dressed in a red shirt that had a strange blue colored flower drawn on its front that covered her chest area. She looked fit, and looked to be about 7 feet in height, if she stood up, although she was currently sitting down. Other than her height and fit physique, she seemingly had no other outstanding physical qualities to her, she was neither gorgeous, nor ugly. But there was an aura of confidence exuding from her body, as if she has experienced many things in life, and is confident that she’ll break through all future troubles.

Strangely, as she sat quietly on the chair, every breath she took seemed to make the air around her much more pure and fresh, as if her body was capable of cleansing the air she breathed in, into something pure and free from toxins. Everyone who occasionally walked by the trio, couldn’t help but breathe deeper, in order to inhale the fresh air that she breathed out of her body. The air seemed to clear their minds and bodies, and made them more relaxed and intelligent.

One of the men, sitting opposite her to her right, was wearing an English styled suit and pants that were blue in color. He looked to be about 6 feet in height, if he stood up. On his slightly ugly face, his eyes were sharp, yet relaxed. And he exuded an aura of extreme danger from his body that could make anyone fear him at first glance. Sitting on his chair made of red grass straws, he looked more like a dangerous beast that's currently hiding, waiting for a moment to strike a prey, than a human being sitting on a chair relaxedly. 

The strangest part of about this man wasn’t the dangerous aura that leaked out from his body, but the fact that looking closely at his skin, anyone would notice that although his skin appeared supple and soft like a normal human’s, there was also a strange quality to it, that made it look like a stone, chiseled into the shape of human skin.

Chapter 109: Cannibals?

The man wearing the suit, almost appeared similar to a human statue, instead of a living flesh and blood human, as he sat on that bundle of grass that was being used as a chair. Which always made those walking by them take multiple glances at him, in confusion, as they walked by, before looking away, after realizing that his statue-like appearance may be an illusion.

The other man, sitting on the left of the lady was strangely only wearing blue, worn out shorts, with tiny holes and rips all over it. His torso was completely naked, and free of clothing. He had a serious look on his slightly ugly face, but the aura emanating from his body was that of carefree relaxation, as if he was currently sitting at his own private estate, and not in a foreign world filled with danger. Unlike the lady, he was slightly chubby, with few signs of muscles on his naked torso, as if he had never worked a day in his life. 

The most striking trait of this man, was that hidden within the carefree aura emanating from his body, was an aura of dominance, regality and power. This strange aura made the man give out the illusion of an emperor, sitting relaxingly on his throne, as he sat on the red bundle of grass. Even the occasional passerby would unknowingly nod their heads at him in respect, as if they were walking by a great emperor, as they walked by the trio.

Other than the fact that the three people sitting on the chair looked like foreigners, as they were the only ones around them that wore linen-like fabric, instead of clothing made out of bundles of red grass, they really wouldn’t stand out much within a crowd of people, as the aura emanating from them was barely noticeable by most people, and was often disregarded by them as nothing noteworthy, or a mere illusion.

As the three sat facing each other in front of the cone-shaped grass building, with the morning sun glaring down at them, the woman opened her mouth and said with eyes of confusion. “This strange world that we were sent to, keeps getting stranger by the day. We came here as heroes of the Asire Kingdom in order to stop the forces of the corpse race, but why do I feel like this city is stranger than the corpse race itself? Jaiym, Rufut, help me out here. Why do I feel like the people living within this city are cannibals?”

After speaking, feeling anxious she couldn’t help but look at her feet that were surrounded by purple and red grasses, and stare at the grasses with intense scrutiny. Looking at the purple grass for a couple of seconds, she couldn’t help but realize that it may not be grass that she was looking at, but some unknown fungus species that seemed to grow in the shape of grass. She could even see traces of tiny purple spores being released into the air that seemed to absorb the carbon dioxide that she breathed out into the air.

Chapter 110: Plant-Like Species

Due to the unique nature of her body, her body was capable of purifying deadly, evil, and toxic things in the environment. And strangely these spores seemed to consciously try to avoid her body, as if they were capable of sensing her body’s purifying nature, and were afraid that she’ll cleanse them. Noticing this behavior of theirs made her feel slightly uneasy. The fact that these tiny spores were trying to avoid being purified by her body, tells her that they may not be beneficial for the environment and the people of this world. There may be evil or nefarious reasons why these toxic, but conscious lifeforms are on this planet.

Realizing that the purple, grass looking fungus was a bit too creepy, she couldn’t help but look away from it, otherwise she may try to burn every one of them on the planet to the ground immediately, which wouldn’t be a good thing to do right now. 

After looking away, she decided to look at the red grass that also seemed to be made out of another unknown, non-plant species. Looking at it with intense scrutiny, she noticed after a couple of minutes that the red grass looked more and more like fresh blood, that seemed to have been molded into the shape of grass instead of real grass, and it seemed to be strangely capable of producing oxygen too, making her quickly come to the conclusion that it was a beneficial species for the environment, even though the scent coming from it was a slightly bloody odor, that made her feel very creeped out. She couldn’t help but accept the fact that destroying it could harm the people on this planet, due to its oxygen producing nature. 

Looking away from the red, grass shaped molds of blood by her feet, she couldn’t help but think to herself. ‘This planet truly is a weird, and creepy place. Not a single plant grows on this planet, but people can still live here because it seems the red, plant-like organism produces oxygen for the people to breathe in, while the spores from the purple, plant-like organism absorb the carbon dioxide that people breathe out, creating a perfect cycle.

Whatever these red and purple species of life are, it’s best to be careful of them in the future. They seem too strange, and creepy.’

“Little sister, I think we may need to investigate more into this matter before we draw our conclusion. If our teleportation into this world didn’t go out of control and sent the team that came with us to different planets, it would’ve been much easier for us to solve our current predicament, by using brute force, but since it did, we should be more cautious. Although cannibalism and the corpse race go together like poop and piss, I don’t believe this is related to the corpse race at all. Something strange is happening within this kingdom that this capital city that we’re in governs, and I think it’s been going on long before the corpse race arrived here. 

From what I know, the corpse race behave like terrorists, and only know how to rape, destroy and pillage, whereever they go. While this kingdom that we’re in seems to have been consuming human flesh throughout their entire history, which could be thousands to millions of 

Chapter 111: Carefree Stroll

years. Something the corpse race isn’t capable of doing, as they prefer raping, and killing all humans, instead of letting some live, like what’s occurring here in this kingdom.

And that's what I've gathered over the past couple of days that we’ve been here on this aboriginal wasteland planet.” The man wearing the suit replied, while looking around at the nearby buildings that occasionally had people of many different skin colors, wearing clothing made out of red grass coming out of them, before going elsewhere. He was also intrigued by the wonders of the planet around him, but didn’t care too much whether those walking by heard his speech. It seemed the people around him didn’t care about being called cannibals.

“That’s right Jaiym, we really should be a bit more cautious. We may not be facing the corpse race on this matter, but we will still need to get rid of the corpse race that may be within this city in the future.” The lady added. Before turning to look at the half naked guy wearing shorts sitting in front of her, on her left.

Seeing the lady look at him, the half naked guy immediately spoke up in anger.“Well, I would prefer if we just look for the leaders of this kingdom, and beat them until they give us the answers we need. But since Jaiym wants us to wait, I’ll go stroll around. Maybe I’ll find out more information about this place. Catch you guys later!” Before getting up from the bundle of red grass that he was sitting on, and walking away from the front of the house. Leaving a slight echo of his baritone voice that demanded respect and obedience, behind.

As he was leaving, the suited man, who was named Jaiym by the young lady, called out to him with a smile. “Rufut, be back before midnight, and make sure not to eat any meat given to you by the residents here. We still have a lot of work to do!”

“Come back soon! This place gives me the creeps brother!” The lady added with a look of anxiety written on her face. It seemed she just couldn’t feel safe on this planet that they were currently in that was covered in creepy plants, and filled with cannibals.

“Don’t worry, sis. I have some investigation to do.” The guy named Rufut replied relaxingly, before walking further away in a carefree manner on the red and purple grassland that had people and buildings all over it. As he walked, each person he passed by couldn’t help but pause and nod at him with a respectful smile, as if they were greeting an emperor. Those ahead of him, even moved aside hurriedly before he came close to them, making his carefree walk through the street that seemed to be getting busier and busier by the minute as the morning slowly turned into noon, a very relaxing and mesmerizing walk. 

 Within a few minutes, he turned a corner, and disappeared behind a building in the distance.

Chapter 112: Where’s Lain?

“Now, I wonder what’s going on with Lain. It seems the Gilagesh Empire as a whole is sending small teams of heroes, and the Justice Bureau officers to the area we grew up in, due to this corpse race issue. I hope he doesn’t get caught up in all of this.” The lady spoke, after watching Rufut disappear before her eyes, to Jaiym.

“Well, I think he may be in trouble. He’s probably exploring the outskirts of our Sval Kingdom, near our home town, Yearning Sweet. That means, there’s a chance these corpse race rejects may find him. And knowing our teacher, he must’ve placed a lot of restrictions on his strength, that’ll make him much weaker than all of us. 

An omnipotent guy like him can’t truly learn much from exploring the small world that we grew up in. If he wasn’t the strongest out of all of us, he would have received less restrictions on his strength than us. But now he’s definitely going to struggle against the insignificant insects called the corpse race that plagues the surroundings of our Yearning Sweet Town and beyond.” Jaiym replied, in slight sadness. It seemed he truly didn’t want Lain to be harmed.

“That sucks. Maybe I should go to him. I really need to help him!” The lady couldn’t help but reply in anxiety, before standing up, but after standing up for a couple of seconds, she sat back down again in defeat. Saying to Jaiym with anxiety, and depression written on her face. “Oh right! We’re here. I can’t go to him right now, unless our teacher releases his restrictions on my body.” 

“Don’t worry, my funny little sister, Ralif. Little Lain can handle himself very well, you know he always wanted to travel solo across the world. He may suffer a bit, but don’t worry about his life. He’s not invincible for no reason, so even with the restrictions he should be able to manage. When he’s bored, he’ll probably go back home.” Jaiym stated after seeing her actions, with a slight look of worry on his face.

“If you say so. I’ll go back inside now. This place creeps me out. If I talk to anyone here, I may accidentally punch them in the face for being cannibals.”  She replied, before gloomily standing up and heading inside the hut shaped grass building situated in front of her.

Watching the young lady called Ralif walk into the building, Jaiym nods slightly in acknowledgement, before looking up at the sky above him. Looking at the blue sky above that shone with a slight hint of purple, due to the countless tiny spores in the air, strangely had no moons around it, and also was covered in a distant belt of asteroids that encircled the planet in plain view from the ground below, he couldn’t help but feel bored inside. 

Chapter 113: A Tiny Toad

‘This world, or in this case, this universe, that’s probably crawling with the corpse race is pretty interesting. This strange universe will definitely suffer for a few more years before we can get rid of the corpse race.’ He thought to himself. Before closing his eyes and continuing his train of thoughts. ‘I wonder if Lain is alright. Teacher, you’re a fool for limiting our strengths. We truly need all the power we can get to survive in this dastardly world.’

After thinking these thoughts to himself, he then slowly opened his eyes, before heading back inside the grass building next to him that seemed to function as a house. Saying to himself, “I need to go take a nap. This world is weird and boring.”

Left behind by him were the three grass-ball chairs that occasionally were passed by strangers wearing grass garments that were molded into various shapes that resembled dresses, gowns, shirts, shorts, skirts, and pants. Strangely, the language spoken by these strangers as they passed by the chairs were very similar to the Svalian dialect, spoken by the trio that had just left, but with some slight differences here and there, that made it more unique.

As the people busily passed by, a tiny, finger sized green toad could be seen hopping onto one of the grass chairs. After taking a full five minutes trying to climb up the uneven, grass chair with all its strength, it finally arrived at the top of the chair where Jaiym previously sat on before laying down, and looking up at the sky in thought. It could be noticed from its eyes, that this toad seemed to have some level of intelligence, as it relaxed on the chair and looked aimlessly at the sky above it in deep thought, while people walked by, completely ignoring its tiny existence.

Back at the stone house in Yearning Peace City, after Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette entered the room that previously had the sick father of Elena sleeping within it, Hui Shi smiled. He then started to look around once more, because the last time he entered the room, he was in a rush and only saw the bed and picture frame.

As he, and the now entering Annette and Lain looked around, they all saw a small room with a walk-in closet on the left wall of the room, a waist high stone desk and chair combo, next to the wall connected to the living room that they just came from, and the bed and picture frame that was previously mentioned that were situated next to the wall opposite the entry doorway that they just walked through.

After looking around for a few minutes in the room that was bare of anything other than furniture, Hui Shi then turned around to talk to Annette and Lain. Saying to them, “This room functions the same way as the living room on the holographic menu. Swiping up or down on any furniture can change its texture, and swiping in the middle of the holographic screen hovering in front of you can change the room’s temperature.

Lastly, before we continue, I would like for you to pull up the Doors menu at the top. I would like to show you something.”

Chapter 114: The Doors Menu

Hearing his words, Lain quickly pushed on the Doors menu button on the menu, after briefly glancing at the Bedroom 1 screen that showed the inside of the bedroom that they were currently standing within, in real time.

After pushing on the Doors menu button, the canvas that previously showed the current bedroom disappeared. After its disappearance, multiple pictures of doors appeared on the screen, in 5 rows that led down the screen, with each door having a name situated at its center.

While Lain was looking at the doors that appeared on the screen, Hui Shi continued with a charming smile on his extremely handsome face. “Each door in this house also functions as a window, including the main door of the house that’s situated in the living room. The main door is also the only door in the house that can be pushed open on opposite sides of it, in order to enter or exit the house. Along with the main door, every wall in the house can also be turned into a window, and a doorway, using the same vertical swiping method that I mentioned earlier.

Swiping up on a wall changes its opacity rating from 100% to 0% and vice versa. Setting a wall’s opacity at 50% or higher turns it into a see-through window. Any rating below 50% allows you to walk through the window, as if it’s a doorway, but odors, winds, and small objects cannot pass through.

Once the rating is set to 0%, all objects can pass through the wall without any setbacks, as it becomes a fully functional doorway. 

Lastly, any rating above 50% stops you and all objects from passing through the wall, turning it into a window, instead of a doorway. The opacity also increases with each percentage increment, until you reach 100%, where the window then turns into another solid wall that can’t be seen through or entered. 

And if you’re wondering if you can get trapped within the doorway if someone changes the opacity while you’re walking through? Fear not, the opacity will only change after you set it, but only after any objects currently within the doorway have exited the doorway.”

Hearing his words, Annette couldn’t help but chuckle. She then placed her left hand on Lain’s left shoulder, saying to him. “This is a pretty useful feature that allows you to turn any wall in your house into a window or a doorway. Giving you the ability to freely enter or exit your home at any location in case of emergencies. Nifty, isn’t it?”

Lain couldn't help but nod his head, after hearing both Hui Shi, and Annette’s words, before swiping up on the door icon that correlated to the doorway that they just came through, only stopping when the rating number that floated next to his finger stopped at 100%. 

Chapter 115: The First Bedroom

He then turned around to see if there would be changes to the doorway, as Annette’s left hand fell off his shoulder. Looking at the doorway, he was immediately mesmerized, as the opened doorway within the blink of an eye quickly turned into a wall that looked no different from the other walls in the room, covered in runes. Doing this, he completely enclosed everyone inside the room. 

Feeling very interested in this technology, he swiped down on the same holographic door icon in front of him again, which caused the wall to quickly vanish before his eyes and turn back into a walk-through doorway.

“See? It’s pretty useful isn’t it?” Annette said, while she also looked at the doorway along with Lain, in slight admiration.

“It truly is.” Lain replied, with a smile. He couldn’t help but think in his mind, while mesmerized by the magical properties of runes. ‘I can’t believe there’s such amazing technology in this world. If only my village wasn’t so remote. We definitely could make use of this technology back home. I wonder how much it costs to build though?’

“Now that you know how the doors work, let’s continue.” Hui Shi added, before going towards the closet on the left side of the room. Annette, hearing him, quickly grabbed Lain’s left hand and dragged him along.

After walking by the chair and desk, they ended up stopping in front of the walk-in closet in the room. After stopping, Annette quickly opened her mouth and joyfully said to Lain. “The table and desk should function like most tables and desks in other houses.”

“You’re correct sister Annette, tables and desks are often made with drawers that have space expansion runes inscribed within them, that make the room inside of them bigger than usual. And they also function just like the sofa in the living room. Their weight can be adjusted through the holographic television to make it easier to move them around the house as well.” Hui Shi added, while looking down at the chair and desk that they just passed in satisfaction.

“So I can adjust the table and chair in front of me just like I did with the sofa from before. That’s pretty cool.” Lain couldn’t help but blurt out in amazement before clicking on the Bedroom 1 menu button. Which brought out the holographic version of the room.

Although he wanted to play around with the chair and desk in front of him, since he already knew how they worked, he decided it was best to wait until they were done going through the house in detail, before coming back in the future to explore each feature of the house until he’s satisfied.

Chapter 116: Bathroom In Detail

“It is pretty cool. I’ll let brother Hui Shi finish introducing the features of the room now.” Annette couldn’t help but say shyly, before letting go of Lain’s hand, and waiting quietly by Lain’s side, as he looked at the holographic room in front of him in wonder.

“Thanks sister Annette, I’ll continue now by letting you know that directly in front of us is the entrance to both the bathroom of this room, and the closet.” Hui Shi stated, as he looked left and right, while standing in front of the closet.

“Directly in front of us is a wall with hooks, and shelves that can be used to store clothes and towels, so it can be seen as a small closet of sorts. On its left is a doorway that leads to the bathroom of the room, and on its right is a doorway that leads to the formal closet of the room.” He added, with a smile, before walking towards the bathroom’s doorway on the left.

“Both the bathroom and the closet have space expansion runes that make the space within them larger than they should be.” Annette stated with a smile.

“Is that so?” Lain couldn’t help but ask, as he looked away from the screen in front of him towards the walk-in closet, which now appears to be an entryway that leads to the bathroom and the real walk-in closet, before following Hui Shi into it.

“Yup. The bathroom is a normal bathroom, with a toilet bowl, as well as a shower section that allows you to clean yourself.” Hui Shi replied. Before moving to the side to allow Lain and Annette to enter the room.

Entering the bathroom, Lain couldn’t help but notice how large it was. It was almost the size of the bedroom that they just exited. On the left side of this bathroom, situated directly on the opposite wall facing Lain, was a bowl that Lain assumed must be the toilet bowl. On the right side of the bathroom, was a large bathtub that reached from the opposite wall, towards the entrance wall that Lain, Hui Shi and Annette were standing by.

On the entrance wall, directly above where the bathtub is, there seemed to be a holographic screen levitating by it.

After seeing this new holographic screen, Lain couldn’t help but walk over to it. Seeing Lain walk towards the screen, Annette quickly opened her mouth to speak, as she followed him from behind. “That holographic television is a bathroom menu. Every house has it.”

Hui Shi, while looking around the clean, and white colored bathroom that was covered in faint, light-blue runes, said slowly, “It allows you to change the settings of the bathtub and the shower. Its controls are pretty simple, and very easy to learn.”

Chapter 117: The Bathtub’s Holographic Screen

“Yup, they are.” Annette replied, after arriving by the side of the holographic screen, with Lain. After seeing the holographic screen up close, Lain couldn’t help but marvel at its ingenuity.

On this new holographic screen, there were only three large buttons that read Bathtub, Shower, And Toilet.

While Lain was staring at the menu buttons, Hui Shi continued. “There should be three standard light-blue colored buttons on the screen. Bathtub, Shower and Toilet. The appliances in the bathroom are controlled by voice command. Clicking on a button tells the holographic television which appliance you would like to control using your voice. 

You can also use your voice to tell the television, which appliance you wish to command also, by stating the appliance’s name before you issue the command.”

“Commands?” Lain couldn’t help but ask, before clicking on the shower button. Clicking on the shower button, made the holographic button that was originally light blue in color start to wiggle back and forth in place for a couple seconds, before turning red, and staying still again.

“Yes. Commands allow you to control the appliances. You can give any reasonable demand to the holographic screen, and it will do as told. For example, if you click on the shower button and tell it to turn on the water, the runes in the room will condense water above the bathtub that you can take a shower in.” Annette replied with a smile. 

Hearing her words, Lain did just that. He quickly said, “Please turn on the water in the shower.” 

A second after he did, water started falling from the space above the large bathtub. The water seemed to appear from thin air directly above the ceiling of the bathroom before falling towards the bathtub on the floor of the bathroom. Strangely, Lain noticed that the water, upon touching the bathtub, seemed to evaporate and vanish from sight.

Marveling at the sight of that, he couldn’t help but bend down and touch the bottom of the bathtub with both hands. Touching the bottom, he realised that it was dry to the touch, but the water that fell on his hands didn’t evaporate, but instead rolled down his hands towards the bathtub below.

Watching Lain play with the bathtub, Annette, continued her explanations. “Saying the same command after pressing the bathtub button, causes water to condense at the bottom of the bathtub instead of evaporate. Naturally, you can change the temperature of the water that falls down, on command as well, by stating that you want hot, warm, cold or very cold water. You can even tell the holographic system what exact temperature you wish the water to be in, and it’ll change to that temperature.” 

Chapter 118: Entering The Closet

“I see.” Lain replied, before getting up from the ground. He then stated loudly. “Please turn off the water.” 

After his words echoed out in the air for a second, he quickly noticed the rain that was falling onto the bathtub disappear quickly.

“You’re catching on.” Annette couldn’t help but chuckle and say, after watching what just occurred.

Hui Shi on the other hand could only smile and nod at her words, while Lain smiled back at her as well, as a sign of acknowledgement.

“The toilet also works the same way. After using it, telling the television to flush or clean the toilet, will automatically clean the toilet, both inside and out, using the runes engraved on it.” Annette said, before walking away from Lain, towards the entrance of the bathroom.

“I see. This is completely different from the bathroom at my old home. We had to bathe in buckets, and could only use outhouses for toilets, as we lived far from town, in a more secluded area.” Lain voiced out in jealousy. Before also walking towards the entrance of the bathroom.

“I’ll try to figure things out on my own in the future. There’s no need for me to test the toilet right now.” Lain couldn’t help but say with a blush on his face, because he didn’t want to use the features of the toilet right now. Even if he did, he definitely wouldn’t use it while others were watching him.

“Sounds good. Just remember in the future that many of your voice commands can be accomplished by the bathroom’s intelligence system, as long as they’re reasonable. This includes changing the layout of the bathroom itself.” Annette replied, standing by the side, and looking at the quiet Hui Shi, standing by the entrance.

Hearing her words, Lain nodded slightly. Hui Shi, seeing his nod, quickly said. “Now that we’re done here, let’s go to the closet before we head to the kitchen. There’s not much to show in there.” Before walking out of the bathroom towards the closet’s entrance opposite them. Annette, and Lain, quickly followed behind him quietly.

Entering the closet, Lain saw an empty room, with white hooks and shelves on every wall. Its design was simple, as he expected from a room that was designed to store clothing.

“This room is a standard closet. There’s nothing really special about it other than the fact that it has space enlargement runes engraved within it that makes the area within it larger than it should be.” Hui Shi stated, with slight boredom, as he looked around at the empty closet.

Chapter 119: The Closet’s Interior

“I heard that most closets are made sturdy enough to be used as training rooms, from a friend of mine. Is that true, brother Hui Shi?”  Annette, standing by the side, couldn't help but ask, while also looking around the room.

“Technically yes. But this room, although can be used as a training room, requires special blood to power the runes in it in order to handle the destruction that fighting within it can cause. But right now, it’s not capable of that, as the blood given by sister Annette earlier was used to power the runes in the entire house, not just this small closet, so fighting within this closet right now, would need you to pour blood specifically in this room, in order to power the runes within it.” Hui Shi replied, in deep thought. 

“This closet can also be used as a training room? What special blood is required?” Lain, listening by the side, quickly asked, after realizing that this slightly large closet could also be used to test his strength in the future.

 “I don’t really know. But if it works like the battle room in my chariot, then you’ll probably need the blood of a creature that’s stronger than you, otherwise the room will not be able to handle your strength.” Annette replied shyly. She could only guess, as she didn’t know the technicalities of how it worked. Some houses were built vastly differently than others, so she may be wrong.

“Well, you’re correct. All you need is blood capable of handling your strength at max capacity. Drop the blood on the pervite floor of this closet, and the runes will absorb enough blood to first replenish the entire household, then store the excess for when the room is damaged from within.

This alternative use of this room comes with the ability to expand its size to the size of the entire house, in order to accommodate your battles. You just have to hold the house key with you, and verbally state that you want to enlarge this closet to its maximum capacity, and its size will increase drastically before your eyes.” Hui Shi added, before looking at Lain with a slight smile, to see if he understood.

“I see, thanks. I may use this feature in the future. I don’t have that many clothes, so the little closet in the hallway that leads to this closet will probably be all I need.” Lain, replied with a nod, before walking a couple steps into the room. After doing that, he stated verbally. “Please expand this room to its maximum capacity!”

Immediately after he uttered those words, the walk-in closet that he was in, that was smaller than a normal room, changed drastically. The runes on the floor and walls, glowed brightly in a light blue hue, before the air around Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette, seemed to warp and stretch before their very eyes, causing them to feel slightly dizzy. By the time the bout of dizziness faded, the room had already enlarged into a size much larger than the entire house. 

Chapter 120: Entering The Kitchen

It was almost the size of a small stadium. The shelves, and clothing hooks, were still there, but they were now spread out from each other, as the space between each hook and shelf seemed to have expanded. Even the ceiling was eight times its previous height.

“Pretty cool, right? You can go back to normal, by telling the key to return the room to its previous size.” Hui Shi stated with a smile. Annette, standing by the side, also smiled as she looked around the expanded room. This space expanding technology, always marvels her every time she experiences it. 

“I see. Thanks for the advice. I like the closet at the current size, so I’ll leave it at its current setting. I may use it in the future for training.” Lain replied, while still looking around at the expanded room. He couldn’t believe that runes could be used in so many unique ways. Although he didn’t like the fact that it was all powered by blood, he still had to admit that runes were truly a useful invention.

“Great idea. It’s great to have a place to test your strength. There shouldn’t be much else to this room other than its space expansion feature, and its ability to take damage, from what I’ve heard. So we should probably move on to the next room.” Annette replied. She then looked at Lain, to confirm his answer. Seeing her look at him, Lain could only smile, and nod, before going back to gawk at the expanded room some more. He truly loved the space expansion feature of this room.

“That’s true, sister Annette. Let’s go to the kitchen.” Hui Shi stated, after hearing her words, and seeing Lain’s nod of approval. Then after looking at the closet, one last time, he turned his back on the gawking Lain, who was still looking at the expanded closet in admiration, and walked back towards the living room, which they came from, before making a left turn into another room.

Seeing Hui Shi leave, Annette couldn’t help but chuckle and say to Lain. “Let’s catch up to brother Hui Shi. You’ll have a lot of time to admire your new home in the future.” Before following Hui Shi towards the next room.

Looking at his future training room one last time, Lain couldn’t help but thank Elder Micas and Elder Trent in his heart for the home he just received, before following Annette into the next room.

Entering the kitchen, what greeted Lain, was Hui Shi, and Annette standing inside a large, rectangular room, with a floor to ceiling window, that stood opposite the entryway that he just passed through. They were looking around in slight intrigue, at the familiar, yet unfamiliar room. 

They both stood by the left and right side of the entryway quietly waiting for Lain to enter the room and acclimate himself to the features inside of it. 

Chapter 121: The Kitchen 

Entering the room, Lain couldn’t help but gawk and look around. While looking he saw cabinets all over the room, covered in faint rune patterns. Some cabinets were placed above his head, while others were placed closer to the ground. The only locations without cabinets were the windows in front of him, the entryway that he came from, and a doorway towards his right that seemed to lead to another room.

On the left side of the room that he was currently in, an island table was placed, along with chairs that seemed to be chiseled from stone. The island table wasn’t too large, but was big enough for 6 chairs to be placed around it. It was still small enough for people to move around it within the kitchen. 

Placed on the left most wall of the kitchen, was a countertop that was also made of the same stone-like object, pervite. It seemed it was created to be used for washing and chopping foods of all sorts. On the countertop, two faucet-like tubes made from the same granite stone-like object could be seen by Lain. Directly below them was a round, concaved section of the pervite countertop that seemed to have been made to hold the water.

While Lain and Annette were looking around, mesmerized, Hui Shi’s voice rang out. Dragging them out of their trance. “This room is the kitchen. Clicking on the kitchen menu button will allow you to view the holographic version of the kitchen, and control the various appliances and cabinets within.”

Before Lain could press the kitchen’s menu button, Annette continued where Hui Shi left off in glee. “If my guess is correct, the temperature of the table in front of us, on the left, can be adjusted, along with the countertop, and the cabinets around this room. That way food left on top of them or inside of them can be kept warm or cold.”

After speaking she smiled and glanced at Hui Shi, before saying, “Am I right brother Hui Shi? Some kitchens are usually custom made differently, so I may be wrong here.”

“That’s correct, sister Annette. This standard room comes with adjustable countertop, cabinet and table temperatures. Swiping up or down on these appliances through the holographic TV screen allows you to change their temperature at your whim.” Hui Shi replied, with a dashing grin, but before he could continue speaking, Annette added with a nod and a smile. “And the coolest aspect of these two appliances is that you can touch their surfaces without getting burned or frozen, no matter how high or low the temperature gets. This allows you to cool or cook your meals on their surfaces without the threat of bodily harm!” It seemed she truly loved explaining facts about the kitchen. 

“That’s interesting.” Lain replied, before clicking on the kitchen menu button on the holographic screen in front of him. Which pulled up a mini version of the kitchen. 

Chapter 122: A Strange Anomaly

“Touching the top of the two tubes on the countertop causes the runes inscribed on them to condense water from the environment outside the house into the tubes, and release them from the holes within the tubes. Giving you access to hot and cold water. You can also just state loudly to the house key that you wish to turn on cold or hot water from the kitchen’s faucet, and the same thing will occur.” Annette continued, after seeing Lain pull up the holographic kitchen.

“Thanks! This is a pretty interesting kitchen. Life would've been so much easier, if we had this back at my home.” Lain voiced out in jealousy.

“Me too. I didn’t grow up with a kitchen like this either. I bought my first home, only after years of effort working with the Justice Bureau officers.” Annette added with slight melancholy in her voice. 

“You two must’ve had it rough growing up.” Hui Shi couldn’t help but say, before putting his hands on both their shoulders, in understanding. The golden glow emanating from his warm hands quickly entered their bodies, cleansing their slightly melancholic minds, and soothing their aching souls. 

“Yeah.” Annette, and Lain unwillingly replied with sighs. Before going back to looking around the room again, after being cleansed by the sacred, golden light emanating from Hui Shi’s hands. It seems they’ve come to terms with their difficult pasts.

After opening a few cabinets, and playing with the appliances within the kitchen for a couple of minutes in silence, Lain quickly got over the novelty of the kitchen’s appliances.

Seeing Lain stop moving around in wonder and awe, Hui Shi realized it was time to check out the last room. 

“You should probably go and check out the last room, called Bedroom 2 in the holographic TV menu. It’s likely identical to the first bedroom that we just came from, and will be very familiar to you.” Hui Shi stated with a slight relaxing smile on his face, before looking through the floor to ceiling glass window in the kitchen towards the backyard of the house that showed the forest behind the house. It seemed that something outside of the window caught his closed eyes.

“There’s probably nothing much in there. But I’ll follow you along.” Annette added before guiding Lain to the doorway of the last bedroom that was situated on the right side of the kitchen.

Looking into the last bedroom, Lain saw an identical bed, closet, chair, and desk inside of it similar to the first room he had visited. There was truly nothing there that was different, other than the fact that the bed in the new bedroom was located on the left side of the room, and was smaller in size than the one in the first bedroom that he visited. 

Chapter 123: Moth-Like Insect

Appearing to be the bed that was made for a child instead of an adult. The table, desk, and closet were situated directly in front of the doorway, with the closet being on the wall opposite the doorway.

While Lain and Annette were looking at the last bedroom, Hui Shi slowly walked towards the floor to ceiling window, and turned his face towards the forest behind the house with a higher level of scrutiny, as if he was looking for something, even though his eyes were closed.

Looking towards the forest of grasses, for more than a couple of minutes, he noticed a small, green colored, flying moth-like insect, with legs and eyes, similar to those of a spider. It was the size of a fruit fly and was watching them menacingly as it flew around the backyard of the house, a dozen or so feet from the window. Noticing that it was being monitored by Hui Shi, even though Hui Shi’s eyes were closed, the tiny insect quickly flew into the forest of grasses, and disappeared from sight.

Noticing the tiny, but menacing insect disappear from his front, Hui Shi stood there in deep contemplative thought, as he remembered that the Fang Clan were masters at controlling insects. ‘I hope this isn’t the Fang Clan at play here, but unfortunately it possibly might be. There’s already so much to deal with in this world filled with danger. I can’t believe the Fang Clan members have nothing better to do than monitor a priest and two regular people.’ Hui Shi thought to himself, after moments of careful deliberation. But before he could continue his train of thoughts, the voice of Annette caught his attention, so he decided to forget what just occurred for now, until everyone was done looking through the house.

“It is truly identical.” Annette's voice rang out, as she looked into the room, completely ignoring the sound of Hui Shi’s bare feet moving around behind her. She then said to Lain. “If this bed is like most beds that I’ve come across, you can adjust the size of the bed through the holographic menu. Just touch the bed’s icon within the holographic menu, using two fingers. Then drag those two fingers towards opposite directions, and the bed’s size will enlarge as your fingers move apart.” 

Hearing her words, Lain nodded his head in appreciation, before clicking on the last bedroom’s menu button. After doing so, the holographic screen in front of him changed until he was looking at a holographic replica of the room in front of him.

After seeing the holographic screen change, Lain quickly located the small bed within the holographic room, and touched it with his two index fingers before dragging them apart. As he did so, he amazingly saw the bed in front of him enlarge slowly, along with the bed within the holographic screen. 

He continued to enlarge the bed until it was the size of a king sized bed, before he let his two fingers fall down from the holographic screen.

Chapter 124: We’re Being Monitored?

Looking at the king sized bed in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel amazed by its size change. “That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Annette asked gleefully next to him.

“It truly is. This is a very useful feature of the bed. I thought I may need to buy a new bed to replace this one in the future, if I ever needed to invite guests over.” Lain replied, with a smile. He knew he was short of money, so a new bed would’ve been hard to acquire as he was right now. This feature truly saved him from future trouble.

After another two minutes of Annette looking around the room, while Lain played with the holographic screen in front of him. Adjusting the settings of the furniture in the room, Annette finally said to him. “Well, that should be the end of the house tour. The back of the house, from what I can see, is just a forest of overgrown Riddlegrain grass, and Old Pike trees. Old Pike is the name of triangular red colored trees, if you’re wondering. They have a slightly sweet citrus-like scent and taste to their leaves that makes them a favorite snack for children in our city to snack on.”

“I see. Thanks for the help! I’ll try plucking the some leaves in the future, they may be great for brewing tea” Lain replied, before they both walked out of the room, towards Hui Shi, who was standing in front of the floor to ceiling window in the kitchen, pondering over things Lain, and Annette were unaware of.

“Brother Lain, I would hold off on bringing guests over right now. I heard you earlier mention this, and I would caution you on this, since I believe we’re being monitored by the Fang Clan.” Hui Shi said gloomily with a look of concern written on his face, as he saw Lain and Annette walk towards him.

“We’re being monitored?” Annette replied in shock. Before looking around desperately. She couldn’t help but shiver, since she didn’t notice anything strange, even though after Mon Dupa’s appearance, she became a lot more alert of her surroundings subconsciously.

“Really?” Lain asked as well, while looking around in slight doubt. He was too focused on the house tour earlier to pay attention to his surroundings. He had just arrived in the city, so he thought he should have no enemies.

“Yes. I just saw a monitoring insect patrolling the outside of the house, that I believe may be from the Fang Clan. There aren’t many insect controlling will powers in this kingdom from my understanding. So, if my guess is correct, this monitoring insect is likely from the Fang Clan. But since there are other insect controllers in this kingdom, it could be them, although the likelihood of it being them is very low.” Hui Shi replied. He couldn’t help but ponder again if his current guess was correct. Although the Fang Clan was likely the culprit, he reasoned that he, Annette, and Lain may have other enemies that he didn’t know of, that may be capable of either controlling an insect or hiring an insect controller to monitor them.

Chapter 125: Is It The Fang Clan Again?

“That sucks. The Fang Clan member from before is too sinister for me to handle alone by myself, if it ever decides to attack me. Wait! Why would it target me though? I am just a weak hero with little power. Chances are it is likely you, brother Hui Shi that it may be targeting. I heard the priests of Ensieth were all very powerful people that are protected by Lord Ensieth himself. He may be mad that you healed us back then, so he decided to tail you, in order to find out how powerful you truly are, before he comes after you himself.” Annette stated while shivering. 

As a hero, she had never been given a mission to fight those much stronger than her, especially those at or above the unity stage. And she believed judging from the dangerous insect following the Fang Clan man from earlier, as well as the behavior of the guards towards him that he was definitely someone at the unity stage or higher. Only nobles, and people at the unity stage or higher get preferential treatment by the guards at the gate.

“That might be so. It must be brother Hui Shi that he’s after. I haven’t done anything that’ll make him come after me either. Besides, my current power at this current time may even be weaker than sister Annette, due to the restrictions placed on my strength. So there’s nothing noteworthy about me for him to be chasing after.” Lain added as well in bafflement. He just arrived in the city, and may already be targeted by a powerful enemy. He hadn’t even heard of the Fang Clan until earlier today, but now he may be going against them.

“Well, you may be correct. But I hope you keep my warnings in mind. We may all be the target of the Fang Clan. The Fang Clan have always been a cruel and highly dangerous clan that practices many secretive arts. Going against them is no different from going against an untouchable zone. So be very careful from now on.” Hui Shi replied, after a brief moment of pondering.

After making sure that both Lain and Annette nodded at his warnings, he then sighed, and said to them. “Well, that should be all for tonight. We should probably get some rest before we head to the Hero recruitment office tomorrow morning. I believe brother Mon Dupa is expecting to meet us at the nearest office within this district.”

“Yeah. We should. I’ll go rest in my chariot tonight. I wish to spend some time alone, with the new information I just received about the Fang Clan. That way I can figure out a way to protect myself in the future. I may need to buy some protective instruments tonight.” Annette replied, after a moment of thought. The thought of the Fang Clan possibly coming after her slightly weighed her down. 

“Great idea, sister Annette. Brother Hui Shi, you can stay in any of the rooms, if you wish for a place to rest in. I’ll stay in this second bedroom, in order to rest my head, and think about how to deal with the Fang Clan.” Lain replied as well. He wasn’t sure the Fang Clan was truly coming after him. But he still needed time to rest and figure things out on his own. 

Chapter 126: Exchanging Contacts

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll stay in the first bedroom. It’s been a long day.” Hui Shi said, after hearing their responses, before sighing again, and continuing. “I would like to invite you to seek shelter at my church, if you find the burden of being monitored by the Fang Clan too great. In the arms of our church, not even the Gilagesh Empire can harm you, much less the Fang Clan.”

He couldn’t help but extend an olive branch, in case they truly couldn’t find a way to protect themselves, and require shelter. His Ensieth Church will never be afraid of the Fang Clan.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi. I may need to take the offer in the future, if I believe I can’t handle the situation.” Lain replied with a thankful smile.

“Thanks as well. The insect from before may not be monitoring me, but if I believe it is, I’ll gladly take you up on your offer. Let’s exchange contacts, before I head out to my chariot to rest.” Annette replied. After she did, a small holographic screen strangely popped up in front of her. The screen was covered with words that were written in Gilbrazen.

Seeing this, Lain was visibly surprised. He couldn’t help but look at Annette’s body, hoping to figure out where the source of the screen was, but after a minute of looking he still couldn’t figure out how the screen got there. 

Noticing Lain’s puzzled look, Annette decided to explain what just occurred, while Hui Shi reached into a pocket on his light blue priest robe to pull out a rectangular, stone plaque. After pulling out the plaque, a holographic screen also popped up in front of him. But this screen was covered in images and words written in Svalian. 

“The screen in front of me was created by a ring given to me by the Justice Bureau, after becoming a hero. It functions as a telepathic communication tool that allows its user to communicate with the Justice Bureau officers within the city, in case of an emergency, a surveillance tool that allows the Justice Bureau to watch the surroundings of the user, after being given permission, as well as an everyday tool for the users personal entertainment and convenience. Just like the key of a house.” Annette stated, while pulling out a ring from her bosom. After letting Lain see the ring in her right palm, she quickly placed it back inside her bosom with a shy smile.

“Heroes can control the ring with their minds, after becoming its user.” She added shyly. Hearing her words, Lain quickly nodded with a look of understanding on his face. He then looked towards Hui Shi, who had a plaque in his right palm, and a similar holographic screen in front of him.

Hui Shi, after pulling out his plaque, gently looked at Annette with closed eyes, and a bright smile, before saying. “Please, sister Annette. Let me hear your contact information.” 

Chapter 127: Contact Information Screen

“Okay! It’s 77!^545.” Annette replied. Soon after, Hui Shi tapped quickly on his screen, after a number pad appeared on it, as if he was dialing the information given by Annette.

After less than a minute. A chime-like sound was heard in the kitchen, which seemed to come from Annette’s screen. Hearing the sound, Hui Shi quickly said to Annette. “That should be me. I just sent you a contact request, sister Annette.”

Nodding at his words, Annette glanced at her screen, before pressing a few buttons on it. Soon after, the screen disappeared from her front. 

Seeing the screen disappear, Lain who was watching the two exchange contact information couldn’t help but ask them in curiosity. “How does this contact thing work?”

Hearing his question. Hui Shi smiled at him and replied, while playing with the plaque in his hand. “It’s actually quite simple. Everyone can purchase devices that function just like the key in your hand, that allows you to browse the web archive, check your bank account balances, as well as communicate with others. The heroes of the hero division give these devices free of charge to heroes, while everyone else has to acquire them on their own.

Each device, once connected to its user’s account, will have its own unique contact information that the user can share to others in order to communicate with them from any distance. Certain government officials can also directly contact a person simply by searching their name in the government’s database regardless of what device they’re currently using. 

Like I stated in the past, every citizen of the empire is entitled to a unique identity or account within the empire that’s directly linked to their bank account, as well as other accounts that they wish to open within the empire.” 

“Thanks for the explanation. Does my key also have the ability to communicate as well?” Lain asked in doubt, since it seemed to him that his key should be capable of communicating with others as well, since it also had the web archive function.

“Yes, it does. Just tell the key to pull up your contact information screen, and a contact screen will pop up in front of you that allows you to insert the contact information of others.” Annette, who was listening by the side, replied to Lain’s question. She had completely forgotten about Lain earlier, or she would’ve given him her contact information as well.

Hearing her reply, Lain gleefully did as told. Soon after, he stated out loud for the key in his hand to pull up his contact information, and a holographic screen quickly appeared in front of him. Looking at the small rectangular holographic screen, he saw a blank page, with a keyboard located at the bottom of the screen, as well as a connect and disconnect button directly below it. 

Chapter 128: You’re A Fast Learner

At the top left of the blank page was a series of Svalian letters that Lain reasoned would be the contact information of the device. So he ignored it, and looked down at the keyboard.

Seeing the keyboard, he quickly dialed the information that was stated earlier by Annette, before clicking the connect button, to see if something would happen.

Soon after he clicked the connect button, he quickly heard a sound echo from the location where Annette was standing, before the screen that had just disappeared from her front reappeared in front of her again.

Seeing the screen appear. Annette quickly clicked a button within the screen. After clicking it, she then said to Lain. “You learn pretty fast. Clicking the connect button allows you to contact the person you wish to speak to. If the person accepts the contact request that you sent, the two of you will be able to communicate orally until either party decides to press the disconnect button. You may also communicate visually as well, simply by stating to the screen that you wish to communicate visually. After making that statement, a holographic video of you will be shared with the person you’re communicating with, but you will not be able to see the other party visually unless they also turn on that feature.”

Strangely as she spoke, an echo of her speech could be heard from the holographic screen in front of Lain. Which he found very fascinating. After hearing her words, Lain quickly clicked the disconnect button which turned off the echoing coming from the screen. After disconnecting, he soon noticed that on the blank page on the screen in front of him, directly below his contact information, the contact information he had just typed had somehow miraculously appeared. With a connect button situated to the right of that information.

Looking at Annette’s contact information, Lain couldn’t help but click on it. After clicking on it, two buttons immediately popped up on his screen. One said “Rename” while the other said “Delete.”

Seeing the two buttons, Lain quickly figured out what they meant, and clicked on the Rename button, which brought up a keyboard that allowed him to type Annette’s name on it. After typing the name and clicking on an “Accept” button that was located on the keyboard itself. The contact information quickly changed to Annette’s name. Before the new keyboard disappeared from view.

“Brother Lain, you’re truly a fast learner. Please add my contact information as well, before we go get some rest. It’s 39034^&.” Hui Shi said in acknowledgment. 

Chapter 129: Entering The Chariot

Hearing his words, Lain quickly typed Hui Shi’s contact information into the keyboard located at the bottom of the screen before clicking connect again. Soon after, a chime-like sound could be heard coming from Hui Shi’s plaque. After the sound was heard, Hui Shi quickly pressed a few buttons on his screen before he closed the screen in front of him.

He then said to Lain, “You can close the screen by stating close my contact information screen.” Hearing his words, Lain quickly renamed Hui Shi’s contact information that appeared directly below Annette’s, before closing the holographic screen in front of him with a verbal command.

“Well, it’s time I head out. Thanks brothers for letting me tag along. I’ll let myself out now, in order to get some rest. Let’s meet outside two hours before noon tomorrow, so we can be at the recruitment office on time.” Annette said wearily, after making the holographic screen in front of her disappear. It seemed the feeling of tiredness had begun to wash over her mind. She’s had a busy day, and the information about the Fang Clan seemed to be taking a toll on her. 

“Enjoy your night’s rest, sister Annette. I’ll also be heading into the first bedroom now. Thanks brother Lain, for lending me the room for the night.” Hui Shi replied with a smile. He and Annette then shook Lain’s hand before they both left the kitchen towards their desired destinations.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy your night’s rest” Lain replied to them slowly, as he watched them leave, while standing in the kitchen. He reasoned to himself while standing there that the day had been an eye opener for him, so a few hours of rest would definitely help refresh his mind that was filled with questions, and wonder.

After they disappeared from his view, he quickly said out loud, “Close the holographic screen in front of me.” To the key in his hand, which then caused the screen in front of him to disappear. He then entered the bedroom next to the kitchen, laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, with the key placed on the bed next to him.

More than seven hours later, Annette, Lain and Hui Shi could be seen standing by the front of Annette’s carriage exchanging greetings. After exchanging greetings, Annette said to Lain and Hui Shi with a bright and charming smile. “Well, let’s get going. I’ll take you brothers there on my chariot.” Before walking to the side of her carriage and opening the door. Lain could tell from her smile that the rest she received from the night truly helped clear her mind of the troubles that occurred the day before.

“Thank you.” Both Hui Shi, and Lain replied to her. Hui Shi then followed her into her carriage. While Lain stayed behind for a few seconds to enjoy the fresh morning breeze and the view of the beautiful large tree-like grasses around him that cleared his mind of the extreme sadness that he had unknowingly felt last night, before following Hui Shi into the carriage. 

Chapter 130: Nice Place

Entering the carriage, what greeted Hui Shi and Lain was a large room that from Lain’s perspective was much bigger than the carriage as a whole. Seeing the large room covered in faint serpent runes, that were glowing faintly, and illuminating the space within, Lain couldn’t help but be mesmerized. He quickly reasoned that some sort of space enlargement effect was occurring within the carriage. Causing the space within the carriage to be much bigger that what he had expected.

Looking around the room, which seemed to be a living room, Lain realized that the interior of the carriage was no different from the inside of a home. There was a pink, four-sectional couch placed against the wall facing the door that they just came through, along with a pink colored low table at its center. The floor of the living room was covered in a greenish pink rug that had designs of various beautiful pink flowers on it. Which made the living feel more welcoming.

The rug also served a purpose of covering up the runes engraved on the floor. Noticing this, gave Lain various new ideas of how to cover up the glowing runes in his new house. Seeing the runes constantly emitting faint light all day would definitely drive him crazy after a while. 

On the left wall of the living room was a doorway that led to a kitchen of sorts, from the viewpoint of Lain. And on the right wall of the living room was another doorway that led to another bedroom or closet of sorts. Lain couldn’t tell exactly what the room was, from his current viewpoint within the living room. 

It also seemed from Lain’s point of view he believed there was likely a doorway leading to a bedroom inside the kitchen, similar to his own. He reasoned that the house seemed too similar to his for it not to have an extra bedroom like his.

“Nice place, sister Annette.” Hui Shi said proudly with a bright and extremely handsome smile on his face. He then casually walked over to the couch in front of him and sat down relaxingly. While Lain was still standing busily by the front door admiring the beauty of the inside of the carriage, completely ignoring the words and behavior of Hui Shi.

“Thanks, brother Hui Shi. Would you two like something to drink or eat while we’re on our way?” Annette replied with a smile of her own, she truly loved the radiant smile of Hui Shi. It always made her happier. 

Hearing her words, brought Lain out of his trance. He quickly nodded his head, at her question before going towards the couch to sit down next to Hui Shi. “Yes. A glass of water will do. If you have a small fruit to eat on the way, that’ll be better.” Hui Shi replied to her, before moving slightly to the side to allow Lain to sit on his left.

Chapter 131: Herald

After hearing their response, she took a moment to gather her thoughts before saying. “Herald, come out! While I go get my friends here some food, please take us to the nearest hero recruitment office. Thanks!” 

After her words echoed out inside the carriage a holographic boy magically appeared in front of Hui Shi and Lain, while she walked into the kitchen. The holographic boy then bowed and said in a spirited, and childish voice. “Will do, sister! It should take us a little less than two hours to get there.”

Looking at the boy, Hui Shi and Lain could see that it was only about 6 to 7 years old. It had a light orange shirt on, and was wearing blue shorts, and a pair of khaki colored sandals. If not for the fact that the boy looked slightly holographic, the two of them would’ve thought it was a real flesh and blood human.

As Hui Shi and Lain were looking at the holographic boy called Herald with curiosity, it too looked at them, before greeting the two of them with a bright smile. “Hello you two! I’m Herald, Annette’s brother. Nice to meet you!” After greeting them, it bowed before looking towards the door that led outside, which was still open.

The moment it looked at the door, the runes on the door shone brightly before the door closed on its own. Shortly afterward, both Lain and Hui Shi felt a slight jerk, as if they just started moving. It seemed the boy had somehow communicated with the beasts harnessed to the carriage, and told them to move the carriage to an unknown destination.

Ignoring the sudden movement of the carriage, Hui Shi and Lain replied back to Herald. “Nice to meet you too, my precious little brother Herald.” Hui Shi said. Lain replied with a light nod, before completely immersing himself in studying the appearance of the holographic, latino looking boy in front of him, who had high cheek bones, large round eyes and chubby cheeks that made him appear very adorable. Lain was too mesmerized by the holographic technology of runes to react as he usually would, so he could only nod absentmindedly as a greeting.

Hearing their reply, Herald beamed and ran over to the two of them, acting no different from a small boy. He then sat down next to Hui Shi and asked gleefully. “What are your names? Since you’re my sister’s friends, that means you’re also my friends too! Right?”

“Yes my little brother, we're friends too. My name is Hui Shi, and my brother here is called Lain. We just recently met your sister so we don't know much about her. Can you tell us more about your sister?” Hui Shi responded with curiosity. He was already growing fond of the little kid. Lain on the other hand was still too engrossed in studying the holographic child to respond to the child’s questions.

Chapter 132: Blessing of Ensieth

“My sister is a hero and she’s very strong. A little while ago a bad old man came into our chariot and my sister scared him away! I was too scared of him, so I hid. Why are you glowing? Are you a priest? My sister told me that there were people called priests that go around helping people, and every one of them glows, just like you, and if I ever meet one in the future I should be thankful because priests are very kind people and are blessed by gods. Are you glowing because you’re a priest?” Herald asked questioningly, he too was curious about the two people in front of him. 

“You’re correct my precious little brother, I’m a priest of Ensieth. You are very fortunate to meet a priest today aren’t you? Give me your hand, let me give you a blessing too that way we’re both blessed by a god. I’m sure you’ll like it. My lord wishes to give it to you.” Replied Hui Shi, with a smile. Him and Lain quickly figured out in their heads that the old man that Herald just talked about must’ve been the old man Trent.

Hearing Hui Shi’s words, Herald gladly reached out his holographic right hand with a bright smile on his face towards Hui Shi in curiosity. After seeing the stretched out arm of the boy, Hui Shi slowly brought his right hand towards the boy, and touched it. Strangely, his hand could actually touch the holographic hand of the boy, instead of passing through it, which was a strange thing for Lain to see. 

While holding his hand, Hui Shi’s hand started to glow even brighter than it normally would, causing the boy to be mesmerized by the beauty of the etheric figures flying gracefully within the glow that surrounded Hui Shi.

“Praise my great lord, may his kindness bless this poor child before me.” Hui Shi slowly prayed gracefully. The moment he started his short prayer, a crisp sound of a bird resounded from his glowing hand. Then a tiny rainbow colored bird, with the size and shape of a tiny hummingbird, flew out from within the countless etheric figures inside the golden glow that surrounded his hand. 

The bird’s crisp sound echoed out in the air one more time, bringing the greatest feeling of bliss and clarity to all who heard it. Lain, whose mind was previously occupied with thoughts about the ingenuity of the holographic Herald before him, as well as how runes could possibly create such ingenuity, quickly gained great clarity of mind and soul, figuring out what would’ve normally taken him hours to figure out in his head about runes, instantly. 

The feeling of bliss that washed over him, just from the two bird cries alone, was something he had never experienced before in his entire life. After listening to the bird’s cries he could only close his eyes, and experience the harmony of body and soul for the first time in his life peacefully.

Chapter 133: Becoming Complete

The boy also felt the feeling of extreme bliss and harmony, which were feelings he had never experienced in its entire life, as it was just a holographic bundle of light, and not truly a human being. Feeling the blissful and relaxing emotions that it had never experienced in its entire existence for the first time, the boy slowly closed his eyes as well, completely immersing himself in the wonder of emotions and feelings. 

As the boy was mesmerized by the extreme feeling of bliss and clarity, the tiny multicolored bird quickly dove into its holographic head, before curling itself where the boy’s brain was supposed to be, and falling asleep within it.

After the beautiful bird flew gracefully, like an etheric fairy through the air into the boy's head, curled itself into a multicolored ball, and fell asleep within it, the boy's body was washed over again with a greater feeling of bliss, clarity, and tranquility than he had ever experienced before. His thoughts became countless times clearer, and his once holographic figure started to slowly become less holographic. 

The boy couldn’t help but smile enchantingly as he experienced his holographic body slowly becoming real by the second. The feeling of bliss that he experienced as he slowly became more real was beyond imagination. Within a minute his body slowly became no different from that of a normal human being’s. 

After his body became a normal human’s, completely enclosing the beautiful, fairy-like bird within his head, Lain slowly opened his eyes to experience a miracle that he had never thought was possible.

The boy before him had completely transformed into a living breathing human, no different from him. His skin which was previously holographic in appearance and nature looked no different from that of a normal human’s now, from Lain baffled point of view.

Lain for the first time in a while was completely shocked by his narrow understanding of the principles of life. Turning a holographic creature into a real flesh and blood human wasn’t something he thought a priest of Ensieth was capable of. But here it is, occurring before his very eyes.

After the boy’s body turned completely real, the boy slowly opened his eyes, smiled at Lain and Hui Shi, saying “Thanks.” Before gently laying down on the couch next to Hui Shi. Soon light sounds of breathing echoed out from his nostrils. It seemed the feeling of bliss and tranquility that washed over his body had caused his young and developing body to fall into a deep sleep.

“Thank you my lord, for blessing this child.” Hui Shi whispered softly in prayer, before letting go of the boy’s hand.

Chapter 134: A Miracle

Less than a minute after letting the boy go, Annette quickly rushed into the living room. Seeing the real boy in front of him left her completely baffled. She couldn’t help but run towards the sleeping child and touch his body to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Earlier she saw rays of golden light shine inside the kitchen, which caused her to stop what she was doing, as well as the crisp bird sounds that caused her to fall into a feeling of extreme bliss and clarity, so she quickly rushed over.

Who knew she would witness a miracle. Touching the real life body of the boy caused her so much shock she almost yelled loudly in astonishment. But before she did, Hui Shi raised his right hand, and said softly to her in a whisper. “Please take the child to a different room. Our speech could wake him up.”

Lain, who was also curious, couldn't help but reach over from where he was sitting and gently touch the little boy’s hand as well, in order to confirm the miracle that he had just witnessed before quickly letting go of the boy.

After seeing Lain’s actions, Annette quickly closed her gaping mouth, and nodded gently at Hui Shi and Lain, before gently lifting the boy up from the couch and taking him into the kitchen. 

After about three minutes in the kitchen, she came back with two stone shaped cups filled with water and two stone bowls filled with exotic fruits. She then gave Lain and Hui Shi, one cup and one bowl each, before kneeling down in front of Hui Shi.

You could see the gratefulness on her face. “Thank you, brother Hui Shi. May lord Eniseth’s grace last forever.” She solemnly said, before taking a deep bow that made her head touch the rug below her.

“You’re welcome my sister. Please get up, and let me explain why my lord helped the young child.”  Hui Shi replied slowly, before reaching towards Annette to help her up, after gently placing his cup and bowl on the ground next to him.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi.” She gently said again before getting up and sitting down next to Hui Shi. Lain sitting by the side quietly drank his water and watched what was occurring before him, with a smile on his face, completely ignoring the plate of fruits in his hand.

“Let’s begin then. Was the soul of someone used to create the holographic child?” Hui Shi gently asked Annette. “Yes. My younger brother who I grew up with and also became heroes with, died a year after becoming a hero. He was tasked to research a strange but deadly phenomenon called Sweet by the hero division of the Justice Bureau. 

Chapter 135: The Death of Herald

This phenomenon primarily targeted children but also took the lives of adults periodically. A few weeks into his research, his dried up, mummified, and decaying body was found in a forest within our district. It seemed his body had been sucked of all its lifeforce, and about 98% of his soul had also been sucked away from him by a mysterious power.

The strangest part was that he died while he was off duty, so the Justice Bureau was incapable of tracking what occurred that caused his agonizing death.” Annette stated gloomily, with words that sounded more like cries, and whimpers, than words. Lain and Hui Shi could tell from her shaky voice and watery eyes that looked like they were about to start crying any moment that the death took a great toll on her.

“After his body was retrieved, and tests were done on him, I was given his body back, and a small fragment of the last two percent of his soul that was already dissipating due to his death. 

Seeing the orphaned child I grew up with. The little boy that always followed beside me through thick and thin. The young man that gladly followed my footsteps and became a hero knowing how dangerous it was, due to his desire to help those who were less fortunate than us. 

The proud man who made it his life’s goal to try to rescue as many children as possible from poverty, hunger, and danger, so they didn’t have to suffer like we did. Seeing him die before my very eyes broke me. It took me months before I could gather myself, and prepare for his funeral.

Having been given his body and soul fragment, I and my fellow orphaned brothers and sisters that I grew up with, prepared a funeral for him months after his death, and laid him to rest. I then took the last fragment of his soul, that would dissipate if not taken care of properly, and asked a rune craftsman who specialized in preserving souls to create runes within my home and chariot that would nourish his soul fragment over time. 

In hopes of preserving his soul until I could find a way to bring him back to life. I made it my life’s goal to find a way, no matter how hard it is, to revive my younger brother, even if it costs me my life.

The holographic boy that you saw was created in that image because that was the way I preferred he looked. It was his image and character from when he was much younger. It was also the time I had the greatest fun with him. The hologram also contains the last soul fragment of my younger brother, Herald.” She said, with tears streaming down her face. By the time she uttered her last words, she could barely even speak, as low cries of sadness came out of her mouth.

Lain, and Hui Shi seeing her in tears, filled with depression and misery, couldn’t help but also feel a sense of depression. Hui Shi slowly brought his right hand to her face and wiped the tears from her eyes. He then softly sighed and said. “Praise my lord…”

Chapter 136: Thank You, Brother Hui Shi

After his words came out of his mouth, the glow coming from his outstretched hand shined brightly, and quickly enclosed the body of Annette. Feeling the golden glow wash over her, Annette’s depressing and suicidal thoughts and emotions quickly disappeared from her body.

She then said, “Thanks, brother Hui Shi.” Before quieting down solemnly. “I’m sorry for your loss, sister Annette.” Lain said softly by the side, after seeing her regain her composure. Hearing his words, Annette simply smiled and nodded as a reply. 

“It truly was as I thought. When I saw the child, I realized through my connection with my Lord that there was a valiant soul hidden within it. Sensing the soul's desire for life, and its strong drive for justice, along with its innate kindness, my lord compelled me to help bring it back to life. That is the reason why I helped the young child. My lord truly cherishes those with compassion and kindness, and wished for your younger brother to suffer no longer in the previous state that he was in.” Hui Shi said calmly. He then reached down to the floor to grab his cup of water, with his left hand before drinking from it slowly. 

“Praise Lord Ensieth. I will cherish what he’s just done for me for the rest of my life.” Annette vowed solemnly. She could not have expected for her greatest desire to be fulfilled so soon. Her gratefulness could be seen clearly by both Hui Shi and Lain.

Hui Shi smiled, after hearing her vow. He then said to her while bowing his head solemnly. “And the lord will be with you for the rest of your life as well. Praise Lord Ensieth.” 

After his solemn bow, he slowly raised his head, and said to Lain and Annette. “Let’s forget this topic for now, in order to give sister Annette some privacy and closure. The child will be fine from now on,  and will grow up like any other child and also will forever be blessed by my Lord.” 

“Praise Lord Ensieth.” Annette replied, after hearing his words. She truly needed to come to terms with what just occurred privately, so just accepted his advice. Lain on the other hand, simply smiled and nodded. His world view also just changed slightly due to what just occurred before him, so he also needed time to come to terms with what he had just witnessed.

As the carriage that carried the three moved along the large empty road of the Peaceful Shiler District, the three quietly ate and drank their food, while contemplating their past, present and future. Before Lain knew it, they were already on their way to their destination.

Back at the strange planet covered in red and purple grasses, the young lady Ralif was currently walking along a small, quiet, dirt road, far away from any buildings. She was wearing a floral  shirt that was covered in blue rose-like flowers, as well as a red floral skirt that had blue daisy-like flowers on it. It seems she was taking a stroll around the outskirts of the city, she was previously seen within. While slowly walking along the old, and quiet dirt road, she was humming a joyful tune while looking around at her surroundings in curiosity. 

Chapter 137: A World of Fungi

While looking at her surroundings, she saw creatures of various types, some were reptile-like, small and scaly, while others were tiny little insect-like creatures that flew around her annoyingly. 

Some were even as large as cows, wandering the plain in the distance with brown skin, four large muscular legs, duck-like faces, thick hooves, and large antelope-like horns, yet as she looked around she couldn’t help but think to herself in dismay and confusion. ‘This planet truly is strange. Not a single real animal can be seen anywhere on it. The only creatures I’ve seen are insect-like, and animal-like creatures that seem to be made out of different intelligent fungi species. Hopefully the countless microscopic spores in the air aren’t all poisonous.”

As she was thinking her thoughts and looking around at the wonderful creatures around her, she seemed to notice something far in the distance, towards her left. Looking in the direction that caught her eye, she squinted her eyes and sent a penetrating gaze that could see miles ahead of her towards the location that caught her eyes. Soon after getting a good look at what caught her eyes, she quickly jumped from her current standing position and disappeared from sight. Her body moved through the air at extreme speed, causing sonic booms to echo out behind her.

While Ralif was speeding through the air towards an unknown location, her two brothers, Rufut, and Jaiym, were just entering a tavern within the city that they were seen in earlier, when they heard the sonic boom of her movements coming from a far distance.

They couldn’t help but pause for a second in confusion, along with the crowd of people in the street around them, to look in the direction the sound was coming from, before entering the tavern slowly. Completely ignoring the disturbance, while the rest of the crowd gossiped around them about the cause of the sound.

The tavern they entered was a large tent made out of red grass straws. The inside of the tavern was filled with chairs that were also made out of grass straws, and tables made out of clay.

In the middle of the tavern was a cook, who used cooking utensils made out of hardened clay and rocks, to cook his meals. Surrounding him were the tables and chairs for his customers to use.

Seeing the cook, a shirtless, tall, bald, bulbous nosed, caucasian looking, burly man, wearing a skirt made of straw, and a chest covered in thick chest hair, busily cooking in the middle of the tavern, surrounded by pots currently being heated by the bundles of burning grass they were placed on top of, Rufut and Jaiym decided to choose an empty table close to him in order to talk to him, while he cooked.

Chapter 138: Nubta, The Humble Cook

Seeing Rufut and Jaiym, who were dressed in linen-like fabric walk over, the cook quickly realised that they probably weren’t from his planet, but he still smiled and said to them in a welcoming gesture after feeling the imperial aura emanating from the body of Rufut that made him feel like worshipping him. “Welcome to my humble #$jd$, travelers from beyond our 3*$&dj#. Please, what can I *&$#@ you?” 

Hearing the cook’s welcoming words, everyone eating in the tavern quickly turned to look at the pair of brothers, in interest, before slowly looking away, and continuing on with their meals. It seemed they were already used to seeing such foreigners in their land.

“Anything will do. Thanks.” Jaiym replied slowly, hoping the cook understood his words clearly. Although it was hard to decipher the cook’s speech, due to his Svalian dialect being slightly different from the one Jaiym grew up speaking, he could still piece together what he was trying to say.

Rufut on the other hand didn’t seem to have too much of an issue listening to the man’s words. He and Jaiym quickly sat down.

Before they could start asking the cook questions, the cook nodded at Jaiym’s words, and said to them. ”It’s been a while since I met someone from #&^492. Every time one of you guys show up, you leave 2+*&%^ as quickly as you came. It appears to me that you guys don’t like our choice in food. So, I wonder what brought you 2$^-(* here to our 3*$&dj# today?”  

“What brought us to your planet today? Well, we’re honestly kind of lost. So we’ll probably only stay for a while before leaving for elsewhere.” Jaiym replied slowly. He was slowly starting to get used to the way the locals spoke, although some words were still hard to decipher. 

“What do you mean our type of people leave here as quickly as we come? Is there something we should be aware of?” Rufut, who was half listening, half looking around at the people eating around him asked. As his deep voice was heard, many around the tavern couldn’t help but listen to him carefully as if they were listening to the command of their ruler. Even the cook, stopped what he was doing to listen to his words carefully, until Rufut finished speaking, before continuing his work.

After hearing Rufut’s question, he answered carefully as if he was speaking to an emperor. “Sire, your humble cook here is called N#b@a. What I was inferring earlier, was that due to our Hilcrah #&^$**’s rule that forbids its citizens to kill anyone and consume their flesh, but must eat the human meat provided by the #&^$**’s army. We citizens always cook with meat given to us by the #&^$** itself. 

Chapter 139: A Strange Old Man. The Stench Of Blood

You see sire, our 3*$&dj# does not have animals, so in order for citizens of our #&^$** to eat a hearty meal full of meat, we can only get it by consuming either ourselves, or the citizens of other #&^$**s. 

Since we citizens consume human meat provided by our #&^$**, when we occasionally get travelers from beyond our 3*$&dj# , who dress in strange clothing like you and your dearest partner here, they become disgusted by our culture. 

Many leave the moment they find this fact out, but some stay to investigate, only to disappear forever when they decide to either visit our dear king for answers, or cause problems within our #&^$**.”  By the time he was done explaining he was half sweating, due to fear that he may offend Rufut somehow, due to his choice of words. He even stopped cooking in order to explain his words clearly.

“Nubta is your name I see. Well said, you may continue cooking while we speak.” Rufut replied to him calmly, after hearing his words. Although he had questions to ask himself, he decided to let his elder brother ask the questions, while he listened along. So he calmly looked at Jaiym, hoping he’ll continue his questions.

“Mister Nubta, thanks for your clarification. But why did your Hilcrah Kingdom decide to start consuming meat? I mean, have you always been a human eating kingdom? And do the other kingdoms on this planet also eat human meat? Do you know that human meat is taboo where we come from?” Jaiym asked inquisitively. He still couldn’t wrap his head around why an entire kingdom would order its inhabitants to eat human meat, and not just any human meat but only the human meat provided to them by the kingdom’s army.

Hearing Jaiym’s questions, Nubta quickly glanced around him, before leaning closer to the two of them. He then replied to them in the softest voice possible, hoping no one important would hear his words. “No. Although I may get in trouble for saying this, I’ll say it anyway, in order to help sire and his partner here. From what I was told by my parents, who were told by their parents, our #&^$** was once a vegetarian #&^$**, who only ate the creatures that grew on this 3*$&dj#, without ever consuming meat. The few times we did eat meat, it was brought by travelers like you, from beyond our 3*$&dj#. 

But that changed, one fateful year, eons ago, when a strange old man came to our #&^$**. The features of that man were so striking that everyone who saw him remembered him clearly. He was tall, had blood red hair, just like the plants below your feet, and he reeked of fresh blood. As if he’d just finished massacring countless people, with his bare hands.

The stench of blood coming from the man was so strong that the entire city was covered in its stench, even before he entered the #&^$**.

Chapter 140: Should I Kill Him?

Ever since that man came to our #&^$**, our king created rules that forced us to consume human flesh ever since. Oftentimes forcing our #&^$**’s army to go out to start wars against our neighboring #&^$**s in order to create an endless supply of human flesh for the citizens of our #&^$** to consume.

Ever since that fateful day, we’ve had no choice but to consume the flesh of our neighboring #&^$**. But we can only do as told by our king. Eating human meat is now normal for the citizens of our #&^$**. But most of us still hate eating it.” 

After quietly answering Jaiym’s question, he then quickly went back to cooking again, after looking around one last time to make sure he wasn’t heard by anyone but Jaiym and Rufut. 

A short minute later, when he didn’t hear a response from Rufut or Jaiym, as they were too busy contemplating the information they had just received, which was slightly shocking to them, Nubta chuckled to himself before saying loudly. “Human meat is called taboo where you come from? Well, some of us citizens kind of love eating taboo. I’m going to make a signature dish in the future and call it Taboo!” It seemed due to the difference in dialect he couldn’t understand what the word taboo actually meant. So he thought it was another name for human meat, and laughed at his own ingenuity, and the new strange word that he had just learned.

Hearing his words, disgusted both Rufut and Jaiym. So they both stood up at the same time, and left the tavern, completely ignoring the mad laughter of the burly man behind them, who was too busy cooking and thinking about a new food recipe to pay attention to them any longer.

As the two were about to exit the tavern, Jaiym thought to himself, as a dangerous aura started to leak out from his body. “Should I kill him?’ 

After thinking this, he slowly looked back at Nubta with a simple intense glare, that caused the laughing man to stop laughing and cooking abruptly. The intense glare from Jaiym made Nubta’s heart stop beating immediately. 

An invisible force seemed to have gripped his heart tightly, and had isolated it from the rest of his body, causing him extreme pain and discomfort. As his body suffered from cardiac arrest, and his mind felt like it was being stared at by a frighteningly dangerous predator, he couldn’t help but shiver constantly in shock and terror. Just a few seconds later, Jaiym sighed in sadness, and sympathy before looking away from the shocked cook with another thought in his mind. ‘No need to kill him…he’s not the problem. He’s only a symptom of a bigger problem.’

After looking away, the dying Nubta’s heart started beating widely again. It seemed the invisible force from before had released its tightened grip on Nubta’s aching heart. Cold sweat had already covered his entire body by the time his heart restarted desperately on its own. 

Chapter 141: Taboo! A White Circle

His previously happy and joyful mood, had also been quenched thoroughly by the simple glare that targeted him, from a position that he wasn’t paying attention to earlier. 

By the time he looked towards the direction where he felt the glare originate from, in depression, fear and terror, Jaiym and Rufut had already left his tavern, and moved away from view. So he could only sit deliriously on the grass chair next to him in doubt, and fear of what just happened to him, unable to figure out the cause of it. 

But after a bout of deep breaths that seemed to hurt his lungs painfully, he quickly decided to close down his tavern for the day, due to the sickening feeling that he felt all over his body, that seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

‘Maybe I was too excited earlier, causing my old heart and body to give out on me? What was I excited about again? Oh, yeah! Taboo! I still need to figure out how to make my new signature dish Taboo! As a famous chef from years ago, many of my old friends will definitely be jealous if I can make another prized dish!’ Nubta thought to himself in glee, even as his health seemed to worsen. Only after 3 minutes of exhaustion did he finally scream for help. Before, he was too busy coming up with a list of ingredients to worry about his health, now it seemed he was truly going to die if he didn’t cry for help.

After calling for help, he was quickly helped by the people nearby, and carried away to another grass hut, where he was attended to by an apothecary.

After leaving the tavern in disgust, Jaiym and Rufut slowly made their way through the crowded street.  After walking for a couple of minutes, Jaiym opened his mouth and said to Rufut. “You should probably go check up on your elder sister. Ralif may need your help where she went. I believe the reason she had to leave in such a hurry is likely related to the corpse race.

I’ll walk around for a few more hours, in order to investigate this kingdom a bit more before I head back home.”

“Sounds good to me.” Rufut replied with a confident smile. After replying, something strange started to happen. In-between his two feet, a tiny white circle magically appeared on the ground. It first appeared as a tiny dot, before quickly expanding on the ground into a large white circle big enough to surround his entire body. The moment the circle grew large enough to surround Rufut’s entire body, his entire body quickly sank into the circle, as if he was diving feet first into a pool of water.

With a small splashing sound, waves flowed across the white dot as if it was a body of water, before it quickly disappeared from sight. From the moment the white dot appeared to the moment Rufut rapidly sunk into it, only less than a second of time had passed.

Chapter 142: A Surprised Crowd

The natives surrounding them couldn’t help but be baffled, as they witnessed Rufut’s disappearance. Many quickly gathered around Jaiym, in confusion, and doubt.

“Did your #$&% just disappear?” One man asked Jaiym, while looking at the spot on the ground where Rufut was just standing on. “No way! Maybe there wasn’t a da#$% there to begin with? Right?” Another replied, before Jaiym could open his mouth to answer the first question. It seemed he didn’t believe there was anybody there to start with, and everything he just saw was a hallucination.

As Jaiym was surrounded by a crowd of curious natives who kept bombarding him with questions, he suddenly felt slightly awkward, due to the fact that he forgot, most of the people in this city from his understanding were mere mortals, without any real abilities of their own. From his findings, he knew that they were knowledgeable about people having various abilities, but he also knew that they themselves didn’t practice any cultivation.

From what he was told before he arrived within this universe, this universe was a privately owned universe under a city within the Sval Kingdom. The city was called Yearning Peace, and its citizens often came into this universe to gather resources, before returning to the territory of the Sval kingdom.

Due to this fact, the rulers of Yearning Peace forbade cultivation to be taught within this universe, in order to preserve its natural resources, as well as heritage. From the rulers’ understanding, not letting the citizens of this universe cultivate helps preserve the resources within the universe. Because if these citizens could cultivate, they’ll end up using the resources within this universe for themselves.

But because of this fact, the rulers of Yearning Peace offer the humans within the universe protection from external foes that could come in and prey on them. Foes like the corpse race.

Feeling awkward he had to take over 10 minutes to gather his thoughts, while the crowd around him argued about what just occurred, completely ignoring him and his obviously awkward, blank facial expression. 

After realising that they were getting nowhere trying to figure the answer for themselves due to him being silent, Jaiym cleared his throat, calmed his mind and tried to solve their curiosity, by answering the questions that they asked him earlier. 

But before he could answer their questions, he suddenly felt a strong feeling of disgust and fear well up from within him. 

Chapter 143: A Thick Stench Of Blood

Along with this feeling of disgust and fear, was the thick stench of blood. Looking around in fear and anxiety, he realized that every citizen around him seemed to have been frozen in place. Unable to move an inch, as if time had been frozen around him.

But with further scrutiny, he realized that it wasn’t time that had frozen around him, it seemed every citizen that surrounded him had fallen under the mental and physical control of someone else. Only he was somehow unaffected. 

Realizing the danger he was in, he decided to quickly use his will power to free himself from that strong feeling of fear and disgust. But before he could will himself free, he heard a powerful voice explode inside his mind. “It seems you’re finding it comfortable here aren’t you? Child of the Veex bloodline?”

Hearing the booming voice resound loudly in his mind, almost caused him to faint. But his will power quickly erupted from his body and soul, and freed him from the extremely suffocating and disgusting feeling that came with the voice that almost knocked him unconscious.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” Jaiym replied, with a yell of anger. He was already starting to realize who this powerful voice might belong to, due to the thick stench of blood that suffocated his lungs, and the words of Nubta.

“People call me Blood Heaven! Due to your Veex bloodline, and the unique bloodlines of your two other brethren that somewhat makes us distant relatives, I will be merciful and give you and your Gilagesh Empire five years to clean out the dregs from the Evil Ghost Celestial Cult. After five years, at any point in time from then on I may usher forth a divine massacre that will cleanse this universe of all filth that still remains!” The voice replied loudly again, causing the mentally unstable Jaiym to start hyperventilating, due to the extreme, suffocating fear and disgust that flooded his mind each time the voice spoke.

After the voice disappeared, he slowly willed himself out of the anguish that plagued him, only to notice the entire planet around him was already covered in a blood rain. The clouds above him had at some point in time turned into the color of blood, and from his point of view, the rain that fell down from them onto his shivering body smelled, tasted, and felt no different from real blood.

Realizing the change in the atmosphere, he knew someone very powerful was responsible for the cannibalism within this tiny kingdom, that doesn’t even occupy 1% of the planet. And that person wanted them gone as soon as possible.

But he also knew, deep down, that he wouldn’t leave just because of the fear of a powerful villain. And neither will his siblings. 

Chapter 144: A Sorrowful Chant

So after spending a few minutes steeling his mind, and body from the shock brought by the voice, that never returned after speaking those threatening last words. He vowed in his mind. ‘If  Blood Heaven is man, I will battle a man. If Blood Heaven is a god, I will battle a god. In five years, me and my brother and sister will battle Blood Heaven, and rid this world of his evil! Until then we must deal with the corpse race first, as he said.’ 

He was someone who had never been afraid of threats. So instead of cowering in fear and defeat, he resolved within his mind, to fight till the last man standing.

After blood started falling from the skies, the people surrounding Jaiym out of fear quickly ran away from him towards their own homes, completely unaware that they had all previously been under the control of Blood Heaven. Due to the secret stories from their ancestors that recorded the day they became cannibals, the people within this kingdom, and planet as a whole had an innate fear of blood. Blood to them was an ill omen, an omen of disaster.

Just minutes after the blood rain started, the streets of the entire kingdom were empty of people. Only Jaiym stood there shakily, out in the open on an empty street, being bathed in a rain of blood that soaked his clothing from head to toe.

After a deep sigh of resolve, Jaiym slowly made his way back home under the heavy blood rain. His mind was filled with anger, with each step he took, causing the dangerous aura emanating from his body to fill the air around him. 

The nearby people hidden within their homes couldn’t help but shivered uncontrollably when he walked by their house, due to the dangerous aura that seeped into their homes and bathed their minds and bodies in extreme fear.

But he didn’t go far, before he started to hear an extremely sorrowful chant coming from within the nearby homes. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

As he continued his walk, more people seemed to join in on the sorrowful chant. He quickly realized, while unwillingly listening to the chant that strangely it wasn’t sung in Svalian but another language that he had never heard before. He knew it wasn’t Gilbrazen either, because he had heard Gilbrazen before.

Strangely the chant that was filled with extreme sorrow, and mystery, seemed to echo endlessly within his angered heart, as he slowly made his way back home, bringing despair and sorrow to his heart.

By the time he was half way home, he was already chanting along in sadness as well, his previously murderous thoughts had already been long forgotten. 

Chapter 145: I Must Help My People!

He could only chant along now, as the words of what he now assumed was an ancient language entered his mind and mysteriously cleansed his mind of all murderous thoughts, making him worship whatever mysterious entity that the chant was being sung to in extreme depression. Tears quickly started falling down his face as he made his way back home.

As he was chanting along, he slowly concluded that the chant may be some sort of ancient prayer that seemed to call a divine being for help. 

The emotions of everyone around him seemed to affect him as they sang the chant in sadness. It seemed years of fear and oppression had made the citizens of the kingdom miserable, and the blood rain was the catalyst that made them sing the chant of their forefathers in fear and sadness. He even felt the sound of the chant come from far away the more he walked, as if every person on the planet and beyond were all currently singing along, in sadness as well.

Back at the little house in the Peaceful Shiler District of Yearning Peace City, hours before he left with Hui Shi, and Annette to the hero recruitment office, Lain was busy sleeping, when his eyes opened abruptly. The iris of his eyes and his hair strangely turned blood red in color, the moment he woke up. The air within the room he was in also started to reek of blood.

For some reason, something woke him up from deep sleep. Something he hadn’t heard in a very long time, the sound of chanting in a language that he couldn’t understand but knew very well. It was a sound that he grew up listening to occasionally.

The sadness that he felt from the chant made him weep in sadness as well. Tears fell down his blood red eyes as he sat on the bed in depression. Slowly as he was overwhelmed by the feeling of sadness, he determined in his heart that he would find a way to help the people that were chanting within his heart wherever they were. Something within him wouldn’t allow him to sit idly by while those people suffered. He reasoned that they needed him, and so he must help them. He must help his people.

After coming to that conclusion, he also slowly started chanting along in sorrow as well. He spent the rest of the night awake, quietly chanting sorrowfully in a language that he had never understood since he was born, yet was too familiar with. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

Somewhere in a distant cold world, a young lady with blood colored hair, dressed in a pink, long-sleeved shirt, and blue shorts sang a chant in an ancient language as she sat at the sharp peak of a frozen ice mountain, swaying gently back and forth. Her eyes which were blood red in color wept in sadness as she sang the chant softly. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

As she continued singing, she slowly determined within her mind that she must help her people. ‘The calling of my Divine Father. My people need me. So I must find and help them as soon as possible.’ She thought in her head, as the chanting continued to escape from her mouth.

Chapter 146: Forgive Me…

Slowly she stood up, and looked to the sky, while still chanting, before disappearing from her location.

A lonely old man could be seen standing within a destroyed city, that was covered in the corpses of strange creatures, and countless streams of their blood that slowly formed a small river that flowed all over the city that was over a thousand miles wide. Due to the degree of damage to the corpses, their species could not be determined from sight. The old man stood at their center, covered in blood, chanting in sadness.

He was dressed in a blue shirt that was already dyed red in blood. Even his gold colored shorts, was also drenched red, as he stood there in sadness. Tears could be seen streaming from his blood red eyes, as his blood red hair flew wildly in the cold wind.

“My brother, Blood Heaven, you must have caused this haven’t you?” The old man slowly stated, in between chants of sadness. He then looked around at the blood that flowed all over the city in small streams, and thought to himself. ‘My Divine Father…Sorry. My family has forsaken you and my people. The people we were born to protect.’

Tears started falling from his blood red eyes in larger volume, after finishing his thoughts. He then closed his eyes, yet tears still fell down his cheeks. He even started to quiver in sadness as he stood there, chanting.

‘We will forsake you again my Divine Father. But please forgive me of my sins. You may end the life of this child of yours in the future if you wish.’ He thought to himself in grief and guilt. 

He spent the rest of the day standing there chanting in depression. Desperately trying to figure out when he and his family went towards the wrong direction in life, but yet couldn’t accept the conclusion he kept arriving at. 

“It wasn’t my fault, Divine Father. It wasn’t my family’s fault either...’ He occasionally thought to himself in sadness as he stood there, for the rest of the day, feeling overwhelming sorrow and guilt.

“Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..” A sorrowful chant echoed in the heart of another old man, dressed in a blood colored gown, that was tied by a golden sash at his waist. The old man had blood red colored eyes, and also long, blood red hair that cascaded down his shoulders. 

The old man was lying down on a grass-straw bed while being served strange blood colored fruits shaped like almonds by two women dressed in red, grass straw dresses, who looked at him with fear. The old man was currently within a large grass-made building that was cone-shaped like a hut. 

Chapter 147: We Have Sinned….

Hearing the sorrowful chant in his heart, brought the old man who was lying down on the bed to tears. “Leave me now!” The old man said quietly in anger while choking back his tears, causing the two ladies around him to quickly run away from the room they were within, in great fear. 

Strangely the slightly crying voice that came out of his mouth sounded similar to the one that was talking to Jaiym earlier. The one that called himself Blood Heaven. 

After everyone left, the old man sat up and thought in his head as the chant echoed on in his heart. ‘My people, you have suffered by the hands of my family on our quest for revenge. My Divine Father….we have sinned!’ 

As the chant continued on in his heart, he couldn’t help but continue crying softly in sadness as well, after feeling the extreme sadness coming from the voices within the chant in his heart. ‘No Divine Father! I must continue my sins, even if it means forsaking my own people.’ He continued in sadness, fear and guilt, before steeling his mind, and closing his eyes forcefully.

After he closed his eyes in meditation, tears no longer came out of his eyes. But the aura of sadness could be seen lingering around him. He spent the rest of the day in that position, hoping the chanting would stop soon.

“My Divine Father….I have forsakened you.” An extremely old man said difficultly, while holding back tears that were threatening to fall from his dark, blood red eyes. The extremely old man, who was dressed in a white robe that had one long blood red stripe going down its center, was sitting meditatively on a soft cotton-like cushion in what seemed to be the inside of a dark cave. 

He had a head full of long, blood red hair that was darker than usual, and the shriveled up skin on his body made him look like he was already nearing the end of his life, yet there was a trait to him that made him appear younger and livelier than he should be.

Next to him was a cordless sawzall-like weapon, on the ground. The weapon looked lifeless and ancient, as if it had been around since the birth of the universe, and was already about to crumble to dust.

On the dirt ground where the old weapon was placed, blood red lines could be seen surrounding it. The blood red lines, that crisscrossed like a net around the weapon, could be seen all over the dark cave that the extremely old man sat within.

Looking at the red lines that crisscrossed all over the cave slowly, the old man unwillingly started to chant slowly in sadness, as a thought entered his mind. ‘For this weapon, I have forsakened my Divine Father. Was it worth it?’

Chapter 148: A Small Temple

But after a moment, he shook his head in grief and sadness. ‘It no longer matters whether it’s worth it or not. It is a choice that I made for my family in order to get revenge for my dead wife and child. I have sinned, and I will pay for my sins.’ He thought determinately, before closing his eyes in sadness. 

“Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..” Chanting could be heard occasionally escaping his mouth in the dark cave, as he unwillingly tried to stop himself from crying and chanting in great sorrow. 

In a forest filled with gigantic foreign trees. Trees that came in many different strange colors and shapes. Some trees were red and bulbous in shape, and had large, red, globe-like leaves that dotted their bulbous sky covering trunks from top to bottom, with each leaf being the size of a continent.  Others looked like large pink umbrellas, with their trunks looking like coiled, sky reaching snakes, and their tops being gigantic leaves that were bigger than many planets.

There were also many green colored trees, but their sizes were so unimaginably large, that from the point of view of a human, their trunks look no different from walls with no end.  The skies looked smaller than the trees within this forest. Even the smallest grass within the forest was the size of a three story house. 

A small and old temple could be seen within this gigantic forest. The temple that was no different from the size of a bacteria compared to the trees around it, was red in color and was made out of tiny red colored gemstones. It looked old, worn out and forgotten, and was not noticeable in any way.

Within the small old temple, a group of twenty people in brown robes could be seen kneeling and chanting solemnly in sadness, as if they were sinners who were desperately repenting of their sins. Their palms were touching the ground, grasping at it with all their might, causing blood to pool around their palms. Tears could be seen constantly falling to the floor from their eyes, as they chanted in sorrow and agony. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

In front of this group of people were two women and four men, who all wore blood red robes. Strangely everyone within the temple all had dark, blood red eyes and hairs.

While the group of kneeling people were chanting in sadness, the six men and women looked at each other in sadness, before one of the men said to the others in an ancient language that sounded similar to the chant that Lain heard earlier, the chant that the kneeling people were currently chanting. “My fellow brethren, I will choose who will go, and save the children of our Divine Father who are begging for help. Let everyone else be at ease.”

Chapter 149: A City of Corpses

Hearing his words, the other five people in red robes nodded at him solemnly. Before closing their eyes. They then knelt on the ground powerfully, causing the dust on the floor to scatter, before placing their palms on the floor, and grasping at it powerfully, as if they were trying to rip the hard gemstones from the floor, causing the gemstones that were slightly angled and sharp to dig into their fingers. 

As their fingers bled from their painful grip on the floor, they started chanting tearfully along with the group of people kneeling in front of them in great sorrow. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

After seeing the group of red robed people start their chant, the man who volunteered earlier then slowly made his way around the group of kneeling people and pulled up one of the brown robed people from the ground slowly, making sure to not disturb the others around him, before the two exited the old temple, by its blood red doors.

After exiting the temple, and slowly closing the doors behind them, the two then slowly walked away from the temple, on a narrow road that ran from the front of the temple towards the distant unknown forest.

After a few hours of walking within the forest together, while talking to each other, the brown robed man disappeared from the side of the red robed man. 

The red robed man, after seeing the brown robed man disappear from his side, continued walking down the narrow road, chanting in sadness for the quiet forest around him to listen to. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

Tears fell constantly on the dirt road that he walked sorrowfully on. But he continued on, with his steady barefoot steps, on the dirt road covered in sharp twigs, and rocks. 

Strangely, the gigantic trees, grasses and bushes around him slowly started to sway sorrowfully back and forth as if they were empathizing with his sorrowful chant. When a godly being is in sorrow, it seems the world around him will also be sorrowful. 

A while ago, just before Jaiym and Rufut entered the tavern that Nubta cooked within, Ralif rushed towards a certain direction, in a powerful leap.

After rushing towards that direction through the leap, Ralif landed violently thousands of miles away in another kingdom. Surrounding her was a torn and blood filled city filled with corpses. 

The huts surrounding her had already been torn apart, with limbs belonging to both the young and old strewn everywhere. As she looked around she immediately found what caused her desire to come here as quickly as she did. 

Chapter 150: Corpse Race!

Amongst the corpses that surrounded her miles around, were fiendish men and women dressed in gray gowns, eating and raping the dead corpses. Even with her violent arrival that sent dirt and stones scattering all over the place, they continued their debauchery, completely ignoring her presence.

Seeing the dead being defiled around her, caused her to be extremely disgusted, and angered. “Corpse race!” She spat out angrily, before jumping forward with extreme strength. Within a millisecond, her body moved, much faster than before, and circled the entire 200 mile wide city, crushing the heads of every villain that she passed by before stopping where she previously stood. 

Strangely, this time her body didn’t emit any sonic booms when she moved, even though she moved much faster than before. The way she moved through the air, looked like she was being guided by the wind, instead of going against it. She looked like a fairy flowing with the wind, as she ran, and jumped around the city crushing heads into minced meat.

But after crushing the heads of every corpse race member within the city, she quickly noticed something strange, their bodies still continued their previous actions, without the slightest care about their heads being crushed. 

Within seconds, their crushed heads started to regenerate back to their previous whole states, which shocked Ralif greatly. She couldn’t help but think to herself in anger, ‘What monsters! It seems I must thoroughly tear their bodies to shreds in order to truly kill these vermin!’ 

After their heads regenerated back to full, many of them finally stopped their dastardly acts, in bewilderment. It seems they didn’t know what just happened to them. Ralif’s movement was too fast for them to notice. So by the time their heads regenerated, fear gripped their hearts, and they finally snapped out of their previous ecstatic debaucherous states. 

While looking around at each other and their surroundings in bafflement, many shouted loudly in a foreign language that Ralif wasn’t able to understand. “@#*(*  UI#*&$#8 ##*&$^* !” 

Ralif quickly noticed that it seemed they were hollowering at her and also at those around them in order to alert them of her presence. Many even looked in her direction in fear and bewilderment, it seemed they finally started to remember her violent arrival, which they ignored earlier.

Realizing she was finally being monitored by the evil fiends before her, Ralif readied herself again for another jump, hoping to tear them to shreds this time around. But before she could jump towards the nearest corpse race member, she heard a voice coming from far away that spoke perfect Svalian. “Filth blood!” 

Chapter 151: A Powerful Fist!

Within seconds, a man in a blue gown had arrived within the city from the skies. He had grey hair that reached all the way to his shoulders, a gaunt, but short figure, that made him look like a mummified corpse, and a handsome, asian-like face that would’ve made Ralif worship his beauty if he wasn’t a sinister member of the corpse race.

Standing a mile away from her on the ground filled with red and purple grass, Ralif could feel the sinister aura coming from his body that made even the grey clothed corpse race members around the city shiver in fear.

‘Great! A leader of sorts has arrived. This is much easier than looking for them myself!’ She thought in her head, before jumping towards the man in blue with a mighty leap.

Seeing the mighty leap of Ralif, the sinister man frowned, and thought to himself. ‘Curse my bad luck! This filth is definitely someone far above the simple unity stage. How is someone this powerful on this backwards planet of all places! Let’s see if I am capable of raping and eating her today!’ 

He then yelled loudly in a foreign language towards the corpse race people all over the city, “#&*7h *($998 HH9889!!!” 

Hearing his words, the corpse race members scattered all over the city quickly got up from their original positions, just as Ralif arrived in front of the man in blue. Ralif could tell, as she arrived that the man in blue likely gave them a command to leave the city quickly.

But she had to deal with the guy in blue very quickly, so she didn’t care about the others at the current moment. She figured it was best to get rid of the strongest first, before dealing with the rest.

Swinging a fist with all her strength, that seemed to swim in the air like a fish towards the man in blue, Ralif completely ignored everyone around her.

Seeing the mesmerizing fist pierce towards his head, the man in blue frowned even more. But instead of trying to dodge the fist, he allowed it to continue towards his face. 

As the first swam through the air gracefully towards him, the man in blue’s body started releasing greenish blue gas to welcome the attack. Along with the greenish blue gas, a scimitar magically appeared on the man’s right hand. Which he swung mightily at the lower torso of Ralif with great strength. 

As the pale white scimitar pierced through the air, towards Ralif’s waist, her fist had already arrived at his face. The powerful punch tore through the shield made out of greenish blue gas and obliterated the head of the man in blue in an instant.

Chapter 152: Agonizing Poison

But yet, the white scimitar continued its forward momentum towards Ralif, even after its owner’s head was obliterated. With Ralif’s quick reflexes, she noticed the scimitar’s deadliness as it struck towards her, so she quickly jumped backwards, but her stomach was still grazed by the sharp edge of the weapon. 

The force that came from the scimitar as it grazed her stomach was still strangely enough to send a three mile long shockwave that destroyed many buildings around her, tearing half her shirt apart, revealing her undergarments. Yet her stomach was barely scratched by the weapon. At the moment of impact, reptile-like scales seemed to have appeared on her skin that protected her insides from danger.

After jumping backwards to avoid the sharp weapon, Ralif finally realized that the person in front of her wasn’t as easy to deal with as she previously thought he would be. Looking at her right hand, which punched him, she noticed that her skin had strangely turned greenish blue, as if it had been poisoned. And not just that, the pain she felt from her hand was so painful that her heart started to beat wildly. Even her mind seemed to be affected by the pain coming from her hand.

But what made the matter worse, was that she quickly noticed the pulverized head of the man in front of her start to regenerate before her very eyes, just like his people from before. Seeing this angered her greatly. She couldn’t help but curse in her mind, ‘Evil undead!’

Within the span of seconds, the man’s head had already grown back to its previous handsome state, without the slightest sign of damage to it.

But before the man whose head had already grown back could gather his thoughts, Ralif had already disappeared from her previous location, and had miraculously appeared directly in front of him, with speed that was much faster than before. This time, she let out a flurry of punches from both fists that tore his body apart in less than a second. Completely ignoring the gas that obscured the man’s body from head to toe.

After the series of punches, what was left of the man’s body was thrown far into the distance. His body was brutally pulverized before it even hit the ground over a mile away from where he previously stood. Even his scimitar was dropped to the ground, where Ralif stood. 

Standing by the scimitar, Ralif’s two hands had already turned into a deep shade of greenish blue. She even noticed the color slowly spread towards the rest of her arms and towards her shoulders. The pain from her arms caused her extreme agony. 

Chapter 153: Freezing Breath

She even had to hold in a moan of agony from escaping her lips, as she stood there wondering what to do to kill the undying creature before her. She was already in so much pain, yet she knew the man she just pulverized into shredded meat definitely wouldn’t die from her simple punches. So after taking a second to clear her mind from the extreme pain, she decided to take her focus elsewhere while the pulverized man recovered. 

Looking around, she quickly noticed that many of the corpse race members, driven by fear of her strength, as well as the command given to them earlier by the blue gowned man, had already started running away from the city.

Seeing this greatly angered her, so she took in a deep breath, and blew violently outwards. This violent puff of wind that she blew out from her mouth seemed to contain extremely low temperatures. 

As the frigid wind escaped from her mouth, it quickly spread throughout the city within a second, freezing everything within the city. The corpses strewn about the city quickly turned into ice sculptures, and so did the huts, and the red and purple grasses, which had turned into jagged, sharp ice shards on the ground.

Even the corpse race members that had already ran miles away from the city in fear, were quickly caught up to by the blast of cold wind, and were quickly frozen where they stood.

Those that flew away in the air, fell down to the ground and shattered into frozen particles on impact. While those who burrowed into the ground in order to escape were frozen where they burrowed. The cold wind turned the ground around them into a frozen burial ground that encased them within, due to its extremely cold temperatures. 

By the time, Ralif stopped her cold breath, everything in the skies, on the earth, and underground within a 400 mile radius around the city had already turned into ice sculptures.

The man in blue, who had already been pulverized into meat paste, was already regenerating his limbs, and head by the time the cold air came over him. Strangely though, as the air came over him, countless volumes of greenish blue gas escaped from his badly mangled body, and encased him within it like a cocoon. Protecting him from the freezing cold that would’ve frozen his body still. 

Everything that was touched by the gas he emitted, sizzled as if it was smoking, before quickly melting into a greenish blue liquid gel on the ground. Even the tiny particles within the cold wind also melted into gel. 

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Chapter 58: Blood Runes

Hearing her words, immediately brought to mind a question that Lain had in his head in the past but forgot to ask due to the situation getting out of hand earlier. After a moment to gather his thoughts, he voiced out his concerns. “Now that you’ve mentioned the gates, I was wondering, why are the gates opened completely, when the entryway is over ten miles in width? Isn’t the government afraid of people bypassing the guards and entering the city from a different location? I’m truly confused about this.”

“The answer is actually very simple. The runes on the city walls have a mind-altering effect that forces anyone intending to enter the city by bypassing the guards to subconsciously line up in front of the guards at the gates patiently. That is one of the many reasons why the runes on the walls are always glowing, as they are always actively affecting the minds of those around them subtly. The runes on the walls also serve as a surveillance system that monitors the outskirts of the city.” Hui Shi said, after hearing Lain’s question.

Dumbfounded by his answer, Lain couldn’t help but stay silent for a minute to process what he  had just heard. He then said thoughtfully, “So that’s why I subconsciously desired to follow the crowd and line up, when I could’ve just walked through the opened gates?”

“Yes. I heard all city gates, and surrounding walls in our kingdom have this technology. I also heard only very powerful people can ignore the mental effects that these gates have on their minds, but these people should be very few in number in our city, and may not feel the need to go against city rules.” Annette said, as she also marveled at such a wonderful use of runes by the government.

“The technology of runes is widely used all over the world. Each city, kingdom, and empire all have their own unique way of using runes that differ completely from one another. Even the various organizations and people within these places all have their own unique runic technologies that others cannot replicate.” Hui Shi added, with a smile on his face.

“Runes are truly a blessing to the world. But since they’re made using blood, I wonder how these blood are sourced. Can human blood be used in the making of these runes as well? Wouldn’t that be a bit barbaric to use human blood to make runes?” Lain asked, as he found runes to be somewhat creepy when he truly thought about how they were made.

 “It is a bit barbaric to use human blood. But since I’m not a rune maker, I truly have no idea about the rules of the empire or kingdom pertaining to rune making. Brother Hui Shi, are there runes possibly being made using human blood within our empire?” Annette said, as she started to feel slightly creeped out when she looked around in the room that they were in that was filled with glowing runes, that could possibly be made using human blood.

Chapter 59: The Corpse Race

“It’s actually a national crime to use human blood to make runes, but only if the blood used to make the rune is not the rune maker’s own blood. Many cities in our kingdom even ban the buying and selling of instruments that are made using human blood runes entirely, just to prevent the harming of humans to create these types of runes. So most rune makers across the empire that use their own blood to make runes, tend to make runes that are for their own personal use.

Other than human blood, rune makers tend to use the blood of various animals and creatures instead, due to the use of human blood being frowned upon and even banned by the empire.

But there is an exception to the empire’s rule that bans the use of human blood. There’s actually a race of humans whose blood can be used to make runes without it being illegal. This race is so vile in their behavior that they’ve incurred great infamy across the empire, making them wanted criminals that must be arrested on sight, otherwise only an ill fate will befall anyone around them. This cursed race is called the corpse race.” Hui Shi said, as his face shifted into one of disgust at the mention of the corpse race.

“The corpse race? I’ve heard of this race being gossiped about in the past. I heard from my friends, that the first member of this race was birthed after a deranged ghost raped a corpse. After the corpse was raped, it became pregnant and birthed a cursed being that became the forefather of the corpse race.” Annette added, as her face also shifted into one of disgust as well, at the thought of a ghost raping a female corpse.

“That is true. I’ve read many ancient records mention that the corpse race was truly birthed from the body of a corpse, after a cultivated ghost celestial from ancient times revived and raped a corpse. After the birth of their progenitor, the corpse race have wrecked havoc all over the empire, doing many vile acts, which include the killing of people, cannibalism, and the raping of corpses, until they were all hunted down by the empire, and driven into hiding.

The worst part about the corpse race is not only their ability to successfully impregnate female corpses, but their unique rune making technology that requires the blood and souls of human babies.” Hui Shi said, with his face turning even more gloomy at the remembrance of the records that he had read in the past.

“This corpse race sounds pretty cruel. It’s best If I never come across such vile beings in the future. This world truly isn’t as safe as I once thought it was.” Lain said after listening to their conversation. He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of a corpse being raped by a ghost.

“Don’t worry. The chances of you encountering a corpse race member must be pretty low. Since I’ve been working with the law enforcement agency of our district for years, and I’ve never come across a single corpse race member.” Annette said gently, in order to help ease Lain’s mind.

Chapter 60: Gaming Archives

“I see. Well, that answers my questions. I hope brother Hui Shi can continue teaching me about this remote key thing.” Lain finally replied, after a short sigh of relief escaped his mouth.

“Got it. I’ll continue explaining the bank balances. After you have money in your bank account, a small menu screen will always pop up whenever you use an instrument that’s connected to the government’s technology grid that requires in-menu purchases. 

You can close or open that bank balance menu at any time by saying the words ‘open or close my bank menu’ but you must already have money deposited into a bank previously, for the menu to open or close at your whim.” Hui Shi said.

He then took a short second to see if Lain, or Annette, had any questions before continuing. “All the menu sections on the smaller TV screen have contents within them that require the spending of Yearning Dollars. Some pages within the Global Archives section also have virtual stores that allow you to purchase physical items using Yearning Dollars that can be shipped directly to your home from wherever they are located within the empire.

Now, let’s move on to the next section of the menu. The Gaming Archives section.”

Lain quickly pressed on the Gaming Archives button in the menu section, after Hui Shi finished speaking, then looked at the canvas below it. 

In just a second, the screen changed as the pictures that were there before morphed into new pictures. The new canvas screen still had rows upon rows of pictures, but this time the pictures seen within it were different. There were more cartoon-like pictures on the new canvas than the old. 

Looking at the screen filled with pictures, Hui Shi continued speaking. “Each image on this screen contains a unique game created by game developers situated somewhere within the empire. 

Clicking on a picture, will either ask you to buy the game hidden within it, if it’s a game with a cost, or start the game, if the game is free, or have been previously purchased.

Unlike the other sections, some games can be played on the screen, with a virtual keyboard, that allows you to control the in-game elements. While other games create a virtual world around you that allows you to play the game using your physical body.

Many games that teach you martial arts, or cultivation techniques, require you to have enough room around you to maneuver, since they create a virtual world around you that you can practice within.

Chapter 61: Temperature Change

Lastly, if you find it cumbersome to hold your stone key, you can place it in your pocket or anywhere on you, and the virtual screens around you will never disappear. You can also place it away from you, and continue using the screens, but you mustn’t let anyone touch the stone key, otherwise it’ll switch users, and close down all screens in front of you.”

“I see, brother Hui Shi. Thanks for the advice.” Lain responded, as he looked at the screen filled with games of all types in front of him.

Not feeling the need to play a game, he quickly looked up from the screen and said to Hui Shi. “Brother Hui Shi, can you please continue showing us around the house. Lastly, how do you exit a screen? I do not feel the need to delve into games right now.”

“Don’t worry. Just point at any screen inside the house and say the words ‘Exit this screen’ and the screen will disappear.” Annette responded. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue showing them around the house, patiently.

“Got it! Thanks for the help, sister Annette.” Lain responded, before closing the smaller TV screen using the voice command that he had just learned.

Seeing this, Hui Shi then took a short deep breath to clear his head, before pointing at the original screen that displayed the living room and saying. “Now that we’re done with the mechanics of the TV, I’ll tell you more about the house. 

Swiping vertically over the sofa inside the screen, or any other furniture in the house, allows you to change the texture of it. Swipe up, if you want to increase the setting, or down, if you want to decrease the setting. Just like you do with the temperature of the room.

You can also make a furniture moveable or fix it in place, simply by double tapping its image on the screen.”

Lain, hearing his words, first decided to try the first feature that he was told about earlier. Which was the feature that allowed him to change the temperature of the room. He quickly tried swiping down across the middle of the living room within the holographic screen. 

The moment he did, a temperature rating number appeared next to his swiping index finger that followed his finger down the screen. The lower his finger went, the lower the number declined as well.

When he was done swiping down, the number reached -10. After he let go of the screen, he immediately started to notice the temperature of the room drop. Fearing that he may have made a mistake, as the temperature almost went below freezing within seconds of letting go, he immediately corrected his mistake by swiping up on the screen again.

Chapter 62: Pervite

This time, only letting go, after the number following his finger stopped at 70. Seeing his curiosity, Annette couldn’t help but giggle a little, before saying. “Nifty, isn’t it? The temperature can change to your desired setting within seconds. That’s why only adults can change the settings on a key. Children are incapable of using these keys for safety reasons.

There’s even an age scanner on each key that’s designed to scan its user, in order to make sure no underage children are operating it. I know this because my chariot and home also have similar keys.”

Hui Shi eased into a smile, after hearing Annette. He then continued where she left off, saying. “Sister Annette is right. Children are truly incapable of operating this key, due to safety reasons.”

“That’s a useful feature. It shows there’s been a lot of thought put into the designs of these runes and keys.” Lain added. He then took a moment to look around the screen in front of him before finding the sofa that he was currently standing in front of. 

After finding the sofa, he reached towards it, then swiped up on the sofa. After a second of swiping, he only stopped when the setting number that hovered next to his swiping finger reached 100.

”I forgot to mention what the rating numbers indicate for the sofa. Number 100 indicates complete firmness, and number 0 indicates complete softness.” Hui Shi added, in slight guilt.

“I see. Thank you.” Lain replied. He then sat down on the sofa, in order to test what the words “complete firmness” truly meant. 

As soon as he sat down, he felt the difference. Before, the chair felt extremely soft and comfortable to sit on. Now, on the other hand, sitting on the chair felt like sitting on a hard rock. 

Lain, while feeling the texture of the sofa, reasoned to himself. ‘It seems after the rating number reaches 100, the chair will go back to its normal texture. And since the sofa was carved out of some sort of stone, I can only feel uncomfortable sitting on its rock hard surface.’

“The texture of the sofa actually gets firmer than its original texture, due to the runes carved on it. I heard the runes of most furniture can make them much harder than they originally were. They can even turn water into a hard, rocky material. But I’ve never been in a house that doesn’t use pervite as its building material. Since all houses in our district are made of it.”  Annette said, after seeing the look of realization on Lain’s face.

 “Pervite is the name of the stone that all buildings and furniture are made of in this district, if you’re wondering. Even our city has many architectures made out of this stone, due to its light weight and great durability.” Hui Shi added. 

Chapter 63: Completely Dark

‘Light weight?’ Lain thought, before getting up and double tapping on the sofa’s image inside the holographic screen.

After doing this, he then grabbed the left edge of the sofa with his left hand before gently pushing it towards his right. The moment he pushed on the sofa however, he immediately realized how light the sofa really was.

It was almost as light as the stone key in his hand, even though the sofa was much bigger. Just a gentle push caused the sofa to jeer sideways very easily. He even felt embarrassed of himself for using so much force. Feeling embarrassed, he quickly moved the sofa back to its original location.

After letting go of the sofa, Lain then looked back at the screen that followed his every move and always hovered in front of his body, and double tapped on the sofa again, in order to lock it in place.

After doing this, he then grabbed the sofa a second time in order to push it. This time, however, the sofa didn’t budge a single inch. Noticing this, he began adding a little bit more pressure to his left hand, trying to forcefully move the sofa.

As he began pushing with more force, the runes on the chairs slowly started to light up. The more he pushed the brighter the light they emitted, until the runes in the entire room started shining in a bright, bluish glow.

After pushing with more than twenty percent of his normal strength, the holographic screen in front of Lain started to shake, as it began to blink in and out of existence repeatedly, until it disappeared completely from sight. After its disappearance, the light inside the room also gave out, causing the entire room that he was within, to go dark.

Noticing this, Lain immediately gave up pushing the sofa, and released his grip.

“What an interesting magic. These runes have made the sofa almost immovable. I may need to use more than 50% of my normal strength just to make it budge.” Lain said out loud in wonder, as he looked around at the dark room which had lost all source of light.

“It truly is. But as you can see, there’s a cost to this. The energy within these runes, that’s connected to the entire house, will be depleted if you use all your strength. You’ll then need to buy the right type of blood from the market in order to replenish the energy within them. Otherwise you will never be able to use the various features of the house again.” Annette stated, while smiling at the dumbfounded Lain.

Chapter 64: Snake or Muscle?

“How do I get this blood? And what method do I use to replenish the runes, after acquiring the blood?” Lain, asked with a questioning look on his face. He even felt a slight chill every time he thought about using blood to replenish runes.

“You can either go to a physical store here in the district, or order the blood online, through the Global Archives section on the smaller TV. Most beasts’ blood will replenish the energy within the runes, so you can also just go hunt animals outside the city or around the districts in order to acquire their blood.” Hui Shi said, as he also looked around the dark room. 

“Brother Hui Shi is correct. You can use any animal’s blood. But the more powerful the animal, the more energy their blood contains, and also the less blood you’ll need to replenish the runes.” Annette added in satisfaction, since she’s been doing this for years, and knew quite a lot more about this subject than the previous ones they’ve talked about. 

 “In order to replenish the runes, you just need to place your stone key inside a vat of blood, or inside an animal, and it’ll absorb all the blood within. It’ll then slowly distribute the energy within the blood into the runes inside the house using invisible energy waves, while you're on the premises” Hui Shi, stated.

“You can also dump blood on the floor, anywhere in the house, and the runes engraved on the floor will absorb them, and distribute the energy within the blood all around the house.” Annette added in glee. 

“Watch this!” She stated afterward, before a long, tiny muscle in her right arm started to wiggle around like a little serpent. After a few seconds of wiggling, it slowly separated from the rest of her arm, and slithered down from her arm towards the floor, as its khaki color, which resembled Annette’s skin, slowly started to change into that of green. 

Scales started forming on its long, slim body before it made it to the floor, and large snake-like eyes grew out of its head.

By the time its entire body laid on the floor, it resembled a vicious green snake, with the length of an arm. 

The snake-like muscle, after reaching the floor, quickly looked at Hui Shi, and Lain, with the eyes of a dangerous predator, before blood started to seep out from in-between its scales. 

The blood that seeped out of its body quickly landed on the floor, painting the floor around the snake-like muscle, blood-red in color.

After a few seconds of watching the snake-like muscle bleed on the floor, Lain soon noticed the blood slowly start to evaporate, as the runes underneath it lit up.

Chapter 65: The Hidden Serpent

Within a minute all the blood that the snake-like muscle had bled out had disappeared into thin air. The snake-like muscle then stopped bleeding on the floor before quickly slithering back onto the arm of Annette, and wiggling itself back into its previous position on the arm.

Looking at Annette’s arm, Lain couldn’t even see a single thing out of place, after the snake-like muscle went back into position, and changed its color back to that of Annette’s skin.

“You have such an interesting ability!” Lain exclaimed in shock and awe. “It truly is a wonderful ability, sister Annette. I wonder what will power you’re cultivating?” Hui Shi asked, as his mind began to ponder the possible will powers that he had read of in the past, that this ability could possibly come from.

“My immortal will power is called the Hidden Serpent Immortal. It allows me to hide and traverse the world in secret like a hidden serpent. Being able to transform my muscles into various serpents is a subset of this power that helps me fight those who try to harm me, as well as rescue those in need.” Annette said shyly. She felt very blessed to be given such an amazing cultivation book, by the mysterious man that she met in the past.

“Hidden Serpent Immortal? That sounds like a pretty amazing will power. Congratulations for cultivating such a wonderful power. It must’ve helped you a lot growing up.” Lain stated, with a smile on his face.

“I almost lost the cultivation book many times after that mysterious man gave it to me as a child. I even threw it away many times. But each time the book was misplaced, it always appeared in my hands, after I woke up from sleep the next day, as if it was following me. The book has been a great mystery that I’ve been trying to uncover my entire life.” Annette added, as a thoughtful expression surfaced on her slightly beautiful face.

“It seems the mysterious man who gave you the book was truly a thought-provoking character. Casting a spell of sorts on the book that makes it soul bound to you is truly a unique thing to do for a child.” Hui Shi said. He also felt slightly surprised by the ability of the book to miraculously appear on Annette, every time she fell asleep.

After Hui Shi finished speaking, the light in the room slowly came back on, as the darkness surrounding the trio disappeared. 

The holographic screen that was previously hovering in front of Lain, that disappeared previously also appeared again, as soon the room fully regained its light.

Seeing this, Hui Shi smiled and said to Annette. “It seems your blood is pretty powerful, for such a small amount of it to replenish the runes so quickly.“ 

Chapter 66: Cultivation Stages

“I guess it is.” Annette replied shyly, as she gazed at the extremely handsome face of Hui Shi, with a slight blush on her face.

Ignoring the dazed expression on Annette’s face, Lain asked her, “How powerful are you? Is there a way to measure strength in this world?”  with a questioning look on his face.

Hearing his words, knocked Annette out of her joyful emotions. She then stared at Lain, with a smile, before saying to him. “Based on cultivation terms, I’m currently at the body perception stage, and will soon perfect this stage, before elevating my being and proceeding into the next cultivation stage, called the body manipulation stage.

On the next stage, I should then be able to turn parts of my body invisible. Currently, other than my heightened senses, great strength and endurance, I’m only able to turn my body into various snakes, and move them at will.”

After saying this, she then flexed her arm muscles, which then began to wiggle around as if they were live serpents.

Seeing her wiggling muscles come alive, Lain became even more confused, as he thought in his head, ‘Body perception stage? What’s the body perception stage?’ completely ignoring her performance.

Hui Shi, after noticing the confused look on his face, couldn’t help but help him understand the cultivation stages. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before saying. “I know you’re confused, brother Lain. So I’ll explain to you what the cultivation stages are.

You see, after the divine beings of our past created cultivation techniques that mimicked their will powers, they created a rule brick called cultivation stages, that measured the average strength that a cultivator should have as they evolved their existence and strengthened their will power over time.” 

“I see. So how many stages are there before the body perception stage? Also, is the stage pretty powerful?” Lain asked, as his confusion increased.

“Well, the body perception stage isn’t really powerful in the grand scheme of things, but it’s enough to help me survive most encounters out there. The body perception stage is only the third stage of immortal cultivation, after the body formation stage and the adept stage that all cultivators start at.” Annette replied, shyly, since she knew deep down that she was only a small fry within the vast world teeming with true immortals and gods.

Chapter 67: A Wonderful Gift To Mankind

“There are about 17 stages of cultivation, all together. The 17th stage is called the ascension stage. Cultivators at the ascension stage are all called true persons, due to the fact that they are all practically omnipotent, in places where true immortals and true celestials aren’t present. 

Now, let’s start at the beginning. The adept stage is where all cultivators start their journey, as previously mentioned by sister Annette.

From what I’ve learned in school, immortal cultivators at that stage gain a stronger body, and have their lifespan increased from the average 50 years, to over 200 years of age.

Celestial cultivators also have their lifespan increased by an average of 40 years at this stage as well, because celestial cultivators focus on nourishing their souls, while immortal cultivators enhance their physical bodies.” Hui Shi said slowly, after seeing the confused look on Lain’s face.

He then continued. “The next stage is where immortal cultivation and celestial cultivation diverge, as they start to gain more abilities related to their specific will power. It is called the mind formation stage for celestial cultivators, and the body formation stage for immortal cultivators.

At this stage, as I mentioned before, both cultivator types start to gain magical abilities related to their unique will powers, and on average have their lifespans increased by over 40 times. With immortal cultivators having an even greater increase in lifespan than celestial cultivators.

Based on their unique will power, some immortal cultivators can even gain over 100 times their lifespan at this stage.”

“Wow! Cultivation is truly a wonderful gift to mankind. Being able to extend your life to such astronomical proportions is magnificent!” Lain exclaimed in surprise, after listening to Hui Shi.

“It gets better.” Annette added gleefully. She then looked at Hui Shi, waiting for him to continue his explanations.

“Cultivation truly is a wonderful blessing. Now, let me continue to the next stage. The current stage that Annette’s currently at.” Hui Shi said, before he continued his explanations again.

“The next stage for immortal cultivators is called the body perception stage, while for celestial cultivators, is called the mind perception stage.

At the mind perception stage, celestial cultivators in general develop the ability to fly. They also develop a small mind field around them that allows them to view and listen to everything within the field, even to a microscopic scale. 

Chapter 68: Arduous Cultivation

They can even apply mental pressure on anyone within that field that can manipulate their minds, and injure their souls. Their lifespan also increases to over 100 times their previous lifespan.

As for immortal cultivators, they also gain an increase of over 200 times their previous lifespan, as well as other unique abilities of their will power. On average, the senses of an immortal cultivator at this stage are so enhanced that they can view and hear things thousands of miles around them.

Their physical strength also allows them to move at over 100 times the speed of sound. This makes them very dangerous predators in a world filled with normal humans, and animals.” 

Hearing his words, Lain, couldn’t help but mutter in surprise, “You truly are powerful, sister Annette.”

“She truly is. Over 80% of cultivators at the body and mind cultivation stages cannot even get to her current stage without dying of old age. That is how hard it is to evolve into a higher being, as a cultivator.” Hui Shi responded. 

“Not to mention, she’s only in her early years of life. You’re a gifted lady, sister Annette.” Lain, added with a look of admiration on his face. He couldn’t help but realize the difficulty of being a cultivator.

“Thank you! But I’m not really that great. I just have a great cultivation book to rely on.” Annette replied with a look of shame written on her face.

“You truly are. It takes a lot of determination and effort to get to your current stage, as every stage requires cultivators to acquire the right resources to nourish their bodies and souls. Many cultivators have even died during the process of cultivation itself, either due to using the wrong resources, not getting the right resources when they require them or just cultivating inappropriately.” Hui Shi said, because he didn’t believe the book could’ve truly helped her overcome the burdens of cultivation. Especially when she began cultivating at such a very young age all by herself, without any mentors or friends to help her get through its difficulties.

“As for the next stage. I will not go into details on it. Because what I’ve already explained should be enough for you to understand sister Annette’s powers. I also do not wish to extinguish sister Annette’s desires, or place false expectations on her mind. As each person’s experience at each stage can differ greatly from one another. Food that cannot be eaten should not be worried about.” Hui Shi added, before looking at the expectant looking Lain, with guilt.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi, for your consideration. I truly would like to get to the next stage and figure out all its benefits by myself.” Annette said, with a look of appreciation in her eyes.

Chapter 69: The Unity Stage

“What about Elder Micas, and Elder Trent? What stages are they at, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lain, asked in disappointment, after realizing that he wouldn’t get to understand the next stage of cultivation anytime soon, unless he did his own research.

“Well, although I do not know what stage both elders are currently at, since it's been countless years since they did anything publically notable, I do know that they were once generals in the kingdom’s military. A person cannot be a general in the kingdom’s military if they aren’t at the simple unity stage. Which is the 8th stage of cultivation.

At the simple unity stage, cultivators are given a cultivator title by the kingdom. Cultivators that serve in the military or have helped the kingdom in notable ways, are given a noble title instead, which holds real power all over the kingdom. A noble of a kingdom is well respected all over the empire.”  Hui Shi replied. 

“Is that so? What titles do Elder Micas and Elder Trent have?” Lain asked again. He even began to yearn for a noble’s title in his heart.

“From the records that I’ve read, I heard that Elder Micas was once called the Moon Light Marquis. Making him a marquis ranked noble in the kingdom. Mind you, a general at the unity stage is given the title of baron, so Elder Micas, as a marquis, must be much stronger than the unity stage. And that was over 100,000 years ago.

His strength today must be countless times greater than when he was first given his title.

As for Elder Trent, it’s been over a couple billion years since he left the military and started this district, so I have no idea what his current noble rank is, but I do know that he was once called the Peaceful Sage Marquis in the past. He could’ve done a lot more notable things since then that could’ve elevated his status within the kingdom.” Hui Shi responded. 

“I heard those at the unity stage are god-like beings that can easily destroy planets and galaxies. I can’t believe I met two elders with powers greater than that!” Annette exclaimed, with a shiver. 

“I can’t believe the two elders are that powerful. They must be more powerful than brother Mon Dupa that we met earlier, right?” Lain, asked. Remembering the handsome man from earlier with flames for hair, he couldn’t help but believe that he was someone stronger than Annette, not weaker.

“You met the superhero Mon Dupa?  I’ve heard of him before, but haven’t truly spent time trying to find out who he is.” Annette said, in shock. She couldn’t believe what she heard, since there were very few superheroes in each district compared to the number of heroes, which were almost countless in her eyes. 

Chapter 70: Candle King

“Yes. We met him earlier, when the Fang Clan villain passed through the gates with his weird insect-like creature.” Lain replied. He couldn’t help but feel slightly vexed when he thought about the man from the Fang Clan that he met earlier.

“We did. But I do not know much about him, other than his origin. Judging from the blue flames on his body, I fear that he’s a very dangerous man from the Candle King Sect. All members of the Candle King Sect emit flames from their bodies of various colors, where their hairs should be.

The blue flame on his body, from the historical records that I’ve read in the past, indicates that he must be a direct descendant of their progenitor, the Candle King himself. Who is a true immortal that’s been alive since ancient times. The Candle King is the main reason why his sect is called an untouchable zone. For he is a truly terrifying monster from ancient times that can destroy the world, and easily rule our empire, if he ever wishes to.

As for Mon Dupa, due to him being called a superhero by sister Annette, his strength must at least be at the unity stage or higher. I believe this because all heroes in the empire are called superheroes, after reaching the unity stage.” Hui Shi stated. But just before he could continue, he noticed the hairs all over his body start to emit blue flames. 

Just as he was about to look around in caution, words suddenly echoed out in the quiet room, startling the trio. “Is everyone talking about me?” 

As soon as the trio heard those words, they quickly looked around them in shock, only to see blue flames mysteriously materialize all over the living room. Even the two holographic screens in the room, started to burn in blue flames as well. 

Hui Shi who was previously glowing in golden light was quickly bathed in blue flames, as the golden glow that emitted from his body was forced by the blue flames to recede into his body. Even the halo above his head began to shine in a hue of blue flames as well, but strangely the halo remained over Hui Shi’s head and didn’t disappear completely. It seemed, the powers of Ensieth were too concentrated within the halo, for it to be conquered completely by the blue flames.

Lain, seeing the blue flames all over his body, that made every breath he breathed out emit plumes of blue flames into the air, couldn’t help but feel that the flames looked slightly familiar.

He noticed that the strangest part of the blue flames that covered everything in the room, from his point of view, wasn’t that it covered their entire bodies, and possibly even their insides, but that there was no heat emitted from them at all.

Chapter 71: Brother Mon Dupa?

But Lain, and the other two beside him were not fooled by this, because from their instincts, the trio could tell that hidden within the harmless looking blue flames that surrounded them, was heat that was mind bogglingly terrifying.

Seeing the blue flames all over her body, Annette’s first reaction was to try to put it out, due to her instinctual fear that the heat she perceived within the flames could incinerate her to ashes within seconds. But before she could move, the flames that covered the entire room, as well as the two holographic screens, all converged at the center of the room within the blink of an eye.

Within a span of seconds, the flames that left the body of the trio, quickly took on the figure of a human, before receding inside that figure rapidly. After a couple milliseconds, human features started to appear within the flaming figure.

Looking at the flaming figure that was quickly turning into a human, Lain couldn’t help but say cautiously. “Brother Mon Dupa, is that you?” It seems he had somehow recognized the figure within the blue flames. 

“It truly is the voice of brother Mon Dupa.” Hui Shi, added. The slight worry in his heart vanished at Lain’s words.

Standing by the side, the shocked Annette could only listen to their conversation, hoping the flaming figure in front of them was truly a friend and not a terrifying foe.

“Hello again, brothers! I’m sorry for my interruption.” The flaming figure stated, as the flames completely disappeared within its body, and the handsome figure of Mon Dupa appeared.

Mon Dupa then took a step forward, towards the trio standing in front of the sofa and said to them. “I was worried earlier that something must’ve happened to the two of you, when I sensed your presence vanish through a teleportation of sorts, so I decided to track you guys down, hoping the Fang Clan member from earlier wasn’t involved in your teleportation.”

“How’d you know where to find us?” Lain asked in bewilderment. After asking his question, he soon noticed a slightly sticky feeling all over his body. 

Noticing this feeling, he quickly glanced around his body and the bodies of the other two beside him, only to notice a film-like, sticky residue that felt like candle wax covering their bodies. 

He first looked at Annette, whose body now looked like a wax figurine, with eyes and hairs that were wax-like in appearance, he then looked at Hui Shi in shock, as his body which was now emitting the familiar golden glow again, was also covered in wax, as if the wax covering his body and eyes, was an illusion. It seemed to Lain that the wax didn’t affect his god’s divine powers, like the blue flames from earlier did.

Chapter 72: A Little Girl

But in a matter of seconds, as Lain was observing the two, all the candle wax that covered the bodies of the trio melted to the ground, then quickly moved towards Mon Dupa, who was currently walking towards them.

The melted candle wax then quickly covered his walking legs, from feet to waist, before disappearing into his legs. While this was happening, the walking Mon Dupa, nonchalantly answered Lain’s question, as if he wasn’t aware of the mysterious wax’s movements. ”Earlier, when brother Hui Shi told us that you guys had something important to attend to, I felt the need to protect you from the Fang Clan member that entered the gates before you. So I secretly left a bit of my candle wax on your bodies. Hoping to use it to monitor your presence, for a couple of days to make sure your lives were not at risk, before I withdraw them back into my body.”

40 minutes before Mon Dupa manifested directly in front of the trio, somewhere far away from Yearning Sweet City, a little girl was sleeping on a small, blue, stone bed inside a small room with stone walls and stone floor that was filled with unique, moon shaped, dark blue runes.

While the little girl was sleeping in the quiet and dark room, blue flames quickly started to materialize inside the room. The blue flames that materialized, first appeared as small sparks of flames that danced around the little girl’s body, before more flames quickly exploded from within the body of the sleeping girl, towards the exterior of the room. The exploding flames then quickly covered not only the walls and the bed, but also the entire body of the little girl as well. 

But strangely, the blue flames that coerced everything inside the room, did not emit a single amount of heat. The little girl continued sleeping on the now flaming bed peacefully, as if nothing unique was happening, as blue flames flew out of her nostrils every time she breathed out, while blue flames entered when she breathed in. 

After a few milliseconds, the blue flames that covered the entire room, quickly converged next to the right side of the bed that the little girl was sleeping in, before the figure of Mon Dupa appeared within the flames.

Looking at the little girl, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but breathe out a sigh of relief. He then quickly looked around him, as if he sensed the presence of something terrifying watching him from somewhere.

After glancing around the room, and finding nothing but darkness. He quickly looked back towards the bed that the little girl was sleeping on.  But as he looked back, he shockingly discovered that not only had the little girl disappeared, the bed and room had also disappeared as well. 

Chapter 73: Mysterious Space

Replacing them were the dark recesses of space. The surroundings of Mon Dupa had somehow transformed into a quiet, cold, and silent universe, with nothing but darkness and unfathomably large incandescent planets situated around him. 

His lungs, which were used to breathing air, quickly came to an agonizing stop, as they struggled for air to breathe, only to realize that there was no longer air around Mon Dupa for them to breathe in. But luckily, Mon Dupa’s, unique, cultivated body, overrode the shortness of breath that came with his suffocating lungs. Shortly after stopping, his powerful lungs started back up again and quickly went into overdrive, and started inhaling the pure, invisible energy that was hidden within his surrounding environment, in order to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the environment.

 With the restart of his lungs, Mon Dupa started to feel at ease again within seconds, as his body slowly started to acclimate to his weird airless environment. But feeling slightly groggy for some reason, he cautiously looked around him, only to notice that strangely, the incandescent planets that filled the dark space around him and the distance, were not truly planets but large moons of various sizes. Moons that emitted gentle moon light that slightly obscured their surroundings in white light. And with his microscopic stature in comparison to them, he couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the massive moons situated around him, that appeared out of thin air, along with the universe.

While he was observing the moon, his mind kept getting even more groggy and chaotic, causing him to notice that the mysterious light exuded into the surrounding darkness by the mammoth sized moons, not only made the dark space around them brighter than it should be, it also created an effect towards its surroundings that made time move countless times faster than normal at times, while at other times made time move countless times slower than normal.

Being bathed by the gentle light from these mammoth sized moons, the microscopic sized Mon Dupa, situated among them, was easily affected. Just the short few seconds that he had arrived in this unknown universe, his mind had already started to quickly go haywire. 

The entire time that he had been trying to acclimate to his new environment, his thinking process and awareness, would speed up by thousands of times, while at other times, they would slow down to a crawl, as if time had slowed down to almost a stand still.

Feeling the constant change in time, caused him to panic, and clutch his head with both hands. He then used a great deal of effort to will his mind and body, using the power of his unique will power, to ignore the irregular changes in time that were occurring within his surroundings, in order to help his mind and body regain stability. Only after doing this, did his mind and body slowly start to function as they normally would, while ignoring the rapid changes in time that occurred around him.

Chapter 74: Celestial Mind Field?

‘I must currently be in the mind field domain of a celestial!’ Mon Dupa concluded in his mind as he looked around at the surrounding moons that were shining light on his body. He knew that an immortal was incapable of creating this field out of thin air. He reasoned that a celestial was likely the culprit.

 ‘When I entered the room earlier, there was no indicator that an array was set up within the environment. So this universe that I’m currently within, can only be the witchcraft of a celestial’s mind field.’ Mon Dupa concluded again in his mind. An array was out of question to him. For he had already thoroughly checked the room using his flames when he had arrived earlier, and he didn’t find the energy signals of a dormant or active array nearby.

‘Since this is likely a celestial’s mind field, there must be a celestial hidden within it. Watching my every move!’ He concluded in his mind, after another moment of thought. He then heightened his eyesight, using his powerful will power, in order to look deeply through the cosmos, as if he was searching for something. The moment he did, the barely visible universe that was obscured by the lights originating from the moons, started to become clearer, until every inch of the universe was visible to his eyes, as if he was right in front of them. 

Four minutes into looking around the billions of light years wide universe desperately, he soon spotted a short old man, dressed in a blue gown with a belt on his waist, holding a wooden cane, standing billions of light years away, on a large glowing moon, that emanated white light which slightly obscured his old, but etheric figure. 

Although the old man’s figure was infinitesimally small within the giant universe, Mon Dupa could still quickly find him, due to his heightened eyesight that scanned light years of distance extremely efficiently.

Looking at the mysterious old man in the distance, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but feel as if he was looking at a man that was standing somewhere in the far distant past, and not someone who existed within his current time period.

Realizing this, the eyes of Mon Dupa quickly lit ablaze in blue flames in order to enhance his sight even further. He used a powerful eye technique that caused his eyes to capture the heat energy emitted from the world around him, in order to see more accurately. Only after doing this did that mysterious feeling surrounding the old man go away. He could now see the old man clearly. The mysterious feeling that made the old man appear as if he was obscured by time itself had finally disappeared, as he viewed him using his heat energy view that made the old man appear like a man made of flames.

Chapter 75: Old Man

He then made eye contact with the mysterious old man that was situated billions of light years away. Making eye contact with the old man, made the old man smirk in response. You could tell from the old man’s smirk that he was not happy about Mon Dupa’s appearance within the little girl’s room. Not even the slightest bit of surprise was seen on the face of the old man. As if he was already aware that Mon Dupa was going to appear within the room, before he did.

After seeing the old man smirk, Mon Dupa quickly started to notice his lifespan slip away from him. Every second that he hovered calmly in space, he felt over a thousand years of his life disappear from within him, and evaporate into thin air. Yet, strangely, time itself still flowed haphazardly, around him. Sometimes speeding up, and sometimes slowing down. It seemed his lifespan was evaporating from within him, at a steady rate, regardless of how time flowed around him. The young looking Mon Dupa, was truly growing older by the second, and after a moment of using his powerful will power to try to counter this mysterious life draining force in order to slow it down, he quickly realized there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Noticing his depleting lifespan that couldn’t be stopped no matter how much will power he used to control his body and mind, Mon Dupa feared that something even worse was in store for him, if he didn’t put a stop to the old man’s machinations somehow. So, bright blue plumes of flames quickly lit up from his back, as his back from head to heel, lit in flames. 

The bright plumes of blue flames that lit up, then forcefully ejected from his back powerfully, quickly launching his body forward with unstoppable momentum towards the old man situated billions of light years away, creating violent shockwaves that destroyed every moon within a hundred billion miles around him. Turning Mon Dupa into a bright burning, blue comet that barreled violently forward. 

His barreling speed was so blindingly fast, that it left afterimages behind him. Only after traveling over trillions of miles, did the image of him at his original location start to slowly dissipate. 

With his violent lunge forward, the temperature of the space around him quickly increased astronomically as well. It increased by millions of degrees every millisecond. 

Due to the rapidly increasing temperature around him, every gigantic moon that he came across, as he violently barrelled forward, melted into ashes before he could even get near them. 

The gargantuan moons that made him look extremely microscopic couldn’t withstand the surrounding temperature billions of miles around his body, and quickly melted into magma, before evaporating into ashes, and smoke covered in blue flames, as he flew closer.

Chapter 76: Another Dangerous Predator

But after traveling over two billion light years, he quickly lurched himself to a complete stop, as a hideous grimace surfaced on his handsome face. Looking at Mon Dupa, you could tell that he was very angry. And his anger stemmed from the fact that the closer he moved towards the old man in the distance, the faster his lifespan depleted by the second. 

At his starting location, he was previously losing around a thousand years per second, but now however, after traveling two billion light years forward, he started to lose over a million years per second. His face also started to show signs of aging, which was strange given how long he was fated to live given his cultivation level. With small wrinkles appearing all over his face, and facial hair growing every second, his over a trillion years of life that he had gained from cultivating his immortal will power for the past 15 years, depleted constantly as age spots started to appear all over his body.

Feeling his life deplete by the second, he quickly came to the conclusion that moving towards the old man ahead of him was a dangerous mistake that he wouldn’t make again. He also felt that moving backwards would not reduce the speed at which his life depleted. He had a hunch judging from the wicked smirk given by the old man, that the old man wouldn’t be that merciful to him.

After a couple seconds spent desperately thinking of a solution to his shrinking lifespan, Mon Dupa soon noticed that another pair of eyes seemed to be watching him from somewhere. Somewhere he couldn’t see even with his great eyesight, which bothered him. Facing one celestial with his current body, that had been fractalized into many different bodies that are all situated all over the city, was already a strenuous task.

Fearing that another dangerous predator was about to make a move on him, he decided to use a desperate approach.  After coming to this decision in his mind, his entire body started to emit large, ocean sized plumes of blue flames into his surroundings that grew larger and faster by the second as they expanded towards his exterior.  

Hoping to incinerate everything in the universe of moons that he was currently within, Mon Dupa released extremely terrifying flames that traveled billions of light years within seconds, and turned the entire universe into a field, covered in blazing blue flames. Every inch within the universe soon became ablaze in blue flames. Their scorching heat obscuring the air around.

Every moon within the universe, after being bathed by the terrifyingly hot flames, quickly melted into ashes upon being surrounded by the field of blue flames that covered every inch of the universe. 

Chapter 77: Terrifying Heat

But after 3 minutes of melting every moon within the universe in a bid to stop his lifespan’s depletion, Mon Dupa soon noticed that strangely, each time a moon melted, another larger moon miraculously appeared, and took its place. But alas, the temperature of the flames were too terrifyingly high for the new moons to survive as well, so the new moons also disintegrated into ashes shortly after appearing.

This constant destruction and creation of moons went on for minutes, as Mon Dupa constantly increased the temperature of the burning flames using his powerful will power, in order to make sure everything burned down permanently. But to his dismay he soon noticed something troubling. Not only did his lifespan’s depletion not cease, after burning down the entire universe for minutes on end, it seemed that each time a new moon appeared after being burned down, its resistance to the burning flames increased as well. But due to the still rising temperature of the environment, their increased resilience was still futile. 

Noticing this growing resilience of the moons, Mon Dupa knew that sooner or later the new moons would gain enough resilience to resist the heat from his burning flames, if he didn’t think of another solution soon. He didn’t know much about the mysterious old man in front of him, and couldn’t tell how much longer the old man could handle the pressure brought by the burning flames to his mind field universe. 

Knowing that he had a time limit, he quickly looked towards the direction where the old man was previously standing in order to investigate his appearance. Hoping to gauge whether his current rising flames’ heat were effective.

But to his further dismay, the old man was still standing on the same moon that he had previously been standing on without any blemish to his appearance. 

The moon the old man was standing on, was now covered in a white colored, circular energy shield, that enclosed the moon and the old man completely. This large energy shield that looked like a ball filled with moon light, somehow prevented any flames from burning the large moon that the old man was standing on. Keeping him safe from the flames’ terrifying temperatures.

But as Mon's lifespan kept depleting minute by minute, while he stood and studied the old man carefully in order to think of a counter measure, he kept increasing the temperature within the universe rapidly as well, until the old man, hiding within the energy shield, couldn't help but start sweating profusely. 

After minutes of being incinerated by the surrounding flames, it seemed his energy shield couldn’t handle the pressure, and started emitting light sizzling sounds as the flames surrounding it burned at its white colored edges ferociously. 

Chapter 78: Blue Flames

Noticing the shield’s reaction, Mon Dupa finally felt more at ease, and continued increasing the temperature within the universe desperately. Hoping to burn the old man down, before his moons could build up any resistance to his flames, and turn the tables. For he knew those moons could be key to how the old man uses his powers. Making sure they constantly melted into ashes may be of great help, even if it currently doesn’t appear as such.

The old man who was standing on the moon, and calming watching Mon Dupa’s actions the entire time as if he was trying to figure out his origins, and intentions, quickly stopped his smirk, after noticing the energy shield surrounding him emit sizzling sounds as if it was being burnt to ashes. 

As the energy shield was emitting sizzling sounds, he even started to feel the temperature within the inside of the shield rapidly increase as well. After a couple of minutes inside the shield that was rapidly gaining temperature, he started sweating profusely.  

His sweat even started to evaporate instantly after being secreted from the sweat glands on his skin, after the temperature rose to a certain degree. With his sweat glands emitting gas instead of water, that turned into blue plumes of flames in the air.

Noticing the blue plumes of flames inside his shield, the old man couldn't help but take in a deep, sweltering breath, before saying. “It seems I've really met my match this time.” 

He finally realized that the young Mon Dupa before him was truly someone of his caliber. Mon Dupa’s blue flames have somehow bypassed his energy shield and have started affecting his body, from within. Something only people of his caliber could do, within the short period of time that they had battled.

After saying those words, blood started to seep out of the old man’s eyes, mouth and nose, as the temperature increased even more rapidly around him, as if his insides were not only being cooked by extremely high temperatures, but also being torn apart by a mysterious force. 

The blood that seeped out of his facial orifices, strangely evaporated as well, into a bloody mist that soon turned into wisps of blue flames, just like his sweat from before. 

Noticing his damaged, and aching body, the old man for the first time, couldn’t help but feel surprised. His powerful will power that’s currently appearing as the energy shield around him, seemed to truly be unable to protect his body from the overbearing heat from his surroundings. Even the mysterious force that was tearing his insides apart, he was also incapable of subduing.

Chapter 79: A Waxy Transformation

Feeling frustrated at his inability to withstand the rising temperature, and the tearing force within his body that brought him great pain, the old man quickly raised his wooden cane, after determining that waiting patiently for the young man in front of him to die from lifespan depletion, was detrimental to his own survival, and thrusted it towards Mon Dupa, who was billions of light years away with all his might. In a bid to end the battle quickly.

The powerful thrust of the cane situated in the old man’s right arm, seemed to easily traverse the trillions, upon trillions of miles separating the two in less than a second, as if the distance separating the two of them was an illusion. 

As he thrusted his cane mysteriously towards Mon Dupa, the illusion of an ancient moon soon appeared at the tip of the cane. The ancient moon appeared lone and desolate as if it was the only moon in existence, as it hovered at the tip of the cane.  After appearing, the ancient moon, then rapidly enlarged, as it moved towards the distant Mon Dupa at terrifying speed, quickly enlarging to epic proportions that dwarfed several galaxies combined, and covered the old man, and the moon he was standing within, completely. 

The flames burning in its path seemed to freeze in place as it passed through them, as if time, millions of light years around the moon, had slowed down to almost a complete stop. Its piercing movement also pushed the countless moons in its path to the side violently. Even the heat burning the inside of the old man, as well as the tearing force within him disappeared, as the illusionary moon encapsulated him, and his surroundings.

Looking at the rapidly approaching moon in the distance, Mon Dupa couldn’t help but feel as though he was watching an ancient, desolate moon that was birthed at the beginning of time, cross countless eons of time from the distant past, towards his current position in the distant future, with unstoppable momentum that grew more terrifying by the second.

Noticing the moon that was approaching him at terrifying speed, threatening to tear him asunder, and wash him away within the river of time, Mon smirked in anger and fright for the first time, for he knew he could die if that illusionary moon crashed into him as his body currently was.

After realizing this, his body that was covered in flames then quickly started to change. The flames erupting from his body quickly disappeared in less than a second, leaving a muscular body with wax-like consistency behind. 

Mon Dupa had somehow transformed himself into a wax figurine, in a bid to protect his body from the incoming moon. For he believed that only in this state could his body somehow survive the onslaught of the moon.

Chapter 80: A Powerful Thrust

After the transformation, he didn’t wish to wait for the moon to crash into him, for he feared that he may not survive its onslaught. So he quickly balled up his right waxy fist using every ounce of will power left within him, before thrusting it forcefully towards the approaching cane with all his might, hoping to obliterate everything in its path, bring down the old man situated within the moon and end this terrible battle that he was facing.

 A large bang echoed out with the powerful thrust that pushed the surrounding flames forcefully away from him. The punch that he threw seemed so terrifying that the space around it warped and cracked. Even the surrounding new moons that appeared, were obliterated to smithereens from the violent shockwaves emitted from the forceful thrust that reached trillions of miles around Mon Dupa.

The terrifying punch quickly traveled countless light years, ahead of Mon Dupa, elongating his right arm. Turning that arm into a long, and dangerous, wax pole that obliterated everything in its path.

The punch quickly arrived in front of the enormous moon that had already enlarged to cover Mon Dupa’s entire frontal view. The moment it arrived in front of the moon, its extreme speed seemed to ignore the time slowing effect that the large moon had around it. 

It then pierced the moon with extreme force that sent massive shockwaves all over the enormous moon, which caused it to crack all over violently, threatening to break at any moment. Within the blink of an eye, the punch then burrowed deep into the center of the moon, before exiting it at extreme speed towards the old man who was situated towards the end of the moon. 

The large, crack filled moon that was punctured by the punch, strangely continued forward towards Mon Dupa at extreme speed as well, gaining more momentum by the millisecond, as if the cracks all over it caused it no harm. 

It then bore into Mon Dupa, causing him to quickly disintegrate. Turning his body into an illusionary substance that disappeared like a mirage, as if his body was being unraveled by time itself. But just as the moon was tearing Mon Dupa’s body apart, his violent punch entered the moon with overwhelming speed, and barreled towards the old man, the moon he was standing on, and his light shield with extreme force.  

Within an instant it arrived in front of the old man’s face, causing the skin and flesh on the old man’s entire body to quickly tear apart, until only crack filled bones remained, even before the punch successfully landed. 

Chapter 81: Moonlight Eyes

Noticing the extremely violent punch pierce through his shield and reach towards his now bare skull, the old man, who was now nothing more than a crack filled skeleton, panicked. He wasn’t willing to die along with his enemy, so he made a quick decision to save his old life, which was on the brink of collapse. 

His eyes, which were strangely the only things left on his face, aside from his crack filled skull, quickly changed color. They quickly turned from dark brown to pale white. They then started to glow as if they were two moons in the night sky. The instant his eyes transformed, the punch that was already almost touching his splintering skull, with extreme force that tore the skin and flesh on his body apart, stopped abruptly. 

Strangely, after the old man stopped Mon Dupa’s violent thrust, everything in the entire universe also stopped moving as well, as if time had slowed down to a complete stop. The crack filled moon that was already tearing Mon Dupa's body apart, then instantly released a blinding moon light that covered the entire universe, in an instant.

That light seemed to wash everything within the universe away instantly, like illusions disappearing from sight. By the time the moon light disappeared, all the moons, and terrifying blue flames, as well as Mon Dupa had vanished from the universe entirely. The entire universe had now become a dark and empty wasteland, as if everything within it previously were mere illusions.

The only thing now left within the dark and quiet universe was the moon that the old man was standing on, as well as the glowing light shield that enclosed the two. 

Noticing something, the old man that was standing on the moon, looked towards the pointed cane that was held in his right hand. The cane at some point in time had become riddled with cracks. After the old man glanced at it, the cane then quickly disintegrated into ash, and fell on the moon below him.

Looking at his now empty hand that the cane used to be in, the old man slowly lowered his arm in regret. But as his arm slowly lowered, new moons started to appear all over the universe, completely filling the universe back up again within a matter of seconds. 

The lacerated skin and flesh on the old man’s body also started to heal again. As the old man bathed in the light emanating from the new moons around him, the light from the moons seemed to slowly move time around his damaged skeletal body back in time, towards a time where his body wasn’t injured. Every second, pieces of flesh, organs, tissues and skin, would materialize on his skeletal body, as if they were being pulled from the past towards the current moment in the present.

Chapter 82: Forced Transformation

Within a couple seconds his body was almost completely healed, making him look like how he used to before the battle began. But strangely, before his body could heal completely the old man started to cough violently. He coughed for over 3 minutes in agony before his body knelt on the ground in desperation and pain. After falling to the ground in agony, he started to cough even more violently than before, with blood coming from his mouth with each cough. But strangely the blood that he coughed out of his mouth looked more like blood colored wax, than real blood. 

After spending a couple of minutes coughing up blood colored wax, he forced himself to stop coughing using his will power, as his pale white eyes started to glow again. He tried to use his will power to slow down time around whatever mysterious force was currently tearing his insides apart, using every ounce of strength within him, and causing his entire body to emit blinding moon light towards its surroundings that completely obscured his curled up figure on the ground of the moon.

But before he could accomplish his goal, he seemed to notice something, which caused him to look up from his kneeling and hunched position on the ground. As he raised his head to look around, he shockingly noticed that the entire universe that he had manifested from his celestial will power had at some point in time transformed into a wax figurine. 

The entire universe, including the countless moons and empty space within it, had at some point in time solidified into gray colored wax. The only location within the entire universe that hadn’t transformed into wax was only the few feet around his body that had been obscured by the moon light originating from his body. 

Noticing this, he quickly tried to get up in desperation, but only to realize that half his body had already turned into wax, from his two feet to his torso. They were wax-like and felt like they weighed tons to him. Even worse yet, he soon realized that he was strangely incapable of moving those parts of his body that had already gained a wax-like consistency. It seemed they no longer belonged under his mental and physical control. 

The scariest part of this wax-like lower body to him, was that it was currently rapidly spreading towards the rest of his body by the second. Looking at the wax constantly spreading all over his body, he couldn't help but panic in fear and anxiety. It seemed to him that the mysterious force that had been tearing his insides apart in the past, was somehow still within his body even after all he had done to get rid of it. And he quickly realized that this mysterious force was the cause of this wax-like transformation that his body was currently going through.

As he was stricken by extreme terror, and anxiety helplessly watching the wax spread towards his upper body, he soon noticed something materialize in front of him that drew his attention away from his changing body.

Chapter 83: Baffled!

Due to the entire universe being transformed into wax, there was only a small empty space left. From his viewpoint of his surroundings within that empty space, only a circular milk colored, wax wall surrounded him. Now he strangely noticed that a portion of the wax wall situated in front of him seemed to instantly transform strangely into the shape of a human being within the blink of an eye. 

Seeing the human shaped wax in front of him caused him to be baffled. He couldn’t help but understand the cause of his current predicament, the young man from earlier that he thought he had successfully gotten rid of. Looking at the human shaped wax that materialized in bafflement, and anxiety, he heard a chuckle echo from that wax figure. 

After the chuckle, the wax-like human then quickly transformed into the flesh and blood human called Mon Dupa, who then looked menacingly into the old man’s moon-like eyes, as if he was looking at an evil villain.

Mon Dupa while looking into the old man’s eyes asked in an angered voice. “Who are you? What's your relation to the little girl? Did you kidnap her?”

Looking at the now old and haggard looking Mon Dupa in front of him, the old man whose head, which at some point in time had already started to transform into wax, came to another realization. It seemed he may have guessed the identity of the person in front of him wrong. It seemed the wax manipulating man in front of him wasn’t the criminal that he thought he was.

But instead of answering Mon Dupa’s question, due to fear of being turned into a wax figurine, the old man’s moon-like eyes started to lose their previous glow. Knowing that he was soon going to turn into a wax figurine even before he could answer the question, the old man used his last bit of strength to make one final move.

While staring at the old man’s eyes, Mon Dupa quickly fell into a slight trance. He soon noticed in his trance that when he looked into the old man’s eyes they had no resemblance to regular eyes to him, instead they looked like two, glowing full moons situated in a cold and desolate night sky. 

And strangely the two full moons started to wane, until they slowly turned dark, causing the night sky to lose all its brilliance. The old man’s once bright moon-like eyes waned into two dark moons, as they stared back at Mon Dupa menacingly. 

Looking at the dark moons, situated within the cold and desolate night sky, mesmerized Mon Dupa deeply for a brief moment before he forcefully snapped himself out of the trance using his will power.  

Chapter 84: Back In Time

After snapping out of the trance, he immediately noticed a change in his environment. The old man that was just in front of him had somehow teleported himself to countless light years away from him at some point in time. Noticing this, shocked Mon Dupa greatly, as he soon also noticed that it wasn’t teleportation that just occurred, because the old man and the moon he was standing on looked exactly the same as when he had first arrived within this universe filled with moons, with the old man sporting a wicked smirk on his aged face.

Realizing it wasn’t teleportation, Mon Dupa quickly looked away from the smirking old man, to look at his surroundings. That’s when he accepted that his earlier conjecture was true. The old man hadn’t teleported, he had somehow reversed time to just after Mon Dupa arrived within the universe instead.

Looking around the universe that was previously covered in his wax, everything was just as calm, quiet and peaceful as it was before, when he had first arrived. His current position was also completely different from where he was just a moment ago as well, he was now floating in the exact place where he previously floated, before he launched himself forward towards the old man.

But strangely, Mon Dupa soon noticed a great difference from the last time that he was at this current location in time. His body was still strangely aged and withered, and was currently still aging rapidly by the second. His skin was also losing its luster by the second, and as well as his entire body, which was actively growing weaker and weaker.

Noticing his rapidly aging body, that was filled with exhaustion from his previous bout with the old man, Mon Dupa finally realized that he had lost the battle. He was forced back in time by the old man, along with his injuries from the previous battle.

After realizing this, he quickly looked towards the old man that was currently smirking at him. Who now looked exactly the same as he did before, when Mon Dupa first arrived, without the slightest look of exhaustion or damage to his body. 

Mon Dupa then smirked as well, before proclaiming to the old man, in an aged and haggard voice that sounded nothing like his previous self. “You think you've won right? Well, I believe it's a draw. If you don't stop now, we'll both die here!” 

He couldn’t help but bluff, even though he knew that a celestial of this caliber that could easily drag his body back in time, was definitely someone with more aces up his sleeves. But thankfully he was already prepared for this celestial’s time manipulating witchcraft when the battle began, so he left a little surprise for the old man to discover before the old man could drag him back to the past.

Chapter 85: A Peaceful Forest

Hearing Mon Dupa’s bluffing words, the old man couldn’t help but chuckle for a brief second. But after a second of chuckling he quickly ceased his chuckling, as he started to feel that something was amiss. He then quickly looked down at his feet. Strangely his two feet had already turned to wax. With the wax quickly spreading from them upwards towards the rest of his body by the millisecond. 

Looking at his body that was quickly transforming into a wax figurine again, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself even more before looking towards the distant Mon Dupa, with a smile. He knew that facing someone at his level wouldn’t be an easy fight, but he didn’t expect his enemy to use all his will power sometime during their battle to brand an irremovable curse on his body that followed him through time. Even his powerful will power couldn’t remove the curse, that previously felt like a violent force that tore at the insides of his body.

“You immortals truly are a nuisance to kill.” He muttered under his breath, before his eyes, which were currently dark brown, started to brighten up again. They then turned into two pale white, glowing moons that stared at the distant Mon Dupa with malice.

But just as his eyes transformed into bright shining moons, an aged, but crisp voice echoed out within the quiet universe filled with moons of various sizes. “I think this should be enough, Micas. No need to scare the child. I believe he is not a criminal.” 

Along with the voice came a feeling of extreme delirium that washed the dying Mon Dupa’s mind in both fatigue and chaos. He quickly fell into a deep trance that took him over 10 minutes to awaken from. By the time he was freed from the trance by an unknown force, he found himself sitting on a wooden chair, located deep within a peaceful wilderness of sorts. 

With vibrant green grasses and large foreign trees of various species as far as the eyes could see around him, and the gentle calling of birds in the distance, as well as the fresh breeze that blew by, the entire scene that met Mon Dupa’s eyes after he had awakened, was a picture of peace and tranquility. 

After clearing his mind, Mon Dupa quickly glanced in front of him, in slight anxiety and fear, only to see a brown colored, square table in front of him, with all sorts of delicacies situated on top of it. 

Sitting on the opposite side of the table from him, was the mysterious old man from before that he was previously fighting, calmly watching Mon Dupa look around, while sampling some of the fruits on the table. Sitting on a chair, on the right side of the table, was another old man, who looked very familiar to Mon Dupa. 

Chapter 86: The Peaceful Sage

Noticing the change in environment, as well as the familiar old man on his right, Mon Dupa couldn't help but draw in a deep breath, before exclaiming in shock. “Are you the Peaceful Sage, Trent Shiler?” The anxiety in his mind, vanishing from his mind, at the sight of this familiar man. For he finally realized where the feeling of delirium that he experienced earlier came from. 

The Peaceful Sage has always been publicly recognized as a great illusion expert, and Mon Dupa believed that he was one of the few people within this city that could create such powerful and strange phenomena within his mind that he couldn’t get rid of by himself.

After his mind relaxed, he noticed his body was still aged and almost at death’s door. His once handsome face had now transformed into that of an extremely old, sickly and scrawny man. His previously well-kept blue flamed hairs had also now messily grown to reach his feet. 

Looking at his aged appearance, he thought to himself, ‘I can’t believe this body of mine almost died in that mind field.’ Mon Dupa thought to himself in sadness. ‘Now that I have the chance, I should transfer my depleted lifespan into one of my other bodies, situated elsewhere just in case this is another mind game created by that celestial.’ Before using a unique ability that came with his immortal will power. 

Within a span of a millisecond, his old and weak looking body, quickly transformed back into his youthful appearance from before, as if nothing had ever happened to him.

“Yes I am, child. This fellow right here, is Micas Groundworth. You may have heard of him.” Trent, replied to his question, before pointing towards the old man sitting opposite Mon Dupa, who was still busily sampling the various fruits on the table. Completely ignoring Mon Dupa’s youthful transformation, as though it was an expected outcome.

Hearing Trent’s words, the now youthful Mon Dupa looked at Micas who was still busy sampling the delicacies on the table, and couldn’t help but exclaim. “Are you truly Micas Groundworth of the Groundworth Industries from the distant Yearning Trust City? I’m sorry for my earlier transgression!” Mon Dupa didn’t have the slightest grudge concerning their previous battle in his heart. He even felt slightly pleased instead. Not many times would he meet with a business mogul at Micas’ level. ‘I could use this opportunity to build a friendship that can help my sect members in the future.’ He thought to himself.

“Hello son! Don’t worry about earlier, I was in the wrong anyway. Sorry for my mistake. By the way, I wonder why you were monitoring my little granddaughter earlier?” Micas asked, after chewing, and swallowing a small, finger sized, red colored, oval-shaped fruit in his mouth. Mon Dupa could tell, from his smiling face, that the red fruit that he had just eaten was truly sweet and juicy.

Chapter 87: Divine Butterflies

“I’m sorry for my mistake, as well. Earlier while I was outside the gates of the city, I noticed a villain from the Fang Clan entering the gates prior to your granddaughter entering, so I took it upon myself as a superhero of the city to monitor her, in order to make sure she was safe and sound. 

An hour after she entered the city, I noticed her presence vanish through a teleportation, so I decided to investigate her whereabouts. I truly thought she might’ve been kidnapped.” Ignoring his growing desire to grab a fruit from the table to eat, Mon Dupa replied, with a slight feeling of anxiety welling up in his mind, again. He didn’t want the two old men thinking that he tried to do anything untrustworthy to the little girl.

While the trio continued their conversation, back at the stone house where Lain, Hui Shi and Annette were currently situated, Mon Dupa, who had just finished talking to them, trying to explain why he had arrived inside the stone house, came to an abrupt halt. The flaming hair on his head and face started to grow longer, every second, until the flaming hair on his head grew all the way down to the floor, and his beard grew to just below his waist. His previously young and handsome face grew old within seconds, before stopping when he started to look over a hundred years old. Withered, and emaciated.

Looking at the aged appearance of Mon Dupa, Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette were shocked. Annette then quickly exclaimed, “What’s going on! Are you alright?” due to fear that the Mon Dupa in front of them was dying before her very eyes.

Hui Shi, seeing the aged Mon Dupa, became very concerned as well. He then quickly walked over to him and reached towards him with a glowing right hand, while saying. “Praise my lord, Ensieth!”

Watching Hui Shi’s approaching hand that spewed out a relaxing golden light, Mon Dupa acquiesced and bent his head forward, in order to allow Hui Shi’s hand to reach his head that was filled with long blue flames that reached all the way to the ground.

After touching Mon Dupa’s head with this hand, Mon Dupa’s body started to glow in a bright golden color. Countless butterflies of many colors started to appear all over the room. Some were green, and appeared majestically as they flew gracefully in the air like young green leaves in early spring, some were red and appeared capricious in nature, as they dance slightly haphazardly in the air, like old leaves dancing gracefully in the autumn air. While some were white as snow, and danced gently like beautiful snow flakes in winter. Some were even yellow, and danced like young and happy birds in the early summer mornings. Every butterfly had its own graceful way of flying, and each was etherically beautiful to watch.

Chapter 88: Youthful Transformation

These butterflies, after appearing and dancing freely around the room for a couple of seconds, making everyone witnessing them feel relaxed, and mentally refreshed, dove straight into Mon Dupa’s glowing body.

As the butterflies dove into Mon Dupa’s body, his long hairs started to recede back towards their previous length. His old face that was filled with age marks also quickly started to look younger again. Within a span of a few seconds, the old body of Mon Dupa, quickly regained its youthful appearance.

Feeling his body get younger, Mon Dupa whose head was bowed couldn’t help but mutter in gratefulness. “Praise our glorious lord, Ensieth!”

After Hui Shi was done with his healing, he muttered a silent prayer underneath his breath, before letting go of Mon Dupa’s head.

He then asked Mon Dupa, with concern written on his face. “What happened to you? Are you being targeted psychically by an enemy somewhere?”

Mon Dupa, after healing, couldn't help but take in a deep breath of air, in order to clear his mind. He then took a moment to reason out his thoughts before answering Hui Shi. “I met an old man called Micas Groundworth, while using a separate body of mine to monitor Elena. We got into a scuffle, due to a misunderstanding, and he did this to me. 

I almost died and became a cold corpse, just waiting for a corpse race member to rape me. As we all know, the sum of one corpse race member plus another corpse race member, equals rape, hahaha!

But let’s not talk about the sinister corpse race for now, me and Mr. Groundworth are currently in the midst of solving our issues verbally, so my life is completely safe. Thanks for your help, brother Hui Shi. You truly saved me a lot of time and effort that I would’ve had to spend looking for a cure for my depleted lifespan, by lending a helping hand.”

“You’re welcome, brother Mon Dupa. Lord Ensieth’s grace is plentiful.” Hui Shi replied with a dashing smile, then stepped back to give Mon Dupa some space.

Lain, who was listening by the side, couldn't help but feel that Elder Micas was an extremely dangerous man. ‘How did he cause brother Mon Dupa to age so rapidly?’ He thought to himself.

“Brother Mon Dupa, did you just say that you met Elder Micas? Why were you two fighting? My name is Annette Duet, by the way. Pleased to meet you.” Annette stated, after noticing that Mon Dupa, was finally safe and sound.

Chapter 89: No Shame

 “Pleased to meet you as well. My name is Mon Dupa, from the Candle King Sect. It seems you may have heard of me from brother Lain and brother Hui Shi.

I was actually investigating the whereabouts of the little girl that was accompanying the two of you earlier, using another body of mine, when I was ambushed by Mr. Groundworth. We got into a short fight, and I technically lost. Which was reasonable, since fighting someone at my level of strength or higher requires all my bodies that I’ve scattered around to help me investigate crimes for the city to come together as one in order to barely win anyways. 

Just one body of mine definitely won’t be enough to handle a celestial of Mr. Groundworth’s caliber if he truly became serious.” Mon Dupa replied. He then reached over his head with his right hand to pat down his slightly unkept blue flamed hair, without the slightest feeling of shame. Looking at his happy face, Lain, and Hui Shi could tell that losing a fight wasn’t a big deal to him.

“I see. You must be truly powerful to fight Elder Micas, and live to tell the tale of it.” Annette added after looking at Mon Dupa’s smiling face, that looked like he didn’t say anything shameful just now. She then started to fear the old Micas, after remembering Hui Shi’s description of him from earlier, as well as Mon Dupa’s earlier emaciated and old figure.

“I finally understand now why you fought Elder Micas. He’s actually the grandfather of little sister Elena, who we were escorting earlier. Her father was facing a crisis, and Elder Micas teleported us to his house, in order to help us quickly attend to her father. That was why we teleported earlier.

You investigating little sister Elena, must’ve caused Elder Micas to assume you were a villain trying to abduct her, just like his daughter was abducted years ago. So he attacked you, in order to subdue you and get vital information that could lead to the arrest of the villains that abducted his daughter.” Hui Shi stated, after coming to the realization, that Mon Dupa truly did not understand the events that occurred since they last met.

“Is that so? It’s understandable for him to react that way, since many people have been missing all over our city for years now. I’ve also been trying to investigate these missing persons in my free time as well.” Mon Dupa replied, with a look of realization on his face.

“I hope we can find out who’s responsible for this very soon, brother Mon Dupa. I’ve also been working on investigating this issue in my free time as well, like all heroes in the city.” Annette added, shyly.

Chapter 90: Hero License

“It seems this issue is a very pressing issue for the city. I guess when I become a hero in order to be able to carry my blade legally, I’ll also have to investigate this issue.” Lain said with a look of concern on his face. He truly wished to be able to find the culprit of the missing persons incidents. It troubled him that so many innocent people have gone missing.

“You wish to become a hero? Well that reminds me, I have to get going. Sorry for my intrusion. I still have to get ready to take my younger sister to get her hero license tomorrow. When we last met, I was escorting her back from my sect to the city. She wishes to become a hero like me, and bring glory to our sect like in the olden days.” Mon Dupa stated with a look of exhaustion on his face.

“Why don’t we meet up at the hero license office tomorrow? Since brother Lain wishes to take the license I can help guide him there, and he and your sister can both take the tests together?” Annette stated excitedly. She had always loved recruiting new heroes.

“Sounds like a great idea. I truly need help navigating my way around the city. Thank you sister Annette!” Lain said with a look of appreciation on his face.

“I’ll also tag along as well. It’s been a while since I’ve returned home. Following you two will help me relax before I have to head back to my family in the Holy Myan District.” Hui Shi added. He didn’t feel like heading back to his family, until he had helped Lain fully acclimate to living in Yearning Peace City.

“Well, that’s great. I’ll be heading there by noon tomorrow. I hope to meet you guys there.” Mon Dupa said, after hearing their suggestions.

“Perfect! We’ll meet you there.” Lain replied. 

“Enjoy the rest of your night, brother Mon Dupa. I would love to meet your sister tomorrow.” Annette, added with glee.

Hui Shi, who was closer to Mon Dupa, hearing their words, then walked towards the door leading to outside the house, while saying to Mon Dupa. “May Lord Ensieth guide you. Your visit was truly a blessing to us all.” He then opened the door, upon which Mon Dupa walked out of, with his last words echoing in the night. “Thank you brother Hui Shi. May Lord Ensieth guide us all.”

“Well, let’s continue introducing the holographic screens, as well as the other rooms in the house. It’s already very late.” Annette said, with a slight feeling of lethargy building up within her mind, after the fright that she just experienced from Mon Dupa’s strange appearance.

Chapter 91: A Sinister World

“Great idea. I still need to understand the features of the other rooms in the house.” Lain added, with a look of anticipation on his face.

“I see. Follow me then, and let’s go into the first bedroom on the menu. You may click on the menu that says Bedroom 1 whenever you wish. I believe that should be the bedroom on the left based on this district’s usual housing architecture.” Hui Shi stated, before walking towards the bedroom that was situated on the left side of the living room, as Lain, and Annette followed behind him.

At this point in time, while the trio were exploring the stone house, somewhere in a distant, foreign world, something sinister was brewing.

In this foreign world was a dust filled sky, as well as gigantic, towering mountains as far as the eyes could see. The entire world was desolate, filled with sand storms, dry, and overbearingly cold. The temperature within this world was so cold that any regular human would start to freeze within seconds of entering it. 

The world was so desolate and freezing cold, that it seems all signs of life had disappeared from this world ages ago. Even the air within this world had zero oxygen for normal human life to function.

Looking at the countless mountains within this world, you would notice that they looked slightly different from regular mountains created by volcanoes. These mountains instead looked like gigantic ant hills, with hollow openings at their peak, that lead to bottomless abysses below. 

On the sides of every mountain in this world from top to bottom, were countless cave holes that seemed to lead to the deep recesses of the mountains, forming weird tunnels within them filled with the unknown.

On one particular mountain in this world, a weird phenomenon was occurring. Unlike the countless mountains surrounding it, this particular mountain’s peak, instead of being hollow at its center, was filled with a large pool of water, creating a lake at its center.

Situated around this large and mysterious lake, that was weirdly calm, even though violent winds tore through its surroundings, was a large group of humans, numbering in the millions, wearing gray gowns, encircling it barefooted.

This group of people came in different shapes and sizes. Some were very tall, while some were very short. Some were abnormally fat, while some were abnormally skinny. Some were male, while some were female. But this group of people also had weird features in common.

Chapter 92: Cold Vilkerites

They all looked like lifeless corpses, with sunken, dead-looking eyes, and a weird smell emanating from their bodies that turned the calm edge of the blue lake where they were standing, slightly discolored in a grayish tone. Parts of their faces were already visibly decaying, as tiny pieces of rotting flesh, and peeling skin fell off their faces with their slight body movements. Their chests were also strangely still, as if they didn’t need to breathe at all. Not a single ounce of air entered their nostrils, nor did their chest heave rhythmically up and down, as a sign of breathing. 

The most striking feature that this group of people shared in common, wasn’t their corpse-like appearances, but that they were all extremely beautiful. As if a god had spent an inordinate amount of time chiseling every part of their bodies to perfection.

Situated within the group of people that surrounded the lake, was a slightly tall, and feminine looking old man who stood at the edge of the lake, who was currently scanning the entire group with his slightly decaying eyes that had a look of cruelty and violence emanating from them.

This old man, who stood about 6 feet tall, after scanning the group of people numbering in the millions, surrounding the quiet lake before him, started to speak with a voice that sounded deep, baritone, and mellow. “We Cold Vilkerites, over a few hundred thousand years ago, were banished from the main world by the various forces of the wretched Gilagesh Empire like dogs without a home. 

They called us the corpse race and punished us for doing what came naturally to us. Our innate desire to kill, rape, and pillage was chastised, and mocked by the heinous villains of the Gilagesh Empire. But today, we'll be going back to that same empire to wreck havoc! 

Remember brethrens, since we do not breathe, and our bodies are cold to the touch, you must  remember to use your will powers to mimic the bodies of a normal human at all times, until we reach our destination!. 

And be prepared to die for our cause as we venture forth on this mission, in order to fight for the future of us Cold Vilkerites!” 

 He then paused for a minute, as he looked over the lake before him. The others watching him also followed and looked at the quiet lake as well. 

“Now before we enter this portal before us, I must ask you, what should we Cold Vilkerites do to anyone who's not a Cold Vilkerite?” The leader asked as his baritone voice echoed around the calm lake. 

Chapter 93: Savage Chant

But before anyone could respond to his previous question, as they stood by and watched him, as if in preparation for his next words, he yelled mightily in a voice that sent shockwaves rippling throughout the lake. “What do we Cold Vilkerites do to their men?”

“Kill!” The group responded loudly! With the entire lake rippling in waves that cascade all over the bodies of the men standing by it. 

 “What do we do with their possessions?" The leader asked again, this time with an even louder yell, that was valiant and heroic in nature.

“Steal!” The entire group responded even louder than before, their loud and powerful voices causing even more ripples across the lake before them. 

“What do we do to their women?” The leader asked again, even louder and more valiant than before. With an aura of heroism and power clearly visible around his body.

“Rape!” The group responded again, even louder and more majestic than before. 

“What do we do to their children?” He asked one last time, with his gray gown bellowing violently in the wind that originated from the shockwaves of his valiant and powerful voice.

“Eat!” The group responded with a loud cheer that sent violent waves of water crashing into them before tumbling down the mountain below them. 

By the time they were done, their bodies were drenched with water, yet their mood had soared by countless times. With each member of the group looking more valiant and heroic than they were at the beginning.

“And anyone who ever calls us the corpse race? Behead them! Now jump!” The leader yelled angrily, before jumping into the violently tumbling lake in front of him. The rest of the group soon followed after him quickly. 

In a span of minutes, the entire group of people had vanished into the lake. Leaving behind only a body of water that was strangely evaporating by the second.

Within an hour, the large lake at the top of the mountain had already disappeared. Looking at the mountain now, no one would ever believe that there was once a large body of water situated at its top.

Chapter 94: Sinister Clouds

At the same time, millions of miles away, rain clouds started to form at the top of another mountain. The rain clouds were gray and ghastly in appearance. With the painful cries of evil ghouls echoing from within them constantly, as if thousands of miserable souls were being tormented within the rain clouds. 

After an hour’s worth of gathering, crystal blue droplets of rain started to fall from the now mile long congregation of ghastly gray clouds. Countless mirages of different worlds, occasionally flashed within the surface of each water droplet as they fell towards the bottomless pit of the mountain below them, as if the droplets contained countless worlds within them. 

Just as the first drop of water fell from the clouds towards the bottomless pit of the mountain below them, a withered, old and emaciated lady who looked to be in her 90s, dressed in a blue gown, was seen exiting a cave entrance situated at the top of the large mountain where the clouds congregated, like a devil that had just escaped hell. 

Covered in a baleful aura that could make anyone around her shiver in fright, she slowly walked up the mountain like an evil spectre, who craved slaughter, and violence. 

After her appearance outside the cave, countless barefooted people dressed in gray gowns, also started to appear from the many cave entrances situated all over the sides of the same mountain. Each of them were corpse-like in appearance, as well as extraordinarily beautiful. 

After emerging from the cave entrances like evil demons emerging from the underworld, they then slowly started to trek uphill towards the top of the mountain, as the rain fell over the abyss at the center of the mountain’s peak.

After three days of trekking uphill, the last droplet of water fell from the clouds, towards a lake that had now appeared after three days of constant rainfall on top of the mountain, where the abyss was previously located.

The abyss that was previously there, was now filled to the brim with rain water that had coalesced from the rain. The clouds, after filling the abyss with water, quickly disappeared from sight.

By the time the last droplet of water fell from the sky, the countless people that trekked uphill had already arrived in front of the lake, and were now waiting for the withered lady, who first appeared to reach the edge of the lake. 

Chapter 95: Sinister Old Lady

Looking at the pupils of the withered lady, which were strangely too black in color, as she trekked towards the lake, caused the hearts of countless people watching to beat erratically as fear gripped their minds. Looking at the blue gowned lady, whose lithe and small figure, made her look weak and fragile, the people watching her could only be frightened, as if they were watching the evilest devil walk amongst them. A devil who has taken countless lives in the past, and who still wishes to take countless more lives in the future.

The withered lady, whose face was very old, and corpse-like, but still strangely alluring, was the first to start the trek up the mountain, and was strangely also the last to reach the top of the mountain peak as well. By the time she reached the edge of the lake, with her slightly shaky foot steps, the last droplet of water had just fallen onto the lake’s surface.

After looking at the tiny ripple caused by the last droplet of water on the surface of the lake, the lady then slowly looked at the sky above her, as the ghastly clouds disappeared from her sight.

 After a minute of watching the now empty sky with her ghastly, and extremely intimidating eyes. She then looked back at the lake, before saying in the most quiet voice known to man. Words, which were barely a whisper escaped her mouth, scaring everyone who gathered around the now quiet lake as it entered their ears. “We’ve all been through this before, so I won’t bother you with my shallow words.

As always, when we meet other races of humans, we must kill their men, steal their possessions, rape their women, and devour their offspring. Anyone who calls us virtuous Cold Vilkerites, the corpse race, must also be beheaded.”

After stating these words, in a quiet whisper, she then waited a couple eerily silent minutes to gather her evil thoughts, before continuing in the same eerily quiet whisper, that seemed like an evil devil was hissing in the ears of everyone listening. “Now children, enter the portal.”

Hearing her words, the terrified group of people, numbering in the billions, then quickly jumped into the lake before them as if they were desperately escaping her evil grasp, leaving three emaciated people, who were dressed in blue gowns behind, along with the lady.

The three people had at some point in time, situated themselves behind the withered lady, as they stood there humbly with violently pulsating hearts, waiting for her commands in fear and trepidation.

Looking at the lake that was now filled with ripples, from the previous people jumping into it, the withered old lady opened her mouth as more eerie whispers escaped from it. “Now that the children are gone. I’ll now allow you young elders to go to your predestined locations. Remember your missions, and bring back any stragglers.”

Chapter 96: Sorrowful Gait

After a moment’s pause, her eerie whispers continued. “Situ Nan!”

“As you wish, Queendal.” After hearing her words, one of the frightened men behind her stated calmly, before stepping forward. 

The man who stepped forward was dressed in a blue gown, and looked to be in his early twenties. His extraordinarily handsome face had tiny black maggots crawling all over it, as if it was the face of a decaying corpse, with the black maggots eating the decaying flesh on his face constantly.

His handsome face also had a very sorrowful appearance, as if he had just lost his loved ones. His walking body was also hunched over in the most depressing way, like the body of a grieving widower. Tears could be seen falling down his crying face constantly, as he walked forward. Looking at his figure, anyone could see that he was a broken man who’s lived a very sorrow filled life of pain and torment.

After stepping forward, this extremely depressed looking man walked towards the lake and slowly entered it as if he was going towards his own suicidal death. The moment both bare feet of his entered the lake, the lake somehow started to emit sorrowful sounds, from within it. Cries of sorrow echoed all over the lake as the man continued deeper into the lake, which slowly grew louder. By the time his head had disappeared within the lake, the entire lake’s surface had somehow manifested phantoms of men, women, and children, flying sorrowfully all over it. Each phantom figure was crying sorrowfully as if a catastrophe was reaping the lives of their loved ones directly in front of them.

The terrifying cries of the phantoms that appeared all over the lake could make anyone listening weep agonizing tears of sorrow. But the 3 people standing by the side of the lake, watched the phantoms cry coldly, as if they were watching worthless objects. Yet the sorrowful cries went on.

After two hours of sorrowful cries, the lake slowly quietened down, as the phantoms disappeared. 

“Ereiel!” Eerie whispers escaped the mouth of the withered lady again, after watching the lake quieten down.

“As you wish, my liege!” A baritone voice answered back at her, before a young lady took a step forward. Seeing the young and beautiful lady, who was also wearing a blue gown, and looked to be in her late 30s, you wouldn’t expect her voice to be so deep and low. She sounded like a grown man.  

Chapter 97: Cold And Sinister Stride

The young lady had a thin figure, that was about seven feet tall. She towered above the other two beside her, with a dark, yet cold aura emanating from her body that brought a cold chill to the other two by her side.

Each step that the lady took towards the lake, caused a black colored patch of ice to build up underneath her feet, in the shape of her feet. Within each black colored ice patch on the ground, various evil faces with twisted black horns would occasionally appear, looking curiously at the outside world, from within the black ice, before moving to another black ice patch. They seemed to be capable of moving from one black ice patch to another, even though each patch of black ice was never connected. They watched the outside world with their evil gazes, as if they were waiting patiently for prey to come closer.

The moment the lady stepped her bare foot into the lake, the lake started to turn black, starting from where her foot was placed, black ice started to form around her foot, before spreading throughout the entire lake.

By the time her entire body had disappeared into the lake, the entire lake had already turned into a black colored, frozen lake that had creepy, demonic faces with large and intimidating horns, appearing underneath its surface constantly, as if countless evil spectres were hiding deep within the lake, waiting for unsuspecting victims crossing the lake to capture, then torment, and devour. 

Occasionally, black ice in the shape of large demonic arms covered in spikes and large sharp claws, would shoot out from the lake towards random locations in the atmosphere as if they were desperately searching for prey to capture, before falling back into the lake and crashing into its frozen surface powerfully like falling meteors, sending shards of black ice flying everywhere.

The two people waiting by the side of the lake could only patiently stand by as the shards of ice crashed into their bodies. Strangely, the shards of ice did no damage to their bodies or clothing, no matter how violently they crashed onto them. The demonic arm shaped ice that shot out from the ice occasionally also strangely seemed to ignore their presence.

Only after more than an hour of this constant chaos, did the lake slowly defrost and turn back into its original blue color, and temperature.

“Zatlan!” Whispered the withered lady again, eerily. After the lake returned to normal. 

“Yes, your grace.” Replied a nasally male’s voice, that sounded a bit too old and exhausted to make sense. 

Chapter 98: Strange Toddler

After the nasally, aged voice echoed out around the lake, the last person standing behind the lady walked out. This person was only about one and a half feet tall, and had the look of a young male toddler, with small chubby arms and legs, along with a small chubby torso, and small, infant sized blue gown that made him look cute and harmless. His small stature, which was currently waddling forward towards the lake, like a child who just started learning how to walk, was too eerily contrasting to his old and exhausted voice. It was as if an extremely old man had somehow forcefully occupied the body of a young infant.

As he waddled towards the lake, like a child who had just barely learned how to walk, he would occasionally fall on his butt due to misplaced steps, before shakily standing back up again with effort, and continuing on his slow and unsteady steps. It took him a good 15 minutes of slow and unsteady steps, with frequent falls, to make it to the edge of the lake in front of him. He then stood still at the edge of the lake to gaze at its entirety, with an eerie calmness unbelonging to a young infant

His face as he gazed at the lake that he was about to enter, was extremely handsome for a young child, without the slightest sign of decay on it. The only place on his face that had signs of decay were his eyes. Unlike the rest of his face and body which was rosy and beige colored like that of a healthy child, his eyes however, had already decayed beyond recognition.

His eyes have been through so much decay, that his two irises and pupils had already disappeared. Replacing them were large pimples filled with black, and blue liquids that constantly dripped down his handsome, young face, towards the ground beneath him. 

The two white eyeballs of his eyes had also already decayed beyond recognition, and had turned into two yellow balls filled with blue and black holes that oozed out thick blue and black fluids constantly, which also dripped down his face, and fell to the ground. 

The moment these fluids hit the ground, they would immediately sizzle into a puff of bluish black smoke that would spread into the air around him quickly.

His head, unlike those of regular children, was abnormally large and sparsely covered in brown hair. Strangely covering his abnormally large head, other than his hair, were large, pink colored pimples that would occasionally burst out pinkish fluid towards his surroundings. The fluids upon touching the ground would quickly decay the ground, until it turned black, with black noxious gas escaping from it constantly. 

After looking at the lake before him for two long minutes, with a calm gaze that resembled that of a confident serial killer, the young child slowly waddled into the water.

Chapter 99: Stay Still!

As he waddled into the lake, the fluids flowing from his eyes and head would constantly drip into the lake below him. Rapidly causing the lake to transform into a blue and black colored, thick and sticky lake that oozed out toxic gasses of various colors from its surface.

From the noxious gasses emitted by the toxic lake, you would occasionally glimpse strange, terrifying, spectral bodies, moving within them, as if cruel and savage ghosts were hiding within the toxic gasses, waiting to prey on anyone who ventures into them.

By the time the toddler had fully submerged into the lake and disappeared from sight, the entire mountain had become enshrouded in a thick layer of noxious gasses of various colors. Turning what was once a large anthill-like mountain into a mysterious, and terrifying cloud filled with creepy spectral creatures that seemed to phase in and out of existence constantly.

The old and withered lady standing within the fog of noxious gasses by the side of the now toxic lake seemed to be unaffected by its fumes. Even the terrifying spectral figures ran away from her in extreme fright, the moment they appeared by her side, as if she was a terrifying devil, waiting to prey on them.

After an hour of patiently waiting by the side of the lake, the gasses finally cleared around the old withered lady, as the lake turned back into its pure blue color. 

After seeing the lake cleared up, the lady thought to herself. ‘I guess it’s time to go and supervise their missions. Hopefully we kill, rape, and devour more people this time than the last before the villainous military of the Sval Kingdom catches wind of us.’

She then raised her right bare feet from the ground in preparation to walk into the lake. But as her raised feet started to move closer to the lake, the lake’s water receded backwards quickly, as if it was terrified of her.

Seeing the lake’s water recede as her feet drew closer, angered the old lady. She then whispered in slight anger, as her old and intimidating eyes narrowed slightly while looking at the receded lake. “Stay still!”

The moment her whispers escaped her old, and slightly decaying mouth, filled with brown, decaying teeth, a baleful, gray aura emanated from her body that covered the entire lake. The aura caused the entire lake’s previously blue color to turn gray instantly, as skulls of various sizes started to float from somewhere within the lake towards its surface.

Some of the mysterious skulls looked humanoid, while others were monstrous in size, and were shaped weirdly, as if they were those of foreign monsters. Some skulls were complete, while others were broken and shattered, as if they'd been crushed by a frightening force while they were alive. 

Chapter 100: Terrifying Skulls

All these skulls had different, terrifyingly baleful auras emanating from them, with shrill cries escaping their empty mouths, as if they had all died horrifyingly gruesome deaths.

The deafening cries of these floating skulls echoed out powerfully. Spreading thousands of miles around the giant mountain, pushing the sand storms surrounding the mountain away violently.

Thousands of skulls floated to the surface of the lake by the second, until the entire lake’s surface had been filled to the brim with terrifying, crying skulls of various sizes.

Looking at the lake filled with crying skulls, the withered lady smiled, then moved her lifted feet towards the now gray colored lake water.

After stepping into the lake, she whispered. “See? It’s not that hard to be obedient now is it?” 

But after her right foot submerged into the lake, the entire lake started to bubble and boil violently. The crying skulls also started to break, as cracks started to appear all over them. Their cries became even more violent and loud as they boiled within the lake, creating even more shockwaves to erupt from the mountain’s peak that caused the entire mountain to start shaking violently. 

Ignoring the boiling lake, and the screaming skulls that started to shatter as she approached, she ventured further into the lake. With each step she took, causing the lake to boil even more violently, while the temperature within the lake rose astronomically.

After submerging half her body into the lake, half of the lake’s water had already boiled into gray mist that encircled the mountain’s peak. The various skulls within the lake had also been ground to dust, which then flew along with the gray mist of the boiling lake. 

By the time her lithe and withered body had disappeared completely within the lake, the entire lake had already boiled into gray mist. The skulls that had previously littered the surface of the lake, had also been crushed into dust that now flew along with the mist of the boiled lake.

Only a tiny strand of hair from the old lady was left behind, after she disappeared into the lake. That strand of hair floated above the dark abyss at the center of the mountain peak, following the gray mist, for a couple of seconds, before something strange started happening to it.

As the hair follicle gently floated in the mist, it strangely started to morph. Strange human faces started to appear all over the tiny hair follicle. Faces that expressed different terrifying emotions. Some faces seemed to be crying in agony, some seemed to be laughing maniacally, while others seemed to be screaming frantically. Each face looked as if they were moments before their doom, as if something monstrous was about to tear them apart, and devour their remains.

Chapter 101: Strange Hair Follicle

After countless faces appeared all over the hair follicle, they started to grow into real flesh and blood faces. Within a couple minutes, an amalgam of life sized faces replaced the hair follicle, and grew into a circular mound the size of a 4 feet tall human body, before slowly morphing into a humanoid shaped mound. The small humanoid shaped mound of faces, had two arms, and legs, as well as a head made out of countless faces, which were all making terrifyingly agonizing expressions.

The humanoid figure that was made up of countless faces, then started to morph again for the second time. This time slowly turning into the naked body of an old and withered lady. The countless faces had somehow strangely transformed into a complete, and smooth, caucasian, human body.

The naked female body that the faces transformed into was also strangely badly decayed, with the skin covering her chest and torso completely gone. Maggots of various shapes and sizes could be seen viciously biting at the remaining decaying flesh and internal organs within her chest and torso. 

The arms and legs of the female body were also strangely discolored, emaciated, and were emitting a foul, rotten stench, as if they had already been decaying for weeks, with pieces of gray, decayed skin dangling from various parts of them, exposing the badly decayed flesh and bones underneath.

After taking the shape of the decomposing female body, the female body slowly fell to the edge of the mountain peak, away from the abyss at its center.

After touching the ground, the old and withered, female figure which had completed its transformation, started walking down the mountain in slow and unsteady steps. The strangest thing about the naked figure that was walking down the mountain was that her face had a striking resemblance to the old, withered lady that had just entered the watery portal.

The aged, rotting, and naked figure continued walking down the mountain for a couple of minutes, before the cold, gray mists that flew around the mountain’s peak started to transform as well. The mists flew towards the aged figure as she walked, and quickly transformed into countless ghastly human faces around her body.

The ghastly faces, made out of gray mist, were just as terrifying to watch as the faces that grew from the hair follicle that created the aged lady. Each face looked as if it was moments before its agonizing death. The faces appeared to be terrified of an evil entity that was about to cause their cruel and agonizing death.

Chapter 102: At The Peaceful Forest

The ghastly, and terrified faces after drawing close to the lady covered her body from her neck to her feet, as she walked. After fully covering her decaying body, they started to transform again. The ghastly faces quickly morphed into a blue gown that covered up her entire body, from neck to toe. Looking no different from an ordinary linen fabric.

After the ghastly faces transformed into a blue gown, the withered and old lady continued her slow and unsteady steps towards a cave at the side of the mountain. After three days of slow and exhausting steps, she finally entered the cave, before disappearing from sight, as uneven echoes of her shaky steps resounded from within the cave.

A couple days later, somewhere else within the same world, ghastly clouds started congregating over another mountain. It seemed that the Cold Vilkerites situated within this world were currently leaving towards foreign places constantly. Possibly going to cause mayhem wherever they go. 

Back at the peaceful forest, where Mon Dupa found himself in, after fighting Micas, a few days prior, the two elders and Mon Dupa continued their discussion. 

“Did you say, the Fang Clan?” Elder Trent, asked Mon Dupa. With a slightly raised brow. Mon Dupa mentioning the Fang Clan brought back many unsettling memories to his old mind.

“What did those Fang Clan villains do this time? I won't be surprised if they're responsible for my daughter's disappearance!” Micas asked in slight anger. He had already come to a conclusion in his head, that the villainous Fang Clan was likely responsible for his daughter's disappearance a long time ago, since he had always been suspicious of their appearance within his Sval kingdom. He just didn't have proof yet. 

“Don't blame everyone that looks suspicious, Micas! We have diplomatic ties with that clan and are forbidden from harming their members. Besides I'm sure they won't be stupid enough to kill our citizens on our own soil.” Trent couldn’t help but declare to Micas. He knew Micas too well, to not know that he wasn’t afraid of forcefully arresting the Fang Clan member in order to investigate his daughter’s disappearance.

“Well, I guess you have a point there, teacher. Please, young one, let us know what happened with the Fang Clan.” Micas replied, after hearing Trent's words. He then calmed down his slightly angered heart, and kept his suspicions to himself. 

“Earlier this morning, while I was on my way back to the city, after coming from my home back at the Candle King Sect. A member of the Fang Clan passed through the gates in the most dastardly way. He allowed his insect to release toxins that harmed everyone waiting by the gates. 

Chapter 103: Angered Micas

If not for a dear priest of Ensieth who was walking towards the city at that time, I'm pretty sure many citizens of our kingdom would've been seriously harmed by him. 

Due to his obnoxious and callous behavior, I decided it was best to keep an eye on everyone who followed after him into the city after he entered, in order to make sure he wasn't planning to do more dastardly deeds inside the city.

Out of everyone I monitored, only the group with your granddaughter had something weird happen to them. So I decided to do a more detailed investigation on their whereabouts.

That's how I came to where I am right now. Sorry for my rudeness.” Mon Dupa answered carefully. Hoping the two old men before him would understand his circumstances. 

“I see. A deacon of the Fang Clan was responsible for your investigation. They're always going from city to city within our kingdom, doing who knows what and meeting with who knows who.

They’ve been riding on our heads since they came to our kingdom. Now they’re defecating on us, by harming our citizens. They're almost as bad as the corpse race!” Micas replied, after hearing Mon Dupa’s words, with a look of contemplation and anger on his face. He still felt that the Fang Clan was up to no good, and should be removed from the kingdom.

“The Fang Clan have always been known to cause these minor disturbances, but unless they kill our citizens, there's truly nothing we can do about it, child. They're protected by the king of our kingdom, so we can only let them be. We’ve always been trying to pressure the king to rethink our partnership with them, but it seems he won't change his mind any time soon.” Trent replied to Mon Dupa after a moment of thought, with a look of sorrow on his old face. He couldn't help but pity the citizens that had been hurt by the Fang Clan, since they came to the kingdom. 

“It seems, these Fang Clan members are going to become the future corpse race if we keep letting them get away with their behavior. Maybe I should monitor their whereabouts in the future.” Mon Dupa muttered, after hearing Trent and Micas’ words. He felt that the city should be doing more to protect its citizens from the Fang Clan.

“Speaking of the corpse race. Didn't they just cause trouble recently, teacher? They've always been the primary suspect of my daughter's disappearance.” Micas asked old man Trent, with his anger rising up again, at the mention of the dreaded corpse race. His eyes, due to his angered state, turned pale white as if he was going blind again. He even stopped eating food from the table in anger. 

Chapter 104: Micas’ Injury

After his anger erupted, he suddenly started coughing up blood violently, splattering it all over the various delicacies on the table, as well as the grass on the ground. Strangely, the blood that he coughed out was wax-like in texture, and appearance. 

Seeing the wax-like blood all over the table, and the still violently coughing Micas, Mon Dupa quickly realized that he had forgotten to remove the wax that he had left within the body of Micas using his will power, during their earlier battle. He then said to Micas in a hurry. “Sorry for my lack of manners. I’ll remove my will power from your body immediately!”

After saying this, he quickly extended his right arm over the table, towards the coughing Micas sitting opposite him. After doing this, plumes of flames, and wax quickly started to escape from within the body of Micas, as well as the blood that he spat on the ground, and table before flying in the air towards Mon Dupa’s extended arm. 

Within a couple milliseconds, all the flames and wax in the air covered Mon Dupa’s right arm, before receding within his arms mysteriously, and disappearing from sight, like a bucket of water entering the sea.

After the wax and flames left Micas’ body, he slowly stopped his coughing bout, before raising his head tiredly. Trent, who was watching by the side the entire time couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, before snapping his fingers. 

After snapping his fingers, all the blood on the table mysteriously vanished, as if they were all an illusion. Leaving a table filled with perfectly clean plates of delicacies behind. 

Looking at the table filled with delicacies, as if he just created a work of art, Trent stated. “It’s fine. Let’s continue our discussion. Micas can handle this small bit of pain.”

“I had completely forgotten the poor state that my body was in due to our discussion. Thanks for your help, young man. I just need a little bit of rest to get over this small issue. We can continue as normal.” Micas added with a smile on his blood covered lips. He then started eating fruits from the table again. The blood covering his lips, and parts of his blue gown mysteriously started to vanish as he ate.

“As you wish. Well, from what I've heard about the corpse race, they've been causing many disturbances lately as well. Many heroes were even dispatched by the Justice Bureau outside the city to help investigate the destruction of many remote towns and villages nearby, which they suspect is likely caused by the corpse race.” Mon Dupa added while monitoring Micas’ old body carefully, hoping he hadn’t caused too much damage to him. Only after a minute of careful observation did his heart relax.

Chapter 105: A Divine Trueseer

“It's true. I've also been briefed on their illegal activities. It seems they're out looking for sacrifices. Every few hundred years, the corpse race's Ghost Saint Cult always seeks bodies to hunt and defile, in order to create weapons, feed themselves, and rape to start their next generation of children.

In the past they’ve rarely ever come to our city's area, due to its remoteness, and had mostly preyed on other cities within our kingdom. But I guess they must've suffered greatly elsewhere, and decided our small city situated within the outskirts of the kingdom, was a better target this time around than the bigger, and more populated ones located within the inner parts of the kingdom. 

My family and the Justice Bureau are already putting together a task force to go into our nearby villages and towns, as well as our off-world colonies, in order to quell their uprising, before they do more dastardly deeds. Strangely, there have also been reports of various anomalies occurring in our off-world colonies that have baffled us for a while now. That’s why these colonies were included in this mission.” Trent answered the two. 

“Is that so? You won't mind if I send some of my men along with your task force in order to capture some of these villains right? It's been a while since they started to appear around our two cities, so I'm pretty certain they must be related to my daughter's disappearance. 

As you know, my ability to manipulate time doesn’t work in a way that allows me to go back in time at will, otherwise I would’ve gone back to before my daughter died, to rescue her from danger. And although I have the eye sight of the Divine Trueseers, which comes from my Divine Trueseer bloodline, that allows me to see into the past and future, I’ve been strangely incapable of looking directly into the past to investigate what happened to my daughter, no matter how hard I’ve tried, which baffles me.” Micas added in sadness, and defeat. Although he had no means to change the past and save his daughter’s life, he wouldn't sit back and wait, when a clue to his daughter's disappearance was right in front of his eyes. 

‘The fabled Divine Trueseer bloodline that the powerful Sval Kingdom’s royal family also has? No wonder he could manipulate time so easily, he’s from the Ancient Meno race, who are all born blind at birth, because their eyes can only see time, and not light and color. 

His ability to see normally must mean his bloodline must not be pure, but his eyes that glow white when he uses his will power, is a definite proof of his Trueseer bloodline.

That terrifying bloodline that my father once told me grants its user the ability to defeat a god barehanded, is definitely not something I can handle as I am right now, with just one body.’ Mon Dupa couldn’t help but gasp and think those words to himself, as he looked at the weak and fragile looking Micas sitting directly in front of him, whose legendary bloodline from Mon Dupa’s understanding could give him the power to fight gods, and true celestials alike.

Chapter 106: A Dangerous Mission

But after a moment of shock and slight trepidation, he gathered his thoughts and said. “I would also like to join in as well. Although I do not know who your daughter is, I'll always be willing to help get rid of the corpse race, and solve the mysteries of her disappearance. I can capture a few, more powerful members of the corpse race for questioning, if I tag along.” As a hero of the city, he felt like it was his duty to protect everyone from harm. Even those not situated directly within the city itself, so he couldn’t help but volunteer. 

“Great idea! Although we already have a superhero willing to support our men on this mission, having you join us is truly a blessing. You know how hard it is to get superheroes to leave their comfort zone these days, and venture outside the city on our demand, especially when they also have to investigate the Sweet Phenomenon as well as the other miscellaneous problems plaguing the city.

`

 I'll notify the Justice Bureau of your request later today. I believe the task force responsible for this mission will start leaving in a couple of days, until all problematic locations have been attended to. Lastly, be prepared to meet those from outside our kingdom on your mission.

This corpse race issue is something that the entire Empire is trying to solve as a whole.” Elder Trent replied to Mon Dupa, who quickly nodded to him in acceptance. 

He then turned to Micas and continued. “Micas, you can send some of your men as well. I know you have connections to a lot of sects. We'll definitely need all the help we can get. The corpse race has always been a tricky group of people to deal with, so I'm also starting to believe they could likely be responsible for your daughter's death. Their recent appearance and your daughter's disappearance from years back are too coincidental.”

“Thank you, teacher. I'll let my assistant pick a few men stationed in this city, to accompany your Justice Bureau officers as soon as possible. It's been a while since I've seen my granddaughter, so I wish to spend some time with her, until my men bring back vital information.” Micas replied, with a look of appreciation on his face. His pale white eyes started turning back to their original brown color, after getting Trent's approval.

“Son, I also have a request for you. Please help us investigate the missing persons phenomenon more thoroughly when you have some free time in the future. As you've heard Micas’ daughter Michelle, is a victim of it, and we need all the help we can get. I don't fully believe the corpse race or the Fang Clan are truly involved in her disappearance. 

It may be some hidden gang or cult. There's always a new gang or cult starting every year in this city. And it could also be a sect, which is worse. But you can never be too sure” Trent said to Mon Dupa, after listening to Micas’ confirmation. 

Chapter 107: A Distant Universe

“I will try my best. Thanks for allowing me to tag along. I’ll bring some of my men along with me on this trip as well, in order to train them, as well as help me investigate more thoroughly.” Mon Dupa added. Looking at the old Trent who had always been known to try his best for the citizens of the city, he could only feel deep respect towards him. 

“Now, we should head out of here. The battle earlier was a misunderstanding anyways. Young child, I'll teleport you out of my granddaughter's room, after you go back in. Just wait a minute.” Micas stated. He then looked towards Trent, before giving him a slight nod. 

“Goodbye son. As a descendant of the Candle King, I hope you're enjoying your time here in my district, and don't find living in this district too mediocre. 

Let us know if you ever require our help during your future investigations. We’ll send you our contact information later today.” Trent said to Mon Dupa after seeing Micas’ nod. 

“Thank you. I will let you know if I ever require your assistance.” Mon Dupa responded gratefully, then nodded at both elders. Before closing his eyes, in order to blink, after a feeling of discomfort overwhelmed his eyes. 

After opening his eyes, he quickly noticed that he was back inside the small room, filled with moon shaped runes. The little girl was still sleeping on the bed peacefully, without the slightest concern about the outside world.

After two seconds of standing by the bed, before he could examine the room again clearly, he mysteriously vanished from within the room, as if he had teleported elsewhere.

In a distant universe filled with countless stars, galaxies, and planets, there existed one large planet the size of a normal sun. Surrounding this planet was a blue halo of asteroids that revolved around it counter-clockwise. This planet’s surface was strangely covered with over 40% water. As a large ocean occupied less than half the planet, while the other 60% of the planet was a large grassland that was covered in both purple and red colored grasses that were above 14 inches in length. On this large grassland were sparse trees and clusters of strange buildings that seemed to be made using bundles of those red and purple grasses, scattered throughout the massive planet.

The buildings were often cone shaped, looking similar to huts, with grass doors placed on their exteriors, leading to their interiors. The trees, which grew sparsely within this planet looked strangely out of place in this foreign planet covered in red and purple grasses, due to the fact that they were verdant green in color, only about 5 feet in height on average, and had long, bushy vines covered in sharp, and very hard leaves, that seemed to stretch for miles around them.

Chapter 108: The Three Young People

At the top of each of these trees were large green bulbs that seemed to enclose something within them. The strangest fact about these trees wasn't their green color that stood out from the red and purple surroundings, but the fact that there were always cone shaped buildings situated next to them in small clusters, as if to protect them from unknown danger.

On this planet, other than the strange trees, was a particularly large cluster of cone-shaped buildings situated in a small corner of its grassland that was over a thousand miles in diameter. These clusters of buildings were made using the red colored grass that covered their surroundings, causing their colors to be red as well. 

In front of one particular building within this cluster of buildings, two caucasian looking men and a young lady that looked to be around the age of 18, were sitting on three balls made out of bundles of red grass., which seemed to function as chairs for the three of them to sit on.

The lady, whose skin color was brown, was dressed in a red shirt that had a strange blue colored flower drawn on its front that covered her chest area. She looked fit, and looked to be about 7 feet in height, if she stood up, although she was currently sitting down. Other than her height and fit physique, she seemingly had no other outstanding physical qualities to her, she was neither gorgeous, nor ugly. But there was an aura of confidence exuding from her body, as if she has experienced many things in life, and is confident that she’ll break through all future troubles.

Strangely, as she sat quietly on the chair, every breath she took seemed to make the air around her much more pure and fresh, as if her body was capable of cleansing the air she breathed in, into something pure and free from toxins. Everyone who occasionally walked by the trio, couldn’t help but breathe deeper, in order to inhale the fresh air that she breathed out of her body. The air seemed to clear their minds and bodies, and made them more relaxed and intelligent.

One of the men, sitting opposite her to her right, was wearing an English styled suit and pants that were blue in color. He looked to be about 6 feet in height, if he stood up. On his slightly ugly face, his eyes were sharp, yet relaxed. And he exuded an aura of extreme danger from his body that could make anyone fear him at first glance. Sitting on his chair made of red grass straws, he looked more like a dangerous beast that's currently hiding, waiting for a moment to strike a prey, than a human being sitting on a chair relaxedly. 

The strangest part of about this man wasn’t the dangerous aura that leaked out from his body, but the fact that looking closely at his skin, anyone would notice that although his skin appeared supple and soft like a normal human’s, there was also a strange quality to it, that made it look like a stone, chiseled into the shape of human skin.

Chapter 109: Cannibals?

The man wearing the suit, almost appeared similar to a human statue, instead of a living flesh and blood human, as he sat on that bundle of grass that was being used as a chair. Which always made those walking by them take multiple glances at him, in confusion, as they walked by, before looking away, after realizing that his statue-like appearance may be an illusion.

The other man, sitting on the left of the lady was strangely only wearing blue, worn out shorts, with tiny holes and rips all over it. His torso was completely naked, and free of clothing. He had a serious look on his slightly ugly face, but the aura emanating from his body was that of carefree relaxation, as if he was currently sitting at his own private estate, and not in a foreign world filled with danger. Unlike the lady, he was slightly chubby, with few signs of muscles on his naked torso, as if he had never worked a day in his life. 

The most striking trait of this man, was that hidden within the carefree aura emanating from his body, was an aura of dominance, regality and power. This strange aura made the man give out the illusion of an emperor, sitting relaxingly on his throne, as he sat on the red bundle of grass. Even the occasional passerby would unknowingly nod their heads at him in respect, as if they were walking by a great emperor, as they walked by the trio.

Other than the fact that the three people sitting on the chair looked like foreigners, as they were the only ones around them that wore linen-like fabric, instead of clothing made out of bundles of red grass, they really wouldn’t stand out much within a crowd of people, as the aura emanating from them was barely noticeable by most people, and was often disregarded by them as nothing noteworthy, or a mere illusion.

As the three sat facing each other in front of the cone-shaped grass building, with the morning sun glaring down at them, the woman opened her mouth and said with eyes of confusion. “This strange world that we were sent to, keeps getting stranger by the day. We came here as heroes of the Asire Kingdom in order to stop the forces of the corpse race, but why do I feel like this city is stranger than the corpse race itself? Jaiym, Rufut, help me out here. Why do I feel like the people living within this city are cannibals?”

After speaking, feeling anxious she couldn’t help but look at her feet that were surrounded by purple and red grasses, and stare at the grasses with intense scrutiny. Looking at the purple grass for a couple of seconds, she couldn’t help but realize that it may not be grass that she was looking at, but some unknown fungus species that seemed to grow in the shape of grass. She could even see traces of tiny purple spores being released into the air that seemed to absorb the carbon dioxide that she breathed out into the air.

Chapter 110: Plant-Like Species

Due to the unique nature of her body, her body was capable of purifying deadly, evil, and toxic things in the environment. And strangely these spores seemed to consciously try to avoid her body, as if they were capable of sensing her body’s purifying nature, and were afraid that she’ll cleanse them. Noticing this behavior of theirs made her feel slightly uneasy. The fact that these tiny spores were trying to avoid being purified by her body, tells her that they may not be beneficial for the environment and the people of this world. There may be evil or nefarious reasons why these toxic, but conscious lifeforms are on this planet.

Realizing that the purple, grass looking fungus was a bit too creepy, she couldn’t help but look away from it, otherwise she may try to burn every one of them on the planet to the ground immediately, which wouldn’t be a good thing to do right now. 

After looking away, she decided to look at the red grass that also seemed to be made out of another unknown, non-plant species. Looking at it with intense scrutiny, she noticed after a couple of minutes that the red grass looked more and more like fresh blood, that seemed to have been molded into the shape of grass instead of real grass, and it seemed to be strangely capable of producing oxygen too, making her quickly come to the conclusion that it was a beneficial species for the environment, even though the scent coming from it was a slightly bloody odor, that made her feel very creeped out. She couldn’t help but accept the fact that destroying it could harm the people on this planet, due to its oxygen producing nature. 

Looking away from the red, grass shaped molds of blood by her feet, she couldn’t help but think to herself. ‘This planet truly is a weird, and creepy place. Not a single plant grows on this planet, but people can still live here because it seems the red, plant-like organism produces oxygen for the people to breathe in, while the spores from the purple, plant-like organism absorb the carbon dioxide that people breathe out, creating a perfect cycle.

Whatever these red and purple species of life are, it’s best to be careful of them in the future. They seem too strange, and creepy.’

“Little sister, I think we may need to investigate more into this matter before we draw our conclusion. If our teleportation into this world didn’t go out of control and sent the team that came with us to different planets, it would’ve been much easier for us to solve our current predicament, by using brute force, but since it did, we should be more cautious. Although cannibalism and the corpse race go together like poop and piss, I don’t believe this is related to the corpse race at all. Something strange is happening within this kingdom that this capital city that we’re in governs, and I think it’s been going on long before the corpse race arrived here. 

From what I know, the corpse race behave like terrorists, and only know how to rape, destroy and pillage, whereever they go. While this kingdom that we’re in seems to have been consuming human flesh throughout their entire history, which could be thousands to millions of 

Chapter 111: Carefree Stroll

years. Something the corpse race isn’t capable of doing, as they prefer raping, and killing all humans, instead of letting some live, like what’s occurring here in this kingdom.

And that's what I've gathered over the past couple of days that we’ve been here on this aboriginal wasteland planet.” The man wearing the suit replied, while looking around at the nearby buildings that occasionally had people of many different skin colors, wearing clothing made out of red grass coming out of them, before going elsewhere. He was also intrigued by the wonders of the planet around him, but didn’t care too much whether those walking by heard his speech. It seemed the people around him didn’t care about being called cannibals.

“That’s right Jaiym, we really should be a bit more cautious. We may not be facing the corpse race on this matter, but we will still need to get rid of the corpse race that may be within this city in the future.” The lady added. Before turning to look at the half naked guy wearing shorts sitting in front of her, on her left.

Seeing the lady look at him, the half naked guy immediately spoke up in anger.“Well, I would prefer if we just look for the leaders of this kingdom, and beat them until they give us the answers we need. But since Jaiym wants us to wait, I’ll go stroll around. Maybe I’ll find out more information about this place. Catch you guys later!” Before getting up from the bundle of red grass that he was sitting on, and walking away from the front of the house. Leaving a slight echo of his baritone voice that demanded respect and obedience, behind.

As he was leaving, the suited man, who was named Jaiym by the young lady, called out to him with a smile. “Rufut, be back before midnight, and make sure not to eat any meat given to you by the residents here. We still have a lot of work to do!”

“Come back soon! This place gives me the creeps brother!” The lady added with a look of anxiety written on her face. It seemed she just couldn’t feel safe on this planet that they were currently in that was covered in creepy plants, and filled with cannibals.

“Don’t worry, sis. I have some investigation to do.” The guy named Rufut replied relaxingly, before walking further away in a carefree manner on the red and purple grassland that had people and buildings all over it. As he walked, each person he passed by couldn’t help but pause and nod at him with a respectful smile, as if they were greeting an emperor. Those ahead of him, even moved aside hurriedly before he came close to them, making his carefree walk through the street that seemed to be getting busier and busier by the minute as the morning slowly turned into noon, a very relaxing and mesmerizing walk. 

 Within a few minutes, he turned a corner, and disappeared behind a building in the distance.

Chapter 112: Where’s Lain?

“Now, I wonder what’s going on with Lain. It seems the Gilagesh Empire as a whole is sending small teams of heroes, and the Justice Bureau officers to the area we grew up in, due to this corpse race issue. I hope he doesn’t get caught up in all of this.” The lady spoke, after watching Rufut disappear before her eyes, to Jaiym.

“Well, I think he may be in trouble. He’s probably exploring the outskirts of our Sval Kingdom, near our home town, Yearning Sweet. That means, there’s a chance these corpse race rejects may find him. And knowing our teacher, he must’ve placed a lot of restrictions on his strength, that’ll make him much weaker than all of us. 

An omnipotent guy like him can’t truly learn much from exploring the small world that we grew up in. If he wasn’t the strongest out of all of us, he would have received less restrictions on his strength than us. But now he’s definitely going to struggle against the insignificant insects called the corpse race that plagues the surroundings of our Yearning Sweet Town and beyond.” Jaiym replied, in slight sadness. It seemed he truly didn’t want Lain to be harmed.

“That sucks. Maybe I should go to him. I really need to help him!” The lady couldn’t help but reply in anxiety, before standing up, but after standing up for a couple of seconds, she sat back down again in defeat. Saying to Jaiym with anxiety, and depression written on her face. “Oh right! We’re here. I can’t go to him right now, unless our teacher releases his restrictions on my body.” 

“Don’t worry, my funny little sister, Ralif. Little Lain can handle himself very well, you know he always wanted to travel solo across the world. He may suffer a bit, but don’t worry about his life. He’s not invincible for no reason, so even with the restrictions he should be able to manage. When he’s bored, he’ll probably go back home.” Jaiym stated after seeing her actions, with a slight look of worry on his face.

“If you say so. I’ll go back inside now. This place creeps me out. If I talk to anyone here, I may accidentally punch them in the face for being cannibals.”  She replied, before gloomily standing up and heading inside the hut shaped grass building situated in front of her.

Watching the young lady called Ralif walk into the building, Jaiym nods slightly in acknowledgement, before looking up at the sky above him. Looking at the blue sky above that shone with a slight hint of purple, due to the countless tiny spores in the air, strangely had no moons around it, and also was covered in a distant belt of asteroids that encircled the planet in plain view from the ground below, he couldn’t help but feel bored inside. 

Chapter 113: A Tiny Toad

‘This world, or in this case, this universe, that’s probably crawling with the corpse race is pretty interesting. This strange universe will definitely suffer for a few more years before we can get rid of the corpse race.’ He thought to himself. Before closing his eyes and continuing his train of thoughts. ‘I wonder if Lain is alright. Teacher, you’re a fool for limiting our strengths. We truly need all the power we can get to survive in this dastardly world.’

After thinking these thoughts to himself, he then slowly opened his eyes, before heading back inside the grass building next to him that seemed to function as a house. Saying to himself, “I need to go take a nap. This world is weird and boring.”

Left behind by him were the three grass-ball chairs that occasionally were passed by strangers wearing grass garments that were molded into various shapes that resembled dresses, gowns, shirts, shorts, skirts, and pants. Strangely, the language spoken by these strangers as they passed by the chairs were very similar to the Svalian dialect, spoken by the trio that had just left, but with some slight differences here and there, that made it more unique.

As the people busily passed by, a tiny, finger sized green toad could be seen hopping onto one of the grass chairs. After taking a full five minutes trying to climb up the uneven, grass chair with all its strength, it finally arrived at the top of the chair where Jaiym previously sat on before laying down, and looking up at the sky in thought. It could be noticed from its eyes, that this toad seemed to have some level of intelligence, as it relaxed on the chair and looked aimlessly at the sky above it in deep thought, while people walked by, completely ignoring its tiny existence.

Back at the stone house in Yearning Peace City, after Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette entered the room that previously had the sick father of Elena sleeping within it, Hui Shi smiled. He then started to look around once more, because the last time he entered the room, he was in a rush and only saw the bed and picture frame.

As he, and the now entering Annette and Lain looked around, they all saw a small room with a walk-in closet on the left wall of the room, a waist high stone desk and chair combo, next to the wall connected to the living room that they just came from, and the bed and picture frame that was previously mentioned that were situated next to the wall opposite the entry doorway that they just walked through.

After looking around for a few minutes in the room that was bare of anything other than furniture, Hui Shi then turned around to talk to Annette and Lain. Saying to them, “This room functions the same way as the living room on the holographic menu. Swiping up or down on any furniture can change its texture, and swiping in the middle of the holographic screen hovering in front of you can change the room’s temperature.

Lastly, before we continue, I would like for you to pull up the Doors menu at the top. I would like to show you something.”

Chapter 114: The Doors Menu

Hearing his words, Lain quickly pushed on the Doors menu button on the menu, after briefly glancing at the Bedroom 1 screen that showed the inside of the bedroom that they were currently standing within, in real time.

After pushing on the Doors menu button, the canvas that previously showed the current bedroom disappeared. After its disappearance, multiple pictures of doors appeared on the screen, in 5 rows that led down the screen, with each door having a name situated at its center.

While Lain was looking at the doors that appeared on the screen, Hui Shi continued with a charming smile on his extremely handsome face. “Each door in this house also functions as a window, including the main door of the house that’s situated in the living room. The main door is also the only door in the house that can be pushed open on opposite sides of it, in order to enter or exit the house. Along with the main door, every wall in the house can also be turned into a window, and a doorway, using the same vertical swiping method that I mentioned earlier.

Swiping up on a wall changes its opacity rating from 100% to 0% and vice versa. Setting a wall’s opacity at 50% or higher turns it into a see-through window. Any rating below 50% allows you to walk through the window, as if it’s a doorway, but odors, winds, and small objects cannot pass through.

Once the rating is set to 0%, all objects can pass through the wall without any setbacks, as it becomes a fully functional doorway. 

Lastly, any rating above 50% stops you and all objects from passing through the wall, turning it into a window, instead of a doorway. The opacity also increases with each percentage increment, until you reach 100%, where the window then turns into another solid wall that can’t be seen through or entered. 

And if you’re wondering if you can get trapped within the doorway if someone changes the opacity while you’re walking through? Fear not, the opacity will only change after you set it, but only after any objects currently within the doorway have exited the doorway.”

Hearing his words, Annette couldn’t help but chuckle. She then placed her left hand on Lain’s left shoulder, saying to him. “This is a pretty useful feature that allows you to turn any wall in your house into a window or a doorway. Giving you the ability to freely enter or exit your home at any location in case of emergencies. Nifty, isn’t it?”

Lain couldn't help but nod his head, after hearing both Hui Shi, and Annette’s words, before swiping up on the door icon that correlated to the doorway that they just came through, only stopping when the rating number that floated next to his finger stopped at 100%. 

Chapter 115: The First Bedroom

He then turned around to see if there would be changes to the doorway, as Annette’s left hand fell off his shoulder. Looking at the doorway, he was immediately mesmerized, as the opened doorway within the blink of an eye quickly turned into a wall that looked no different from the other walls in the room, covered in runes. Doing this, he completely enclosed everyone inside the room. 

Feeling very interested in this technology, he swiped down on the same holographic door icon in front of him again, which caused the wall to quickly vanish before his eyes and turn back into a walk-through doorway.

“See? It’s pretty useful isn’t it?” Annette said, while she also looked at the doorway along with Lain, in slight admiration.

“It truly is.” Lain replied, with a smile. He couldn’t help but think in his mind, while mesmerized by the magical properties of runes. ‘I can’t believe there’s such amazing technology in this world. If only my village wasn’t so remote. We definitely could make use of this technology back home. I wonder how much it costs to build though?’

“Now that you know how the doors work, let’s continue.” Hui Shi added, before going towards the closet on the left side of the room. Annette, hearing him, quickly grabbed Lain’s left hand and dragged him along.

After walking by the chair and desk, they ended up stopping in front of the walk-in closet in the room. After stopping, Annette quickly opened her mouth and joyfully said to Lain. “The table and desk should function like most tables and desks in other houses.”

“You’re correct sister Annette, tables and desks are often made with drawers that have space expansion runes inscribed within them, that make the room inside of them bigger than usual. And they also function just like the sofa in the living room. Their weight can be adjusted through the holographic television to make it easier to move them around the house as well.” Hui Shi added, while looking down at the chair and desk that they just passed in satisfaction.

“So I can adjust the table and chair in front of me just like I did with the sofa from before. That’s pretty cool.” Lain couldn’t help but blurt out in amazement before clicking on the Bedroom 1 menu button. Which brought out the holographic version of the room.

Although he wanted to play around with the chair and desk in front of him, since he already knew how they worked, he decided it was best to wait until they were done going through the house in detail, before coming back in the future to explore each feature of the house until he’s satisfied.

Chapter 116: Bathroom In Detail

“It is pretty cool. I’ll let brother Hui Shi finish introducing the features of the room now.” Annette couldn’t help but say shyly, before letting go of Lain’s hand, and waiting quietly by Lain’s side, as he looked at the holographic room in front of him in wonder.

“Thanks sister Annette, I’ll continue now by letting you know that directly in front of us is the entrance to both the bathroom of this room, and the closet.” Hui Shi stated, as he looked left and right, while standing in front of the closet.

“Directly in front of us is a wall with hooks, and shelves that can be used to store clothes and towels, so it can be seen as a small closet of sorts. On its left is a doorway that leads to the bathroom of the room, and on its right is a doorway that leads to the formal closet of the room.” He added, with a smile, before walking towards the bathroom’s doorway on the left.

“Both the bathroom and the closet have space expansion runes that make the space within them larger than they should be.” Annette stated with a smile.

“Is that so?” Lain couldn’t help but ask, as he looked away from the screen in front of him towards the walk-in closet, which now appears to be an entryway that leads to the bathroom and the real walk-in closet, before following Hui Shi into it.

“Yup. The bathroom is a normal bathroom, with a toilet bowl, as well as a shower section that allows you to clean yourself.” Hui Shi replied. Before moving to the side to allow Lain and Annette to enter the room.

Entering the bathroom, Lain couldn’t help but notice how large it was. It was almost the size of the bedroom that they just exited. On the left side of this bathroom, situated directly on the opposite wall facing Lain, was a bowl that Lain assumed must be the toilet bowl. On the right side of the bathroom, was a large bathtub that reached from the opposite wall, towards the entrance wall that Lain, Hui Shi and Annette were standing by.

On the entrance wall, directly above where the bathtub is, there seemed to be a holographic screen levitating by it.

After seeing this new holographic screen, Lain couldn’t help but walk over to it. Seeing Lain walk towards the screen, Annette quickly opened her mouth to speak, as she followed him from behind. “That holographic television is a bathroom menu. Every house has it.”

Hui Shi, while looking around the clean, and white colored bathroom that was covered in faint, light-blue runes, said slowly, “It allows you to change the settings of the bathtub and the shower. Its controls are pretty simple, and very easy to learn.”

Chapter 117: The Bathtub’s Holographic Screen

“Yup, they are.” Annette replied, after arriving by the side of the holographic screen, with Lain. After seeing the holographic screen up close, Lain couldn’t help but marvel at its ingenuity.

On this new holographic screen, there were only three large buttons that read Bathtub, Shower, And Toilet.

While Lain was staring at the menu buttons, Hui Shi continued. “There should be three standard light-blue colored buttons on the screen. Bathtub, Shower and Toilet. The appliances in the bathroom are controlled by voice command. Clicking on a button tells the holographic television which appliance you would like to control using your voice. 

You can also use your voice to tell the television, which appliance you wish to command also, by stating the appliance’s name before you issue the command.”

“Commands?” Lain couldn’t help but ask, before clicking on the shower button. Clicking on the shower button, made the holographic button that was originally light blue in color start to wiggle back and forth in place for a couple seconds, before turning red, and staying still again.

“Yes. Commands allow you to control the appliances. You can give any reasonable demand to the holographic screen, and it will do as told. For example, if you click on the shower button and tell it to turn on the water, the runes in the room will condense water above the bathtub that you can take a shower in.” Annette replied with a smile. 

Hearing her words, Lain did just that. He quickly said, “Please turn on the water in the shower.” 

A second after he did, water started falling from the space above the large bathtub. The water seemed to appear from thin air directly above the ceiling of the bathroom before falling towards the bathtub on the floor of the bathroom. Strangely, Lain noticed that the water, upon touching the bathtub, seemed to evaporate and vanish from sight.

Marveling at the sight of that, he couldn’t help but bend down and touch the bottom of the bathtub with both hands. Touching the bottom, he realised that it was dry to the touch, but the water that fell on his hands didn’t evaporate, but instead rolled down his hands towards the bathtub below.

Watching Lain play with the bathtub, Annette, continued her explanations. “Saying the same command after pressing the bathtub button, causes water to condense at the bottom of the bathtub instead of evaporate. Naturally, you can change the temperature of the water that falls down, on command as well, by stating that you want hot, warm, cold or very cold water. You can even tell the holographic system what exact temperature you wish the water to be in, and it’ll change to that temperature.” 

Chapter 118: Entering The Closet

“I see.” Lain replied, before getting up from the ground. He then stated loudly. “Please turn off the water.” 

After his words echoed out in the air for a second, he quickly noticed the rain that was falling onto the bathtub disappear quickly.

“You’re catching on.” Annette couldn’t help but chuckle and say, after watching what just occurred.

Hui Shi on the other hand could only smile and nod at her words, while Lain smiled back at her as well, as a sign of acknowledgement.

“The toilet also works the same way. After using it, telling the television to flush or clean the toilet, will automatically clean the toilet, both inside and out, using the runes engraved on it.” Annette said, before walking away from Lain, towards the entrance of the bathroom.

“I see. This is completely different from the bathroom at my old home. We had to bathe in buckets, and could only use outhouses for toilets, as we lived far from town, in a more secluded area.” Lain voiced out in jealousy. Before also walking towards the entrance of the bathroom.

“I’ll try to figure things out on my own in the future. There’s no need for me to test the toilet right now.” Lain couldn’t help but say with a blush on his face, because he didn’t want to use the features of the toilet right now. Even if he did, he definitely wouldn’t use it while others were watching him.

“Sounds good. Just remember in the future that many of your voice commands can be accomplished by the bathroom’s intelligence system, as long as they’re reasonable. This includes changing the layout of the bathroom itself.” Annette replied, standing by the side, and looking at the quiet Hui Shi, standing by the entrance.

Hearing her words, Lain nodded slightly. Hui Shi, seeing his nod, quickly said. “Now that we’re done here, let’s go to the closet before we head to the kitchen. There’s not much to show in there.” Before walking out of the bathroom towards the closet’s entrance opposite them. Annette, and Lain, quickly followed behind him quietly.

Entering the closet, Lain saw an empty room, with white hooks and shelves on every wall. Its design was simple, as he expected from a room that was designed to store clothing.

“This room is a standard closet. There’s nothing really special about it other than the fact that it has space enlargement runes engraved within it that makes the area within it larger than it should be.” Hui Shi stated, with slight boredom, as he looked around at the empty closet.

Chapter 119: The Closet’s Interior

“I heard that most closets are made sturdy enough to be used as training rooms, from a friend of mine. Is that true, brother Hui Shi?”  Annette, standing by the side, couldn't help but ask, while also looking around the room.

“Technically yes. But this room, although can be used as a training room, requires special blood to power the runes in it in order to handle the destruction that fighting within it can cause. But right now, it’s not capable of that, as the blood given by sister Annette earlier was used to power the runes in the entire house, not just this small closet, so fighting within this closet right now, would need you to pour blood specifically in this room, in order to power the runes within it.” Hui Shi replied, in deep thought. 

“This closet can also be used as a training room? What special blood is required?” Lain, listening by the side, quickly asked, after realizing that this slightly large closet could also be used to test his strength in the future.

 “I don’t really know. But if it works like the battle room in my chariot, then you’ll probably need the blood of a creature that’s stronger than you, otherwise the room will not be able to handle your strength.” Annette replied shyly. She could only guess, as she didn’t know the technicalities of how it worked. Some houses were built vastly differently than others, so she may be wrong.

“Well, you’re correct. All you need is blood capable of handling your strength at max capacity. Drop the blood on the pervite floor of this closet, and the runes will absorb enough blood to first replenish the entire household, then store the excess for when the room is damaged from within.

This alternative use of this room comes with the ability to expand its size to the size of the entire house, in order to accommodate your battles. You just have to hold the house key with you, and verbally state that you want to enlarge this closet to its maximum capacity, and its size will increase drastically before your eyes.” Hui Shi added, before looking at Lain with a slight smile, to see if he understood.

“I see, thanks. I may use this feature in the future. I don’t have that many clothes, so the little closet in the hallway that leads to this closet will probably be all I need.” Lain, replied with a nod, before walking a couple steps into the room. After doing that, he stated verbally. “Please expand this room to its maximum capacity!”

Immediately after he uttered those words, the walk-in closet that he was in, that was smaller than a normal room, changed drastically. The runes on the floor and walls, glowed brightly in a light blue hue, before the air around Lain, Hui Shi, and Annette, seemed to warp and stretch before their very eyes, causing them to feel slightly dizzy. By the time the bout of dizziness faded, the room had already enlarged into a size much larger than the entire house. 

Chapter 120: Entering The Kitchen

It was almost the size of a small stadium. The shelves, and clothing hooks, were still there, but they were now spread out from each other, as the space between each hook and shelf seemed to have expanded. Even the ceiling was eight times its previous height.

“Pretty cool, right? You can go back to normal, by telling the key to return the room to its previous size.” Hui Shi stated with a smile. Annette, standing by the side, also smiled as she looked around the expanded room. This space expanding technology, always marvels her every time she experiences it. 

“I see. Thanks for the advice. I like the closet at the current size, so I’ll leave it at its current setting. I may use it in the future for training.” Lain replied, while still looking around at the expanded room. He couldn’t believe that runes could be used in so many unique ways. Although he didn’t like the fact that it was all powered by blood, he still had to admit that runes were truly a useful invention.

“Great idea. It’s great to have a place to test your strength. There shouldn’t be much else to this room other than its space expansion feature, and its ability to take damage, from what I’ve heard. So we should probably move on to the next room.” Annette replied. She then looked at Lain, to confirm his answer. Seeing her look at him, Lain could only smile, and nod, before going back to gawk at the expanded room some more. He truly loved the space expansion feature of this room.

“That’s true, sister Annette. Let’s go to the kitchen.” Hui Shi stated, after hearing her words, and seeing Lain’s nod of approval. Then after looking at the closet, one last time, he turned his back on the gawking Lain, who was still looking at the expanded closet in admiration, and walked back towards the living room, which they came from, before making a left turn into another room.

Seeing Hui Shi leave, Annette couldn’t help but chuckle and say to Lain. “Let’s catch up to brother Hui Shi. You’ll have a lot of time to admire your new home in the future.” Before following Hui Shi towards the next room.

Looking at his future training room one last time, Lain couldn’t help but thank Elder Micas and Elder Trent in his heart for the home he just received, before following Annette into the next room.

Entering the kitchen, what greeted Lain, was Hui Shi, and Annette standing inside a large, rectangular room, with a floor to ceiling window, that stood opposite the entryway that he just passed through. They were looking around in slight intrigue, at the familiar, yet unfamiliar room. 

They both stood by the left and right side of the entryway quietly waiting for Lain to enter the room and acclimate himself to the features inside of it. 

Chapter 121: The Kitchen 

Entering the room, Lain couldn’t help but gawk and look around. While looking he saw cabinets all over the room, covered in faint rune patterns. Some cabinets were placed above his head, while others were placed closer to the ground. The only locations without cabinets were the windows in front of him, the entryway that he came from, and a doorway towards his right that seemed to lead to another room.

On the left side of the room that he was currently in, an island table was placed, along with chairs that seemed to be chiseled from stone. The island table wasn’t too large, but was big enough for 6 chairs to be placed around it. It was still small enough for people to move around it within the kitchen. 

Placed on the left most wall of the kitchen, was a countertop that was also made of the same stone-like object, pervite. It seemed it was created to be used for washing and chopping foods of all sorts. On the countertop, two faucet-like tubes made from the same granite stone-like object could be seen by Lain. Directly below them was a round, concaved section of the pervite countertop that seemed to have been made to hold the water.

While Lain and Annette were looking around, mesmerized, Hui Shi’s voice rang out. Dragging them out of their trance. “This room is the kitchen. Clicking on the kitchen menu button will allow you to view the holographic version of the kitchen, and control the various appliances and cabinets within.”

Before Lain could press the kitchen’s menu button, Annette continued where Hui Shi left off in glee. “If my guess is correct, the temperature of the table in front of us, on the left, can be adjusted, along with the countertop, and the cabinets around this room. That way food left on top of them or inside of them can be kept warm or cold.”

After speaking she smiled and glanced at Hui Shi, before saying, “Am I right brother Hui Shi? Some kitchens are usually custom made differently, so I may be wrong here.”

“That’s correct, sister Annette. This standard room comes with adjustable countertop, cabinet and table temperatures. Swiping up or down on these appliances through the holographic TV screen allows you to change their temperature at your whim.” Hui Shi replied, with a dashing grin, but before he could continue speaking, Annette added with a nod and a smile. “And the coolest aspect of these two appliances is that you can touch their surfaces without getting burned or frozen, no matter how high or low the temperature gets. This allows you to cool or cook your meals on their surfaces without the threat of bodily harm!” It seemed she truly loved explaining facts about the kitchen. 

“That’s interesting.” Lain replied, before clicking on the kitchen menu button on the holographic screen in front of him. Which pulled up a mini version of the kitchen. 

Chapter 122: A Strange Anomaly

“Touching the top of the two tubes on the countertop causes the runes inscribed on them to condense water from the environment outside the house into the tubes, and release them from the holes within the tubes. Giving you access to hot and cold water. You can also just state loudly to the house key that you wish to turn on cold or hot water from the kitchen’s faucet, and the same thing will occur.” Annette continued, after seeing Lain pull up the holographic kitchen.

“Thanks! This is a pretty interesting kitchen. Life would've been so much easier, if we had this back at my home.” Lain voiced out in jealousy.

“Me too. I didn’t grow up with a kitchen like this either. I bought my first home, only after years of effort working with the Justice Bureau officers.” Annette added with slight melancholy in her voice. 

“You two must’ve had it rough growing up.” Hui Shi couldn’t help but say, before putting his hands on both their shoulders, in understanding. The golden glow emanating from his warm hands quickly entered their bodies, cleansing their slightly melancholic minds, and soothing their aching souls. 

“Yeah.” Annette, and Lain unwillingly replied with sighs. Before going back to looking around the room again, after being cleansed by the sacred, golden light emanating from Hui Shi’s hands. It seems they’ve come to terms with their difficult pasts.

After opening a few cabinets, and playing with the appliances within the kitchen for a couple of minutes in silence, Lain quickly got over the novelty of the kitchen’s appliances.

Seeing Lain stop moving around in wonder and awe, Hui Shi realized it was time to check out the last room. 

“You should probably go and check out the last room, called Bedroom 2 in the holographic TV menu. It’s likely identical to the first bedroom that we just came from, and will be very familiar to you.” Hui Shi stated with a slight relaxing smile on his face, before looking through the floor to ceiling glass window in the kitchen towards the backyard of the house that showed the forest behind the house. It seemed that something outside of the window caught his closed eyes.

“There’s probably nothing much in there. But I’ll follow you along.” Annette added before guiding Lain to the doorway of the last bedroom that was situated on the right side of the kitchen.

Looking into the last bedroom, Lain saw an identical bed, closet, chair, and desk inside of it similar to the first room he had visited. There was truly nothing there that was different, other than the fact that the bed in the new bedroom was located on the left side of the room, and was smaller in size than the one in the first bedroom that he visited. 

Chapter 123: Moth-Like Insect

Appearing to be the bed that was made for a child instead of an adult. The table, desk, and closet were situated directly in front of the doorway, with the closet being on the wall opposite the doorway.

While Lain and Annette were looking at the last bedroom, Hui Shi slowly walked towards the floor to ceiling window, and turned his face towards the forest behind the house with a higher level of scrutiny, as if he was looking for something, even though his eyes were closed.

Looking towards the forest of grasses, for more than a couple of minutes, he noticed a small, green colored, flying moth-like insect, with legs and eyes, similar to those of a spider. It was the size of a fruit fly and was watching them menacingly as it flew around the backyard of the house, a dozen or so feet from the window. Noticing that it was being monitored by Hui Shi, even though Hui Shi’s eyes were closed, the tiny insect quickly flew into the forest of grasses, and disappeared from sight.

Noticing the tiny, but menacing insect disappear from his front, Hui Shi stood there in deep contemplative thought, as he remembered that the Fang Clan were masters at controlling insects. ‘I hope this isn’t the Fang Clan at play here, but unfortunately it possibly might be. There’s already so much to deal with in this world filled with danger. I can’t believe the Fang Clan members have nothing better to do than monitor a priest and two regular people.’ Hui Shi thought to himself, after moments of careful deliberation. But before he could continue his train of thoughts, the voice of Annette caught his attention, so he decided to forget what just occurred for now, until everyone was done looking through the house.

“It is truly identical.” Annette's voice rang out, as she looked into the room, completely ignoring the sound of Hui Shi’s bare feet moving around behind her. She then said to Lain. “If this bed is like most beds that I’ve come across, you can adjust the size of the bed through the holographic menu. Just touch the bed’s icon within the holographic menu, using two fingers. Then drag those two fingers towards opposite directions, and the bed’s size will enlarge as your fingers move apart.” 

Hearing her words, Lain nodded his head in appreciation, before clicking on the last bedroom’s menu button. After doing so, the holographic screen in front of him changed until he was looking at a holographic replica of the room in front of him.

After seeing the holographic screen change, Lain quickly located the small bed within the holographic room, and touched it with his two index fingers before dragging them apart. As he did so, he amazingly saw the bed in front of him enlarge slowly, along with the bed within the holographic screen. 

He continued to enlarge the bed until it was the size of a king sized bed, before he let his two fingers fall down from the holographic screen.

Chapter 124: We’re Being Monitored?

Looking at the king sized bed in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel amazed by its size change. “That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Annette asked gleefully next to him.

“It truly is. This is a very useful feature of the bed. I thought I may need to buy a new bed to replace this one in the future, if I ever needed to invite guests over.” Lain replied, with a smile. He knew he was short of money, so a new bed would’ve been hard to acquire as he was right now. This feature truly saved him from future trouble.

After another two minutes of Annette looking around the room, while Lain played with the holographic screen in front of him. Adjusting the settings of the furniture in the room, Annette finally said to him. “Well, that should be the end of the house tour. The back of the house, from what I can see, is just a forest of overgrown Riddlegrain grass, and Old Pike trees. Old Pike is the name of triangular red colored trees, if you’re wondering. They have a slightly sweet citrus-like scent and taste to their leaves that makes them a favorite snack for children in our city to snack on.”

“I see. Thanks for the help! I’ll try plucking the some leaves in the future, they may be great for brewing tea” Lain replied, before they both walked out of the room, towards Hui Shi, who was standing in front of the floor to ceiling window in the kitchen, pondering over things Lain, and Annette were unaware of.

“Brother Lain, I would hold off on bringing guests over right now. I heard you earlier mention this, and I would caution you on this, since I believe we’re being monitored by the Fang Clan.” Hui Shi said gloomily with a look of concern written on his face, as he saw Lain and Annette walk towards him.

“We’re being monitored?” Annette replied in shock. Before looking around desperately. She couldn’t help but shiver, since she didn’t notice anything strange, even though after Mon Dupa’s appearance, she became a lot more alert of her surroundings subconsciously.

“Really?” Lain asked as well, while looking around in slight doubt. He was too focused on the house tour earlier to pay attention to his surroundings. He had just arrived in the city, so he thought he should have no enemies.

“Yes. I just saw a monitoring insect patrolling the outside of the house, that I believe may be from the Fang Clan. There aren’t many insect controlling will powers in this kingdom from my understanding. So, if my guess is correct, this monitoring insect is likely from the Fang Clan. But since there are other insect controllers in this kingdom, it could be them, although the likelihood of it being them is very low.” Hui Shi replied. He couldn’t help but ponder again if his current guess was correct. Although the Fang Clan was likely the culprit, he reasoned that he, Annette, and Lain may have other enemies that he didn’t know of, that may be capable of either controlling an insect or hiring an insect controller to monitor them.

Chapter 125: Is It The Fang Clan Again?

“That sucks. The Fang Clan member from before is too sinister for me to handle alone by myself, if it ever decides to attack me. Wait! Why would it target me though? I am just a weak hero with little power. Chances are it is likely you, brother Hui Shi that it may be targeting. I heard the priests of Ensieth were all very powerful people that are protected by Lord Ensieth himself. He may be mad that you healed us back then, so he decided to tail you, in order to find out how powerful you truly are, before he comes after you himself.” Annette stated while shivering. 

As a hero, she had never been given a mission to fight those much stronger than her, especially those at or above the unity stage. And she believed judging from the dangerous insect following the Fang Clan man from earlier, as well as the behavior of the guards towards him that he was definitely someone at the unity stage or higher. Only nobles, and people at the unity stage or higher get preferential treatment by the guards at the gate.

“That might be so. It must be brother Hui Shi that he’s after. I haven’t done anything that’ll make him come after me either. Besides, my current power at this current time may even be weaker than sister Annette, due to the restrictions placed on my strength. So there’s nothing noteworthy about me for him to be chasing after.” Lain added as well in bafflement. He just arrived in the city, and may already be targeted by a powerful enemy. He hadn’t even heard of the Fang Clan until earlier today, but now he may be going against them.

“Well, you may be correct. But I hope you keep my warnings in mind. We may all be the target of the Fang Clan. The Fang Clan have always been a cruel and highly dangerous clan that practices many secretive arts. Going against them is no different from going against an untouchable zone. So be very careful from now on.” Hui Shi replied, after a brief moment of pondering.

After making sure that both Lain and Annette nodded at his warnings, he then sighed, and said to them. “Well, that should be all for tonight. We should probably get some rest before we head to the Hero recruitment office tomorrow morning. I believe brother Mon Dupa is expecting to meet us at the nearest office within this district.”

“Yeah. We should. I’ll go rest in my chariot tonight. I wish to spend some time alone, with the new information I just received about the Fang Clan. That way I can figure out a way to protect myself in the future. I may need to buy some protective instruments tonight.” Annette replied, after a moment of thought. The thought of the Fang Clan possibly coming after her slightly weighed her down. 

“Great idea, sister Annette. Brother Hui Shi, you can stay in any of the rooms, if you wish for a place to rest in. I’ll stay in this second bedroom, in order to rest my head, and think about how to deal with the Fang Clan.” Lain replied as well. He wasn’t sure the Fang Clan was truly coming after him. But he still needed time to rest and figure things out on his own. 

Chapter 126: Exchanging Contacts

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll stay in the first bedroom. It’s been a long day.” Hui Shi said, after hearing their responses, before sighing again, and continuing. “I would like to invite you to seek shelter at my church, if you find the burden of being monitored by the Fang Clan too great. In the arms of our church, not even the Gilagesh Empire can harm you, much less the Fang Clan.”

He couldn’t help but extend an olive branch, in case they truly couldn’t find a way to protect themselves, and require shelter. His Ensieth Church will never be afraid of the Fang Clan.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi. I may need to take the offer in the future, if I believe I can’t handle the situation.” Lain replied with a thankful smile.

“Thanks as well. The insect from before may not be monitoring me, but if I believe it is, I’ll gladly take you up on your offer. Let’s exchange contacts, before I head out to my chariot to rest.” Annette replied. After she did, a small holographic screen strangely popped up in front of her. The screen was covered with words that were written in Gilbrazen.

Seeing this, Lain was visibly surprised. He couldn’t help but look at Annette’s body, hoping to figure out where the source of the screen was, but after a minute of looking he still couldn’t figure out how the screen got there. 

Noticing Lain’s puzzled look, Annette decided to explain what just occurred, while Hui Shi reached into a pocket on his light blue priest robe to pull out a rectangular, stone plaque. After pulling out the plaque, a holographic screen also popped up in front of him. But this screen was covered in images and words written in Svalian. 

“The screen in front of me was created by a ring given to me by the Justice Bureau, after becoming a hero. It functions as a telepathic communication tool that allows its user to communicate with the Justice Bureau officers within the city, in case of an emergency, a surveillance tool that allows the Justice Bureau to watch the surroundings of the user, after being given permission, as well as an everyday tool for the users personal entertainment and convenience. Just like the key of a house.” Annette stated, while pulling out a ring from her bosom. After letting Lain see the ring in her right palm, she quickly placed it back inside her bosom with a shy smile.

“Heroes can control the ring with their minds, after becoming its user.” She added shyly. Hearing her words, Lain quickly nodded with a look of understanding on his face. He then looked towards Hui Shi, who had a plaque in his right palm, and a similar holographic screen in front of him.

Hui Shi, after pulling out his plaque, gently looked at Annette with closed eyes, and a bright smile, before saying. “Please, sister Annette. Let me hear your contact information.” 

Chapter 127: Contact Information Screen

“Okay! It’s 77!^545.” Annette replied. Soon after, Hui Shi tapped quickly on his screen, after a number pad appeared on it, as if he was dialing the information given by Annette.

After less than a minute. A chime-like sound was heard in the kitchen, which seemed to come from Annette’s screen. Hearing the sound, Hui Shi quickly said to Annette. “That should be me. I just sent you a contact request, sister Annette.”

Nodding at his words, Annette glanced at her screen, before pressing a few buttons on it. Soon after, the screen disappeared from her front. 

Seeing the screen disappear, Lain who was watching the two exchange contact information couldn’t help but ask them in curiosity. “How does this contact thing work?”

Hearing his question. Hui Shi smiled at him and replied, while playing with the plaque in his hand. “It’s actually quite simple. Everyone can purchase devices that function just like the key in your hand, that allows you to browse the web archive, check your bank account balances, as well as communicate with others. The heroes of the hero division give these devices free of charge to heroes, while everyone else has to acquire them on their own.

Each device, once connected to its user’s account, will have its own unique contact information that the user can share to others in order to communicate with them from any distance. Certain government officials can also directly contact a person simply by searching their name in the government’s database regardless of what device they’re currently using. 

Like I stated in the past, every citizen of the empire is entitled to a unique identity or account within the empire that’s directly linked to their bank account, as well as other accounts that they wish to open within the empire.” 

“Thanks for the explanation. Does my key also have the ability to communicate as well?” Lain asked in doubt, since it seemed to him that his key should be capable of communicating with others as well, since it also had the web archive function.

“Yes, it does. Just tell the key to pull up your contact information screen, and a contact screen will pop up in front of you that allows you to insert the contact information of others.” Annette, who was listening by the side, replied to Lain’s question. She had completely forgotten about Lain earlier, or she would’ve given him her contact information as well.

Hearing her reply, Lain gleefully did as told. Soon after, he stated out loud for the key in his hand to pull up his contact information, and a holographic screen quickly appeared in front of him. Looking at the small rectangular holographic screen, he saw a blank page, with a keyboard located at the bottom of the screen, as well as a connect and disconnect button directly below it. 

Chapter 128: You’re A Fast Learner

At the top left of the blank page was a series of Svalian letters that Lain reasoned would be the contact information of the device. So he ignored it, and looked down at the keyboard.

Seeing the keyboard, he quickly dialed the information that was stated earlier by Annette, before clicking the connect button, to see if something would happen.

Soon after he clicked the connect button, he quickly heard a sound echo from the location where Annette was standing, before the screen that had just disappeared from her front reappeared in front of her again.

Seeing the screen appear. Annette quickly clicked a button within the screen. After clicking it, she then said to Lain. “You learn pretty fast. Clicking the connect button allows you to contact the person you wish to speak to. If the person accepts the contact request that you sent, the two of you will be able to communicate orally until either party decides to press the disconnect button. You may also communicate visually as well, simply by stating to the screen that you wish to communicate visually. After making that statement, a holographic video of you will be shared with the person you’re communicating with, but you will not be able to see the other party visually unless they also turn on that feature.”

Strangely as she spoke, an echo of her speech could be heard from the holographic screen in front of Lain. Which he found very fascinating. After hearing her words, Lain quickly clicked the disconnect button which turned off the echoing coming from the screen. After disconnecting, he soon noticed that on the blank page on the screen in front of him, directly below his contact information, the contact information he had just typed had somehow miraculously appeared. With a connect button situated to the right of that information.

Looking at Annette’s contact information, Lain couldn’t help but click on it. After clicking on it, two buttons immediately popped up on his screen. One said “Rename” while the other said “Delete.”

Seeing the two buttons, Lain quickly figured out what they meant, and clicked on the Rename button, which brought up a keyboard that allowed him to type Annette’s name on it. After typing the name and clicking on an “Accept” button that was located on the keyboard itself. The contact information quickly changed to Annette’s name. Before the new keyboard disappeared from view.

“Brother Lain, you’re truly a fast learner. Please add my contact information as well, before we go get some rest. It’s 39034^&.” Hui Shi said in acknowledgment. 

Chapter 129: Entering The Chariot

Hearing his words, Lain quickly typed Hui Shi’s contact information into the keyboard located at the bottom of the screen before clicking connect again. Soon after, a chime-like sound could be heard coming from Hui Shi’s plaque. After the sound was heard, Hui Shi quickly pressed a few buttons on his screen before he closed the screen in front of him.

He then said to Lain, “You can close the screen by stating close my contact information screen.” Hearing his words, Lain quickly renamed Hui Shi’s contact information that appeared directly below Annette’s, before closing the holographic screen in front of him with a verbal command.

“Well, it’s time I head out. Thanks brothers for letting me tag along. I’ll let myself out now, in order to get some rest. Let’s meet outside two hours before noon tomorrow, so we can be at the recruitment office on time.” Annette said wearily, after making the holographic screen in front of her disappear. It seemed the feeling of tiredness had begun to wash over her mind. She’s had a busy day, and the information about the Fang Clan seemed to be taking a toll on her. 

“Enjoy your night’s rest, sister Annette. I’ll also be heading into the first bedroom now. Thanks brother Lain, for lending me the room for the night.” Hui Shi replied with a smile. He and Annette then shook Lain’s hand before they both left the kitchen towards their desired destinations.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy your night’s rest” Lain replied to them slowly, as he watched them leave, while standing in the kitchen. He reasoned to himself while standing there that the day had been an eye opener for him, so a few hours of rest would definitely help refresh his mind that was filled with questions, and wonder.

After they disappeared from his view, he quickly said out loud, “Close the holographic screen in front of me.” To the key in his hand, which then caused the screen in front of him to disappear. He then entered the bedroom next to the kitchen, laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, with the key placed on the bed next to him.

More than seven hours later, Annette, Lain and Hui Shi could be seen standing by the front of Annette’s carriage exchanging greetings. After exchanging greetings, Annette said to Lain and Hui Shi with a bright and charming smile. “Well, let’s get going. I’ll take you brothers there on my chariot.” Before walking to the side of her carriage and opening the door. Lain could tell from her smile that the rest she received from the night truly helped clear her mind of the troubles that occurred the day before.

“Thank you.” Both Hui Shi, and Lain replied to her. Hui Shi then followed her into her carriage. While Lain stayed behind for a few seconds to enjoy the fresh morning breeze and the view of the beautiful large tree-like grasses around him that cleared his mind of the extreme sadness that he had unknowingly felt last night, before following Hui Shi into the carriage. 

Chapter 130: Nice Place

Entering the carriage, what greeted Hui Shi and Lain was a large room that from Lain’s perspective was much bigger than the carriage as a whole. Seeing the large room covered in faint serpent runes, that were glowing faintly, and illuminating the space within, Lain couldn’t help but be mesmerized. He quickly reasoned that some sort of space enlargement effect was occurring within the carriage. Causing the space within the carriage to be much bigger that what he had expected.

Looking around the room, which seemed to be a living room, Lain realized that the interior of the carriage was no different from the inside of a home. There was a pink, four-sectional couch placed against the wall facing the door that they just came through, along with a pink colored low table at its center. The floor of the living room was covered in a greenish pink rug that had designs of various beautiful pink flowers on it. Which made the living feel more welcoming.

The rug also served a purpose of covering up the runes engraved on the floor. Noticing this, gave Lain various new ideas of how to cover up the glowing runes in his new house. Seeing the runes constantly emitting faint light all day would definitely drive him crazy after a while. 

On the left wall of the living room was a doorway that led to a kitchen of sorts, from the viewpoint of Lain. And on the right wall of the living room was another doorway that led to another bedroom or closet of sorts. Lain couldn’t tell exactly what the room was, from his current viewpoint within the living room. 

It also seemed from Lain’s point of view he believed there was likely a doorway leading to a bedroom inside the kitchen, similar to his own. He reasoned that the house seemed too similar to his for it not to have an extra bedroom like his.

“Nice place, sister Annette.” Hui Shi said proudly with a bright and extremely handsome smile on his face. He then casually walked over to the couch in front of him and sat down relaxingly. While Lain was still standing busily by the front door admiring the beauty of the inside of the carriage, completely ignoring the words and behavior of Hui Shi.

“Thanks, brother Hui Shi. Would you two like something to drink or eat while we’re on our way?” Annette replied with a smile of her own, she truly loved the radiant smile of Hui Shi. It always made her happier. 

Hearing her words, brought Lain out of his trance. He quickly nodded his head, at her question before going towards the couch to sit down next to Hui Shi. “Yes. A glass of water will do. If you have a small fruit to eat on the way, that’ll be better.” Hui Shi replied to her, before moving slightly to the side to allow Lain to sit on his left.

Chapter 131: Herald

After hearing their response, she took a moment to gather her thoughts before saying. “Herald, come out! While I go get my friends here some food, please take us to the nearest hero recruitment office. Thanks!” 

After her words echoed out inside the carriage a holographic boy magically appeared in front of Hui Shi and Lain, while she walked into the kitchen. The holographic boy then bowed and said in a spirited, and childish voice. “Will do, sister! It should take us a little less than two hours to get there.”

Looking at the boy, Hui Shi and Lain could see that it was only about 6 to 7 years old. It had a light orange shirt on, and was wearing blue shorts, and a pair of khaki colored sandals. If not for the fact that the boy looked slightly holographic, the two of them would’ve thought it was a real flesh and blood human.

As Hui Shi and Lain were looking at the holographic boy called Herald with curiosity, it too looked at them, before greeting the two of them with a bright smile. “Hello you two! I’m Herald, Annette’s brother. Nice to meet you!” After greeting them, it bowed before looking towards the door that led outside, which was still open.

The moment it looked at the door, the runes on the door shone brightly before the door closed on its own. Shortly afterward, both Lain and Hui Shi felt a slight jerk, as if they just started moving. It seemed the boy had somehow communicated with the beasts harnessed to the carriage, and told them to move the carriage to an unknown destination.

Ignoring the sudden movement of the carriage, Hui Shi and Lain replied back to Herald. “Nice to meet you too, my precious little brother Herald.” Hui Shi said. Lain replied with a light nod, before completely immersing himself in studying the appearance of the holographic, latino looking boy in front of him, who had high cheek bones, large round eyes and chubby cheeks that made him appear very adorable. Lain was too mesmerized by the holographic technology of runes to react as he usually would, so he could only nod absentmindedly as a greeting.

Hearing their reply, Herald beamed and ran over to the two of them, acting no different from a small boy. He then sat down next to Hui Shi and asked gleefully. “What are your names? Since you’re my sister’s friends, that means you’re also my friends too! Right?”

“Yes my little brother, we're friends too. My name is Hui Shi, and my brother here is called Lain. We just recently met your sister so we don't know much about her. Can you tell us more about your sister?” Hui Shi responded with curiosity. He was already growing fond of the little kid. Lain on the other hand was still too engrossed in studying the holographic child to respond to the child’s questions.

Chapter 132: Blessing of Ensieth

“My sister is a hero and she’s very strong. A little while ago a bad old man came into our chariot and my sister scared him away! I was too scared of him, so I hid. Why are you glowing? Are you a priest? My sister told me that there were people called priests that go around helping people, and every one of them glows, just like you, and if I ever meet one in the future I should be thankful because priests are very kind people and are blessed by gods. Are you glowing because you’re a priest?” Herald asked questioningly, he too was curious about the two people in front of him. 

“You’re correct my precious little brother, I’m a priest of Ensieth. You are very fortunate to meet a priest today aren’t you? Give me your hand, let me give you a blessing too that way we’re both blessed by a god. I’m sure you’ll like it. My lord wishes to give it to you.” Replied Hui Shi, with a smile. Him and Lain quickly figured out in their heads that the old man that Herald just talked about must’ve been the old man Trent.

Hearing Hui Shi’s words, Herald gladly reached out his holographic right hand with a bright smile on his face towards Hui Shi in curiosity. After seeing the stretched out arm of the boy, Hui Shi slowly brought his right hand towards the boy, and touched it. Strangely, his hand could actually touch the holographic hand of the boy, instead of passing through it, which was a strange thing for Lain to see. 

While holding his hand, Hui Shi’s hand started to glow even brighter than it normally would, causing the boy to be mesmerized by the beauty of the etheric figures flying gracefully within the glow that surrounded Hui Shi.

“Praise my great lord, may his kindness bless this poor child before me.” Hui Shi slowly prayed gracefully. The moment he started his short prayer, a crisp sound of a bird resounded from his glowing hand. Then a tiny rainbow colored bird, with the size and shape of a tiny hummingbird, flew out from within the countless etheric figures inside the golden glow that surrounded his hand. 

The bird’s crisp sound echoed out in the air one more time, bringing the greatest feeling of bliss and clarity to all who heard it. Lain, whose mind was previously occupied with thoughts about the ingenuity of the holographic Herald before him, as well as how runes could possibly create such ingenuity, quickly gained great clarity of mind and soul, figuring out what would’ve normally taken him hours to figure out in his head about runes, instantly. 

The feeling of bliss that washed over him, just from the two bird cries alone, was something he had never experienced before in his entire life. After listening to the bird’s cries he could only close his eyes, and experience the harmony of body and soul for the first time in his life peacefully.

Chapter 133: Becoming Complete

The boy also felt the feeling of extreme bliss and harmony, which were feelings he had never experienced in its entire life, as it was just a holographic bundle of light, and not truly a human being. Feeling the blissful and relaxing emotions that it had never experienced in its entire existence for the first time, the boy slowly closed his eyes as well, completely immersing himself in the wonder of emotions and feelings. 

As the boy was mesmerized by the extreme feeling of bliss and clarity, the tiny multicolored bird quickly dove into its holographic head, before curling itself where the boy’s brain was supposed to be, and falling asleep within it.

After the beautiful bird flew gracefully, like an etheric fairy through the air into the boy's head, curled itself into a multicolored ball, and fell asleep within it, the boy's body was washed over again with a greater feeling of bliss, clarity, and tranquility than he had ever experienced before. His thoughts became countless times clearer, and his once holographic figure started to slowly become less holographic. 

The boy couldn’t help but smile enchantingly as he experienced his holographic body slowly becoming real by the second. The feeling of bliss that he experienced as he slowly became more real was beyond imagination. Within a minute his body slowly became no different from that of a normal human being’s. 

After his body became a normal human’s, completely enclosing the beautiful, fairy-like bird within his head, Lain slowly opened his eyes to experience a miracle that he had never thought was possible.

The boy before him had completely transformed into a living breathing human, no different from him. His skin which was previously holographic in appearance and nature looked no different from that of a normal human’s now, from Lain baffled point of view.

Lain for the first time in a while was completely shocked by his narrow understanding of the principles of life. Turning a holographic creature into a real flesh and blood human wasn’t something he thought a priest of Ensieth was capable of. But here it is, occurring before his very eyes.

After the boy’s body turned completely real, the boy slowly opened his eyes, smiled at Lain and Hui Shi, saying “Thanks.” Before gently laying down on the couch next to Hui Shi. Soon light sounds of breathing echoed out from his nostrils. It seemed the feeling of bliss and tranquility that washed over his body had caused his young and developing body to fall into a deep sleep.

“Thank you my lord, for blessing this child.” Hui Shi whispered softly in prayer, before letting go of the boy’s hand.

Chapter 134: A Miracle

Less than a minute after letting the boy go, Annette quickly rushed into the living room. Seeing the real boy in front of him left her completely baffled. She couldn’t help but run towards the sleeping child and touch his body to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Earlier she saw rays of golden light shine inside the kitchen, which caused her to stop what she was doing, as well as the crisp bird sounds that caused her to fall into a feeling of extreme bliss and clarity, so she quickly rushed over.

Who knew she would witness a miracle. Touching the real life body of the boy caused her so much shock she almost yelled loudly in astonishment. But before she did, Hui Shi raised his right hand, and said softly to her in a whisper. “Please take the child to a different room. Our speech could wake him up.”

Lain, who was also curious, couldn't help but reach over from where he was sitting and gently touch the little boy’s hand as well, in order to confirm the miracle that he had just witnessed before quickly letting go of the boy.

After seeing Lain’s actions, Annette quickly closed her gaping mouth, and nodded gently at Hui Shi and Lain, before gently lifting the boy up from the couch and taking him into the kitchen. 

After about three minutes in the kitchen, she came back with two stone shaped cups filled with water and two stone bowls filled with exotic fruits. She then gave Lain and Hui Shi, one cup and one bowl each, before kneeling down in front of Hui Shi.

You could see the gratefulness on her face. “Thank you, brother Hui Shi. May lord Eniseth’s grace last forever.” She solemnly said, before taking a deep bow that made her head touch the rug below her.

“You’re welcome my sister. Please get up, and let me explain why my lord helped the young child.”  Hui Shi replied slowly, before reaching towards Annette to help her up, after gently placing his cup and bowl on the ground next to him.

“Thank you, brother Hui Shi.” She gently said again before getting up and sitting down next to Hui Shi. Lain sitting by the side quietly drank his water and watched what was occurring before him, with a smile on his face, completely ignoring the plate of fruits in his hand.

“Let’s begin then. Was the soul of someone used to create the holographic child?” Hui Shi gently asked Annette. “Yes. My younger brother who I grew up with and also became heroes with, died a year after becoming a hero. He was tasked to research a strange but deadly phenomenon called Sweet by the hero division of the Justice Bureau. 

Chapter 135: The Death of Herald

This phenomenon primarily targeted children but also took the lives of adults periodically. A few weeks into his research, his dried up, mummified, and decaying body was found in a forest within our district. It seemed his body had been sucked of all its lifeforce, and about 98% of his soul had also been sucked away from him by a mysterious power.

The strangest part was that he died while he was off duty, so the Justice Bureau was incapable of tracking what occurred that caused his agonizing death.” Annette stated gloomily, with words that sounded more like cries, and whimpers, than words. Lain and Hui Shi could tell from her shaky voice and watery eyes that looked like they were about to start crying any moment that the death took a great toll on her.

“After his body was retrieved, and tests were done on him, I was given his body back, and a small fragment of the last two percent of his soul that was already dissipating due to his death. 

Seeing the orphaned child I grew up with. The little boy that always followed beside me through thick and thin. The young man that gladly followed my footsteps and became a hero knowing how dangerous it was, due to his desire to help those who were less fortunate than us. 

The proud man who made it his life’s goal to try to rescue as many children as possible from poverty, hunger, and danger, so they didn’t have to suffer like we did. Seeing him die before my very eyes broke me. It took me months before I could gather myself, and prepare for his funeral.

Having been given his body and soul fragment, I and my fellow orphaned brothers and sisters that I grew up with, prepared a funeral for him months after his death, and laid him to rest. I then took the last fragment of his soul, that would dissipate if not taken care of properly, and asked a rune craftsman who specialized in preserving souls to create runes within my home and chariot that would nourish his soul fragment over time. 

In hopes of preserving his soul until I could find a way to bring him back to life. I made it my life’s goal to find a way, no matter how hard it is, to revive my younger brother, even if it costs me my life.

The holographic boy that you saw was created in that image because that was the way I preferred he looked. It was his image and character from when he was much younger. It was also the time I had the greatest fun with him. The hologram also contains the last soul fragment of my younger brother, Herald.” She said, with tears streaming down her face. By the time she uttered her last words, she could barely even speak, as low cries of sadness came out of her mouth.

Lain, and Hui Shi seeing her in tears, filled with depression and misery, couldn’t help but also feel a sense of depression. Hui Shi slowly brought his right hand to her face and wiped the tears from her eyes. He then softly sighed and said. “Praise my lord…”

Chapter 136: Thank You, Brother Hui Shi

After his words came out of his mouth, the glow coming from his outstretched hand shined brightly, and quickly enclosed the body of Annette. Feeling the golden glow wash over her, Annette’s depressing and suicidal thoughts and emotions quickly disappeared from her body.

She then said, “Thanks, brother Hui Shi.” Before quieting down solemnly. “I’m sorry for your loss, sister Annette.” Lain said softly by the side, after seeing her regain her composure. Hearing his words, Annette simply smiled and nodded as a reply. 

“It truly was as I thought. When I saw the child, I realized through my connection with my Lord that there was a valiant soul hidden within it. Sensing the soul's desire for life, and its strong drive for justice, along with its innate kindness, my lord compelled me to help bring it back to life. That is the reason why I helped the young child. My lord truly cherishes those with compassion and kindness, and wished for your younger brother to suffer no longer in the previous state that he was in.” Hui Shi said calmly. He then reached down to the floor to grab his cup of water, with his left hand before drinking from it slowly. 

“Praise Lord Ensieth. I will cherish what he’s just done for me for the rest of my life.” Annette vowed solemnly. She could not have expected for her greatest desire to be fulfilled so soon. Her gratefulness could be seen clearly by both Hui Shi and Lain.

Hui Shi smiled, after hearing her vow. He then said to her while bowing his head solemnly. “And the lord will be with you for the rest of your life as well. Praise Lord Ensieth.” 

After his solemn bow, he slowly raised his head, and said to Lain and Annette. “Let’s forget this topic for now, in order to give sister Annette some privacy and closure. The child will be fine from now on,  and will grow up like any other child and also will forever be blessed by my Lord.” 

“Praise Lord Ensieth.” Annette replied, after hearing his words. She truly needed to come to terms with what just occurred privately, so just accepted his advice. Lain on the other hand, simply smiled and nodded. His world view also just changed slightly due to what just occurred before him, so he also needed time to come to terms with what he had just witnessed.

As the carriage that carried the three moved along the large empty road of the Peaceful Shiler District, the three quietly ate and drank their food, while contemplating their past, present and future. Before Lain knew it, they were already on their way to their destination.

Back at the strange planet covered in red and purple grasses, the young lady Ralif was currently walking along a small, quiet, dirt road, far away from any buildings. She was wearing a floral  shirt that was covered in blue rose-like flowers, as well as a red floral skirt that had blue daisy-like flowers on it. It seems she was taking a stroll around the outskirts of the city, she was previously seen within. While slowly walking along the old, and quiet dirt road, she was humming a joyful tune while looking around at her surroundings in curiosity. 

Chapter 137: A World of Fungi

While looking at her surroundings, she saw creatures of various types, some were reptile-like, small and scaly, while others were tiny little insect-like creatures that flew around her annoyingly. 

Some were even as large as cows, wandering the plain in the distance with brown skin, four large muscular legs, duck-like faces, thick hooves, and large antelope-like horns, yet as she looked around she couldn’t help but think to herself in dismay and confusion. ‘This planet truly is strange. Not a single real animal can be seen anywhere on it. The only creatures I’ve seen are insect-like, and animal-like creatures that seem to be made out of different intelligent fungi species. Hopefully the countless microscopic spores in the air aren’t all poisonous.”

As she was thinking her thoughts and looking around at the wonderful creatures around her, she seemed to notice something far in the distance, towards her left. Looking in the direction that caught her eye, she squinted her eyes and sent a penetrating gaze that could see miles ahead of her towards the location that caught her eyes. Soon after getting a good look at what caught her eyes, she quickly jumped from her current standing position and disappeared from sight. Her body moved through the air at extreme speed, causing sonic booms to echo out behind her.

While Ralif was speeding through the air towards an unknown location, her two brothers, Rufut, and Jaiym, were just entering a tavern within the city that they were seen in earlier, when they heard the sonic boom of her movements coming from a far distance.

They couldn’t help but pause for a second in confusion, along with the crowd of people in the street around them, to look in the direction the sound was coming from, before entering the tavern slowly. Completely ignoring the disturbance, while the rest of the crowd gossiped around them about the cause of the sound.

The tavern they entered was a large tent made out of red grass straws. The inside of the tavern was filled with chairs that were also made out of grass straws, and tables made out of clay.

In the middle of the tavern was a cook, who used cooking utensils made out of hardened clay and rocks, to cook his meals. Surrounding him were the tables and chairs for his customers to use.

Seeing the cook, a shirtless, tall, bald, bulbous nosed, caucasian looking, burly man, wearing a skirt made of straw, and a chest covered in thick chest hair, busily cooking in the middle of the tavern, surrounded by pots currently being heated by the bundles of burning grass they were placed on top of, Rufut and Jaiym decided to choose an empty table close to him in order to talk to him, while he cooked.

Chapter 138: Nubta, The Humble Cook

Seeing Rufut and Jaiym, who were dressed in linen-like fabric walk over, the cook quickly realised that they probably weren’t from his planet, but he still smiled and said to them in a welcoming gesture after feeling the imperial aura emanating from the body of Rufut that made him feel like worshipping him. “Welcome to my humble #$jd$, travelers from beyond our 3*$&dj#. Please, what can I *&$#@ you?” 

Hearing the cook’s welcoming words, everyone eating in the tavern quickly turned to look at the pair of brothers, in interest, before slowly looking away, and continuing on with their meals. It seemed they were already used to seeing such foreigners in their land.

“Anything will do. Thanks.” Jaiym replied slowly, hoping the cook understood his words clearly. Although it was hard to decipher the cook’s speech, due to his Svalian dialect being slightly different from the one Jaiym grew up speaking, he could still piece together what he was trying to say.

Rufut on the other hand didn’t seem to have too much of an issue listening to the man’s words. He and Jaiym quickly sat down.

Before they could start asking the cook questions, the cook nodded at Jaiym’s words, and said to them. ”It’s been a while since I met someone from #&^492. Every time one of you guys show up, you leave 2+*&%^ as quickly as you came. It appears to me that you guys don’t like our choice in food. So, I wonder what brought you 2$^-(* here to our 3*$&dj# today?”  

“What brought us to your planet today? Well, we’re honestly kind of lost. So we’ll probably only stay for a while before leaving for elsewhere.” Jaiym replied slowly. He was slowly starting to get used to the way the locals spoke, although some words were still hard to decipher. 

“What do you mean our type of people leave here as quickly as we come? Is there something we should be aware of?” Rufut, who was half listening, half looking around at the people eating around him asked. As his deep voice was heard, many around the tavern couldn’t help but listen to him carefully as if they were listening to the command of their ruler. Even the cook, stopped what he was doing to listen to his words carefully, until Rufut finished speaking, before continuing his work.

After hearing Rufut’s question, he answered carefully as if he was speaking to an emperor. “Sire, your humble cook here is called N#b@a. What I was inferring earlier, was that due to our Hilcrah #&^$**’s rule that forbids its citizens to kill anyone and consume their flesh, but must eat the human meat provided by the #&^$**’s army. We citizens always cook with meat given to us by the #&^$** itself. 

Chapter 139: A Strange Old Man. The Stench Of Blood

You see sire, our 3*$&dj# does not have animals, so in order for citizens of our #&^$** to eat a hearty meal full of meat, we can only get it by consuming either ourselves, or the citizens of other #&^$**s. 

Since we citizens consume human meat provided by our #&^$**, when we occasionally get travelers from beyond our 3*$&dj# , who dress in strange clothing like you and your dearest partner here, they become disgusted by our culture. 

Many leave the moment they find this fact out, but some stay to investigate, only to disappear forever when they decide to either visit our dear king for answers, or cause problems within our #&^$**.”  By the time he was done explaining he was half sweating, due to fear that he may offend Rufut somehow, due to his choice of words. He even stopped cooking in order to explain his words clearly.

“Nubta is your name I see. Well said, you may continue cooking while we speak.” Rufut replied to him calmly, after hearing his words. Although he had questions to ask himself, he decided to let his elder brother ask the questions, while he listened along. So he calmly looked at Jaiym, hoping he’ll continue his questions.

“Mister Nubta, thanks for your clarification. But why did your Hilcrah Kingdom decide to start consuming meat? I mean, have you always been a human eating kingdom? And do the other kingdoms on this planet also eat human meat? Do you know that human meat is taboo where we come from?” Jaiym asked inquisitively. He still couldn’t wrap his head around why an entire kingdom would order its inhabitants to eat human meat, and not just any human meat but only the human meat provided to them by the kingdom’s army.

Hearing Jaiym’s questions, Nubta quickly glanced around him, before leaning closer to the two of them. He then replied to them in the softest voice possible, hoping no one important would hear his words. “No. Although I may get in trouble for saying this, I’ll say it anyway, in order to help sire and his partner here. From what I was told by my parents, who were told by their parents, our #&^$** was once a vegetarian #&^$**, who only ate the creatures that grew on this 3*$&dj#, without ever consuming meat. The few times we did eat meat, it was brought by travelers like you, from beyond our 3*$&dj#. 

But that changed, one fateful year, eons ago, when a strange old man came to our #&^$**. The features of that man were so striking that everyone who saw him remembered him clearly. He was tall, had blood red hair, just like the plants below your feet, and he reeked of fresh blood. As if he’d just finished massacring countless people, with his bare hands.

The stench of blood coming from the man was so strong that the entire city was covered in its stench, even before he entered the #&^$**.

Chapter 140: Should I Kill Him?

Ever since that man came to our #&^$**, our king created rules that forced us to consume human flesh ever since. Oftentimes forcing our #&^$**’s army to go out to start wars against our neighboring #&^$**s in order to create an endless supply of human flesh for the citizens of our #&^$** to consume.

Ever since that fateful day, we’ve had no choice but to consume the flesh of our neighboring #&^$**. But we can only do as told by our king. Eating human meat is now normal for the citizens of our #&^$**. But most of us still hate eating it.” 

After quietly answering Jaiym’s question, he then quickly went back to cooking again, after looking around one last time to make sure he wasn’t heard by anyone but Jaiym and Rufut. 

A short minute later, when he didn’t hear a response from Rufut or Jaiym, as they were too busy contemplating the information they had just received, which was slightly shocking to them, Nubta chuckled to himself before saying loudly. “Human meat is called taboo where you come from? Well, some of us citizens kind of love eating taboo. I’m going to make a signature dish in the future and call it Taboo!” It seemed due to the difference in dialect he couldn’t understand what the word taboo actually meant. So he thought it was another name for human meat, and laughed at his own ingenuity, and the new strange word that he had just learned.

Hearing his words, disgusted both Rufut and Jaiym. So they both stood up at the same time, and left the tavern, completely ignoring the mad laughter of the burly man behind them, who was too busy cooking and thinking about a new food recipe to pay attention to them any longer.

As the two were about to exit the tavern, Jaiym thought to himself, as a dangerous aura started to leak out from his body. “Should I kill him?’ 

After thinking this, he slowly looked back at Nubta with a simple intense glare, that caused the laughing man to stop laughing and cooking abruptly. The intense glare from Jaiym made Nubta’s heart stop beating immediately. 

An invisible force seemed to have gripped his heart tightly, and had isolated it from the rest of his body, causing him extreme pain and discomfort. As his body suffered from cardiac arrest, and his mind felt like it was being stared at by a frighteningly dangerous predator, he couldn’t help but shiver constantly in shock and terror. Just a few seconds later, Jaiym sighed in sadness, and sympathy before looking away from the shocked cook with another thought in his mind. ‘No need to kill him…he’s not the problem. He’s only a symptom of a bigger problem.’

After looking away, the dying Nubta’s heart started beating widely again. It seemed the invisible force from before had released its tightened grip on Nubta’s aching heart. Cold sweat had already covered his entire body by the time his heart restarted desperately on its own. 

Chapter 141: Taboo! A White Circle

His previously happy and joyful mood, had also been quenched thoroughly by the simple glare that targeted him, from a position that he wasn’t paying attention to earlier. 

By the time he looked towards the direction where he felt the glare originate from, in depression, fear and terror, Jaiym and Rufut had already left his tavern, and moved away from view. So he could only sit deliriously on the grass chair next to him in doubt, and fear of what just happened to him, unable to figure out the cause of it. 

But after a bout of deep breaths that seemed to hurt his lungs painfully, he quickly decided to close down his tavern for the day, due to the sickening feeling that he felt all over his body, that seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

‘Maybe I was too excited earlier, causing my old heart and body to give out on me? What was I excited about again? Oh, yeah! Taboo! I still need to figure out how to make my new signature dish Taboo! As a famous chef from years ago, many of my old friends will definitely be jealous if I can make another prized dish!’ Nubta thought to himself in glee, even as his health seemed to worsen. Only after 3 minutes of exhaustion did he finally scream for help. Before, he was too busy coming up with a list of ingredients to worry about his health, now it seemed he was truly going to die if he didn’t cry for help.

After calling for help, he was quickly helped by the people nearby, and carried away to another grass hut, where he was attended to by an apothecary.

After leaving the tavern in disgust, Jaiym and Rufut slowly made their way through the crowded street.  After walking for a couple of minutes, Jaiym opened his mouth and said to Rufut. “You should probably go check up on your elder sister. Ralif may need your help where she went. I believe the reason she had to leave in such a hurry is likely related to the corpse race.

I’ll walk around for a few more hours, in order to investigate this kingdom a bit more before I head back home.”

“Sounds good to me.” Rufut replied with a confident smile. After replying, something strange started to happen. In-between his two feet, a tiny white circle magically appeared on the ground. It first appeared as a tiny dot, before quickly expanding on the ground into a large white circle big enough to surround his entire body. The moment the circle grew large enough to surround Rufut’s entire body, his entire body quickly sank into the circle, as if he was diving feet first into a pool of water.

With a small splashing sound, waves flowed across the white dot as if it was a body of water, before it quickly disappeared from sight. From the moment the white dot appeared to the moment Rufut rapidly sunk into it, only less than a second of time had passed.

Chapter 142: A Surprised Crowd

The natives surrounding them couldn’t help but be baffled, as they witnessed Rufut’s disappearance. Many quickly gathered around Jaiym, in confusion, and doubt.

“Did your #$&% just disappear?” One man asked Jaiym, while looking at the spot on the ground where Rufut was just standing on. “No way! Maybe there wasn’t a da#$% there to begin with? Right?” Another replied, before Jaiym could open his mouth to answer the first question. It seemed he didn’t believe there was anybody there to start with, and everything he just saw was a hallucination.

As Jaiym was surrounded by a crowd of curious natives who kept bombarding him with questions, he suddenly felt slightly awkward, due to the fact that he forgot, most of the people in this city from his understanding were mere mortals, without any real abilities of their own. From his findings, he knew that they were knowledgeable about people having various abilities, but he also knew that they themselves didn’t practice any cultivation.

From what he was told before he arrived within this universe, this universe was a privately owned universe under a city within the Sval Kingdom. The city was called Yearning Peace, and its citizens often came into this universe to gather resources, before returning to the territory of the Sval kingdom.

Due to this fact, the rulers of Yearning Peace forbade cultivation to be taught within this universe, in order to preserve its natural resources, as well as heritage. From the rulers’ understanding, not letting the citizens of this universe cultivate helps preserve the resources within the universe. Because if these citizens could cultivate, they’ll end up using the resources within this universe for themselves.

But because of this fact, the rulers of Yearning Peace offer the humans within the universe protection from external foes that could come in and prey on them. Foes like the corpse race.

Feeling awkward he had to take over 10 minutes to gather his thoughts, while the crowd around him argued about what just occurred, completely ignoring him and his obviously awkward, blank facial expression. 

After realising that they were getting nowhere trying to figure the answer for themselves due to him being silent, Jaiym cleared his throat, calmed his mind and tried to solve their curiosity, by answering the questions that they asked him earlier. 

But before he could answer their questions, he suddenly felt a strong feeling of disgust and fear well up from within him. 

Chapter 143: A Thick Stench Of Blood

Along with this feeling of disgust and fear, was the thick stench of blood. Looking around in fear and anxiety, he realized that every citizen around him seemed to have been frozen in place. Unable to move an inch, as if time had been frozen around him.

But with further scrutiny, he realized that it wasn’t time that had frozen around him, it seemed every citizen that surrounded him had fallen under the mental and physical control of someone else. Only he was somehow unaffected. 

Realizing the danger he was in, he decided to quickly use his will power to free himself from that strong feeling of fear and disgust. But before he could will himself free, he heard a powerful voice explode inside his mind. “It seems you’re finding it comfortable here aren’t you? Child of the Veex bloodline?”

Hearing the booming voice resound loudly in his mind, almost caused him to faint. But his will power quickly erupted from his body and soul, and freed him from the extremely suffocating and disgusting feeling that came with the voice that almost knocked him unconscious.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” Jaiym replied, with a yell of anger. He was already starting to realize who this powerful voice might belong to, due to the thick stench of blood that suffocated his lungs, and the words of Nubta.

“People call me Blood Heaven! Due to your Veex bloodline, and the unique bloodlines of your two other brethren that somewhat makes us distant relatives, I will be merciful and give you and your Gilagesh Empire five years to clean out the dregs from the Evil Ghost Celestial Cult. After five years, at any point in time from then on I may usher forth a divine massacre that will cleanse this universe of all filth that still remains!” The voice replied loudly again, causing the mentally unstable Jaiym to start hyperventilating, due to the extreme, suffocating fear and disgust that flooded his mind each time the voice spoke.

After the voice disappeared, he slowly willed himself out of the anguish that plagued him, only to notice the entire planet around him was already covered in a blood rain. The clouds above him had at some point in time turned into the color of blood, and from his point of view, the rain that fell down from them onto his shivering body smelled, tasted, and felt no different from real blood.

Realizing the change in the atmosphere, he knew someone very powerful was responsible for the cannibalism within this tiny kingdom, that doesn’t even occupy 1% of the planet. And that person wanted them gone as soon as possible.

But he also knew, deep down, that he wouldn’t leave just because of the fear of a powerful villain. And neither will his siblings. 

Chapter 144: A Sorrowful Chant

So after spending a few minutes steeling his mind, and body from the shock brought by the voice, that never returned after speaking those threatening last words. He vowed in his mind. ‘If  Blood Heaven is man, I will battle a man. If Blood Heaven is a god, I will battle a god. In five years, me and my brother and sister will battle Blood Heaven, and rid this world of his evil! Until then we must deal with the corpse race first, as he said.’ 

He was someone who had never been afraid of threats. So instead of cowering in fear and defeat, he resolved within his mind, to fight till the last man standing.

After blood started falling from the skies, the people surrounding Jaiym out of fear quickly ran away from him towards their own homes, completely unaware that they had all previously been under the control of Blood Heaven. Due to the secret stories from their ancestors that recorded the day they became cannibals, the people within this kingdom, and planet as a whole had an innate fear of blood. Blood to them was an ill omen, an omen of disaster.

Just minutes after the blood rain started, the streets of the entire kingdom were empty of people. Only Jaiym stood there shakily, out in the open on an empty street, being bathed in a rain of blood that soaked his clothing from head to toe.

After a deep sigh of resolve, Jaiym slowly made his way back home under the heavy blood rain. His mind was filled with anger, with each step he took, causing the dangerous aura emanating from his body to fill the air around him. 

The nearby people hidden within their homes couldn’t help but shivered uncontrollably when he walked by their house, due to the dangerous aura that seeped into their homes and bathed their minds and bodies in extreme fear.

But he didn’t go far, before he started to hear an extremely sorrowful chant coming from within the nearby homes. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

As he continued his walk, more people seemed to join in on the sorrowful chant. He quickly realized, while unwillingly listening to the chant that strangely it wasn’t sung in Svalian but another language that he had never heard before. He knew it wasn’t Gilbrazen either, because he had heard Gilbrazen before.

Strangely the chant that was filled with extreme sorrow, and mystery, seemed to echo endlessly within his angered heart, as he slowly made his way back home, bringing despair and sorrow to his heart.

By the time he was half way home, he was already chanting along in sadness as well, his previously murderous thoughts had already been long forgotten. 

Chapter 145: I Must Help My People!

He could only chant along now, as the words of what he now assumed was an ancient language entered his mind and mysteriously cleansed his mind of all murderous thoughts, making him worship whatever mysterious entity that the chant was being sung to in extreme depression. Tears quickly started falling down his face as he made his way back home.

As he was chanting along, he slowly concluded that the chant may be some sort of ancient prayer that seemed to call a divine being for help. 

The emotions of everyone around him seemed to affect him as they sang the chant in sadness. It seemed years of fear and oppression had made the citizens of the kingdom miserable, and the blood rain was the catalyst that made them sing the chant of their forefathers in fear and sadness. He even felt the sound of the chant come from far away the more he walked, as if every person on the planet and beyond were all currently singing along, in sadness as well.

Back at the little house in the Peaceful Shiler District of Yearning Peace City, hours before he left with Hui Shi, and Annette to the hero recruitment office, Lain was busy sleeping, when his eyes opened abruptly. The iris of his eyes and his hair strangely turned blood red in color, the moment he woke up. The air within the room he was in also started to reek of blood.

For some reason, something woke him up from deep sleep. Something he hadn’t heard in a very long time, the sound of chanting in a language that he couldn’t understand but knew very well. It was a sound that he grew up listening to occasionally.

The sadness that he felt from the chant made him weep in sadness as well. Tears fell down his blood red eyes as he sat on the bed in depression. Slowly as he was overwhelmed by the feeling of sadness, he determined in his heart that he would find a way to help the people that were chanting within his heart wherever they were. Something within him wouldn’t allow him to sit idly by while those people suffered. He reasoned that they needed him, and so he must help them. He must help his people.

After coming to that conclusion, he also slowly started chanting along in sorrow as well. He spent the rest of the night awake, quietly chanting sorrowfully in a language that he had never understood since he was born, yet was too familiar with. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

Somewhere in a distant cold world, a young lady with blood colored hair, dressed in a pink, long-sleeved shirt, and blue shorts sang a chant in an ancient language as she sat at the sharp peak of a frozen ice mountain, swaying gently back and forth. Her eyes which were blood red in color wept in sadness as she sang the chant softly. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

As she continued singing, she slowly determined within her mind that she must help her people. ‘The calling of my Divine Father. My people need me. So I must find and help them as soon as possible.’ She thought in her head, as the chanting continued to escape from her mouth.

Chapter 146: Forgive Me…

Slowly she stood up, and looked to the sky, while still chanting, before disappearing from her location.

A lonely old man could be seen standing within a destroyed city, that was covered in the corpses of strange creatures, and countless streams of their blood that slowly formed a small river that flowed all over the city that was over a thousand miles wide. Due to the degree of damage to the corpses, their species could not be determined from sight. The old man stood at their center, covered in blood, chanting in sadness.

He was dressed in a blue shirt that was already dyed red in blood. Even his gold colored shorts, was also drenched red, as he stood there in sadness. Tears could be seen streaming from his blood red eyes, as his blood red hair flew wildly in the cold wind.

“My brother, Blood Heaven, you must have caused this haven’t you?” The old man slowly stated, in between chants of sadness. He then looked around at the blood that flowed all over the city in small streams, and thought to himself. ‘My Divine Father…Sorry. My family has forsaken you and my people. The people we were born to protect.’

Tears started falling from his blood red eyes in larger volume, after finishing his thoughts. He then closed his eyes, yet tears still fell down his cheeks. He even started to quiver in sadness as he stood there, chanting.

‘We will forsake you again my Divine Father. But please forgive me of my sins. You may end the life of this child of yours in the future if you wish.’ He thought to himself in grief and guilt. 

He spent the rest of the day standing there chanting in depression. Desperately trying to figure out when he and his family went towards the wrong direction in life, but yet couldn’t accept the conclusion he kept arriving at. 

“It wasn’t my fault, Divine Father. It wasn’t my family’s fault either...’ He occasionally thought to himself in sadness as he stood there, for the rest of the day, feeling overwhelming sorrow and guilt.

“Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..” A sorrowful chant echoed in the heart of another old man, dressed in a blood colored gown, that was tied by a golden sash at his waist. The old man had blood red colored eyes, and also long, blood red hair that cascaded down his shoulders. 

The old man was lying down on a grass-straw bed while being served strange blood colored fruits shaped like almonds by two women dressed in red, grass straw dresses, who looked at him with fear. The old man was currently within a large grass-made building that was cone-shaped like a hut. 

Chapter 147: We Have Sinned….

Hearing the sorrowful chant in his heart, brought the old man who was lying down on the bed to tears. “Leave me now!” The old man said quietly in anger while choking back his tears, causing the two ladies around him to quickly run away from the room they were within, in great fear. 

Strangely the slightly crying voice that came out of his mouth sounded similar to the one that was talking to Jaiym earlier. The one that called himself Blood Heaven. 

After everyone left, the old man sat up and thought in his head as the chant echoed on in his heart. ‘My people, you have suffered by the hands of my family on our quest for revenge. My Divine Father….we have sinned!’ 

As the chant continued on in his heart, he couldn’t help but continue crying softly in sadness as well, after feeling the extreme sadness coming from the voices within the chant in his heart. ‘No Divine Father! I must continue my sins, even if it means forsaking my own people.’ He continued in sadness, fear and guilt, before steeling his mind, and closing his eyes forcefully.

After he closed his eyes in meditation, tears no longer came out of his eyes. But the aura of sadness could be seen lingering around him. He spent the rest of the day in that position, hoping the chanting would stop soon.

“My Divine Father….I have forsakened you.” An extremely old man said difficultly, while holding back tears that were threatening to fall from his dark, blood red eyes. The extremely old man, who was dressed in a white robe that had one long blood red stripe going down its center, was sitting meditatively on a soft cotton-like cushion in what seemed to be the inside of a dark cave. 

He had a head full of long, blood red hair that was darker than usual, and the shriveled up skin on his body made him look like he was already nearing the end of his life, yet there was a trait to him that made him appear younger and livelier than he should be.

Next to him was a cordless sawzall-like weapon, on the ground. The weapon looked lifeless and ancient, as if it had been around since the birth of the universe, and was already about to crumble to dust.

On the dirt ground where the old weapon was placed, blood red lines could be seen surrounding it. The blood red lines, that crisscrossed like a net around the weapon, could be seen all over the dark cave that the extremely old man sat within.

Looking at the red lines that crisscrossed all over the cave slowly, the old man unwillingly started to chant slowly in sadness, as a thought entered his mind. ‘For this weapon, I have forsakened my Divine Father. Was it worth it?’

Chapter 148: A Small Temple

But after a moment, he shook his head in grief and sadness. ‘It no longer matters whether it’s worth it or not. It is a choice that I made for my family in order to get revenge for my dead wife and child. I have sinned, and I will pay for my sins.’ He thought determinately, before closing his eyes in sadness. 

“Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..” Chanting could be heard occasionally escaping his mouth in the dark cave, as he unwillingly tried to stop himself from crying and chanting in great sorrow. 

In a forest filled with gigantic foreign trees. Trees that came in many different strange colors and shapes. Some trees were red and bulbous in shape, and had large, red, globe-like leaves that dotted their bulbous sky covering trunks from top to bottom, with each leaf being the size of a continent.  Others looked like large pink umbrellas, with their trunks looking like coiled, sky reaching snakes, and their tops being gigantic leaves that were bigger than many planets.

There were also many green colored trees, but their sizes were so unimaginably large, that from the point of view of a human, their trunks look no different from walls with no end.  The skies looked smaller than the trees within this forest. Even the smallest grass within the forest was the size of a three story house. 

A small and old temple could be seen within this gigantic forest. The temple that was no different from the size of a bacteria compared to the trees around it, was red in color and was made out of tiny red colored gemstones. It looked old, worn out and forgotten, and was not noticeable in any way.

Within the small old temple, a group of twenty people in brown robes could be seen kneeling and chanting solemnly in sadness, as if they were sinners who were desperately repenting of their sins. Their palms were touching the ground, grasping at it with all their might, causing blood to pool around their palms. Tears could be seen constantly falling to the floor from their eyes, as they chanted in sorrow and agony. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

In front of this group of people were two women and four men, who all wore blood red robes. Strangely everyone within the temple all had dark, blood red eyes and hairs.

While the group of kneeling people were chanting in sadness, the six men and women looked at each other in sadness, before one of the men said to the others in an ancient language that sounded similar to the chant that Lain heard earlier, the chant that the kneeling people were currently chanting. “My fellow brethren, I will choose who will go, and save the children of our Divine Father who are begging for help. Let everyone else be at ease.”

Chapter 149: A City of Corpses

Hearing his words, the other five people in red robes nodded at him solemnly. Before closing their eyes. They then knelt on the ground powerfully, causing the dust on the floor to scatter, before placing their palms on the floor, and grasping at it powerfully, as if they were trying to rip the hard gemstones from the floor, causing the gemstones that were slightly angled and sharp to dig into their fingers. 

As their fingers bled from their painful grip on the floor, they started chanting tearfully along with the group of people kneeling in front of them in great sorrow. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

After seeing the group of red robed people start their chant, the man who volunteered earlier then slowly made his way around the group of kneeling people and pulled up one of the brown robed people from the ground slowly, making sure to not disturb the others around him, before the two exited the old temple, by its blood red doors.

After exiting the temple, and slowly closing the doors behind them, the two then slowly walked away from the temple, on a narrow road that ran from the front of the temple towards the distant unknown forest.

After a few hours of walking within the forest together, while talking to each other, the brown robed man disappeared from the side of the red robed man. 

The red robed man, after seeing the brown robed man disappear from his side, continued walking down the narrow road, chanting in sadness for the quiet forest around him to listen to. “Kskjf ljl4l fslk soerejt…..”

Tears fell constantly on the dirt road that he walked sorrowfully on. But he continued on, with his steady barefoot steps, on the dirt road covered in sharp twigs, and rocks. 

Strangely, the gigantic trees, grasses and bushes around him slowly started to sway sorrowfully back and forth as if they were empathizing with his sorrowful chant. When a godly being is in sorrow, it seems the world around him will also be sorrowful. 

A while ago, just before Jaiym and Rufut entered the tavern that Nubta cooked within, Ralif rushed towards a certain direction, in a powerful leap.

After rushing towards that direction through the leap, Ralif landed violently thousands of miles away in another kingdom. Surrounding her was a torn and blood filled city filled with corpses. 

The huts surrounding her had already been torn apart, with limbs belonging to both the young and old strewn everywhere. As she looked around she immediately found what caused her desire to come here as quickly as she did. 

Chapter 150: Corpse Race!

Amongst the corpses that surrounded her miles around, were fiendish men and women dressed in gray gowns, eating and raping the dead corpses. Even with her violent arrival that sent dirt and stones scattering all over the place, they continued their debauchery, completely ignoring her presence.

Seeing the dead being defiled around her, caused her to be extremely disgusted, and angered. “Corpse race!” She spat out angrily, before jumping forward with extreme strength. Within a millisecond, her body moved, much faster than before, and circled the entire 200 mile wide city, crushing the heads of every villain that she passed by before stopping where she previously stood. 

Strangely, this time her body didn’t emit any sonic booms when she moved, even though she moved much faster than before. The way she moved through the air, looked like she was being guided by the wind, instead of going against it. She looked like a fairy flowing with the wind, as she ran, and jumped around the city crushing heads into minced meat.

But after crushing the heads of every corpse race member within the city, she quickly noticed something strange, their bodies still continued their previous actions, without the slightest care about their heads being crushed. 

Within seconds, their crushed heads started to regenerate back to their previous whole states, which shocked Ralif greatly. She couldn’t help but think to herself in anger, ‘What monsters! It seems I must thoroughly tear their bodies to shreds in order to truly kill these vermin!’ 

After their heads regenerated back to full, many of them finally stopped their dastardly acts, in bewilderment. It seems they didn’t know what just happened to them. Ralif’s movement was too fast for them to notice. So by the time their heads regenerated, fear gripped their hearts, and they finally snapped out of their previous ecstatic debaucherous states. 

While looking around at each other and their surroundings in bafflement, many shouted loudly in a foreign language that Ralif wasn’t able to understand. “@#*(*  UI#*&$#8 ##*&$^* !” 

Ralif quickly noticed that it seemed they were hollowering at her and also at those around them in order to alert them of her presence. Many even looked in her direction in fear and bewilderment, it seemed they finally started to remember her violent arrival, which they ignored earlier.

Realizing she was finally being monitored by the evil fiends before her, Ralif readied herself again for another jump, hoping to tear them to shreds this time around. But before she could jump towards the nearest corpse race member, she heard a voice coming from far away that spoke perfect Svalian. “Filth blood!” 

Chapter 151: A Powerful Fist!

Within seconds, a man in a blue gown had arrived within the city from the skies. He had grey hair that reached all the way to his shoulders, a gaunt, but short figure, that made him look like a mummified corpse, and a handsome, asian-like face that would’ve made Ralif worship his beauty if he wasn’t a sinister member of the corpse race.

Standing a mile away from her on the ground filled with red and purple grass, Ralif could feel the sinister aura coming from his body that made even the grey clothed corpse race members around the city shiver in fear.

‘Great! A leader of sorts has arrived. This is much easier than looking for them myself!’ She thought in her head, before jumping towards the man in blue with a mighty leap.

Seeing the mighty leap of Ralif, the sinister man frowned, and thought to himself. ‘Curse my bad luck! This filth is definitely someone far above the simple unity stage. How is someone this powerful on this backwards planet of all places! Let’s see if I am capable of raping and eating her today!’ 

He then yelled loudly in a foreign language towards the corpse race people all over the city, “#&*7h *($998 HH9889!!!” 

Hearing his words, the corpse race members scattered all over the city quickly got up from their original positions, just as Ralif arrived in front of the man in blue. Ralif could tell, as she arrived that the man in blue likely gave them a command to leave the city quickly.

But she had to deal with the guy in blue very quickly, so she didn’t care about the others at the current moment. She figured it was best to get rid of the strongest first, before dealing with the rest.

Swinging a fist with all her strength, that seemed to swim in the air like a fish towards the man in blue, Ralif completely ignored everyone around her.

Seeing the mesmerizing fist pierce towards his head, the man in blue frowned even more. But instead of trying to dodge the fist, he allowed it to continue towards his face. 

As the first swam through the air gracefully towards him, the man in blue’s body started releasing greenish blue gas to welcome the attack. Along with the greenish blue gas, a scimitar magically appeared on the man’s right hand. Which he swung mightily at the lower torso of Ralif with great strength. 

As the pale white scimitar pierced through the air, towards Ralif’s waist, her fist had already arrived at his face. The powerful punch tore through the shield made out of greenish blue gas and obliterated the head of the man in blue in an instant.

Chapter 152: Agonizing Poison

But yet, the white scimitar continued its forward momentum towards Ralif, even after its owner’s head was obliterated. With Ralif’s quick reflexes, she noticed the scimitar’s deadliness as it struck towards her, so she quickly jumped backwards, but her stomach was still grazed by the sharp edge of the weapon. 

The force that came from the scimitar as it grazed her stomach was still strangely enough to send a three mile long shockwave that destroyed many buildings around her, tearing half her shirt apart, revealing her undergarments. Yet her stomach was barely scratched by the weapon. At the moment of impact, reptile-like scales seemed to have appeared on her skin that protected her insides from danger.

After jumping backwards to avoid the sharp weapon, Ralif finally realized that the person in front of her wasn’t as easy to deal with as she previously thought he would be. Looking at her right hand, which punched him, she noticed that her skin had strangely turned greenish blue, as if it had been poisoned. And not just that, the pain she felt from her hand was so painful that her heart started to beat wildly. Even her mind seemed to be affected by the pain coming from her hand.

But what made the matter worse, was that she quickly noticed the pulverized head of the man in front of her start to regenerate before her very eyes, just like his people from before. Seeing this angered her greatly. She couldn’t help but curse in her mind, ‘Evil undead!’

Within the span of seconds, the man’s head had already grown back to its previous handsome state, without the slightest sign of damage to it.

But before the man whose head had already grown back could gather his thoughts, Ralif had already disappeared from her previous location, and had miraculously appeared directly in front of him, with speed that was much faster than before. This time, she let out a flurry of punches from both fists that tore his body apart in less than a second. Completely ignoring the gas that obscured the man’s body from head to toe.

After the series of punches, what was left of the man’s body was thrown far into the distance. His body was brutally pulverized before it even hit the ground over a mile away from where he previously stood. Even his scimitar was dropped to the ground, where Ralif stood. 

Standing by the scimitar, Ralif’s two hands had already turned into a deep shade of greenish blue. She even noticed the color slowly spread towards the rest of her arms and towards her shoulders. The pain from her arms caused her extreme agony. 

Chapter 153: Freezing Breath

She even had to hold in a moan of agony from escaping her lips, as she stood there wondering what to do to kill the undying creature before her. She was already in so much pain, yet she knew the man she just pulverized into shredded meat definitely wouldn’t die from her simple punches. So after taking a second to clear her mind from the extreme pain, she decided to take her focus elsewhere while the pulverized man recovered. 

Looking around, she quickly noticed that many of the corpse race members, driven by fear of her strength, as well as the command given to them earlier by the blue gowned man, had already started running away from the city.

Seeing this greatly angered her, so she took in a deep breath, and blew violently outwards. This violent puff of wind that she blew out from her mouth seemed to contain extremely low temperatures. 

As the frigid wind escaped from her mouth, it quickly spread throughout the city within a second, freezing everything within the city. The corpses strewn about the city quickly turned into ice sculptures, and so did the huts, and the red and purple grasses, which had turned into jagged, sharp ice shards on the ground.

Even the corpse race members that had already ran miles away from the city in fear, were quickly caught up to by the blast of cold wind, and were quickly frozen where they stood.

Those that flew away in the air, fell down to the ground and shattered into frozen particles on impact. While those who burrowed into the ground in order to escape were frozen where they burrowed. The cold wind turned the ground around them into a frozen burial ground that encased them within, due to its extremely cold temperatures. 

By the time, Ralif stopped her cold breath, everything in the skies, on the earth, and underground within a 400 mile radius around the city had already turned into ice sculptures.

The man in blue, who had already been pulverized into meat paste, was already regenerating his limbs, and head by the time the cold air came over him. Strangely though, as the air came over him, countless volumes of greenish blue gas escaped from his badly mangled body, and encased him within it like a cocoon. Protecting him from the freezing cold that would’ve frozen his body still. 

Everything that was touched by the gas he emitted, sizzled as if it was smoking, before quickly melting into a greenish blue liquid gel on the ground. Even the tiny particles within the cold wind also melted into gel. 

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